drive shaft/ TC play

[dynamite196]

I'm trying to hunt down a clunking noise made on down shifts in my ex, it's a 97 2 door X motor with the manual 5 speed. While I was looking around under the truck I noticed a lot of play in the front drive shaft. I'm able to rotate the front drive shaft probably 30 degrees left and right. The u-joints seem okay, this seems like there is a lot of "slop/play" in the transfer case. Is this simply because 4wd isn't engaged or is there something wrong with my TC? BTW, the rear drive shaft has zero play.

 

[IZwack]

The rear driveshaft probably has zero play because the weight of the vehicle is resting on it. Next time, try parking on a level surface, set the parking break, put the transmission in neutral, and then check for play.

In addition to rotational play, check for up/down movement on the rear pinion flange situated at the front of the rear axle (the flange the driveshaft bolts to).