Play in Front Output of Tcase

[tcarlson78]

Greetings all,
New member to this forum. I have used a simular one for landcruisers.
I looked around the site for simular questions but no luck so far. I will continue to look but would appreciate any assistance or links.

Problem. I have a 98 Explorer with 164K mi. While working to solve another problem I found that I had excessive play (slop) in the front drive shaft. It would rotate about a half inch each way which is not really alarming but my problem is with the amount of free play where the front driveshaft connects with the Tcase. There is about 1/8 inch of free play up, down, left, right. could someone help with diagnosing the cause and repair of this problem. The other end looks and feels solid. I have not used the auto 4x4 in a while and with this current condition do not want to play with it out of fear of complicating the issue.

Thanks in advance for any assistance and I look forward to meeting others on this forum.

 

[35Remmy]

TC...isn't there a U-joint in that location?

 

[KPT]

Is the play in the drive shaft or the front output of the t-case?

If its the driveshaft the CV joint on it is a common problem.

 

[tcarlson78]

I can move the drive shaft. The U joint at the front diff is/looks fine. The point of movement is at the front output end of the T case. I can not see specifically if there is a U joint at that end or not due to a "cone" covering where the drive shaft and T case meet.

I have not done any poking around there yet as I am still trying to find my Haynes manual and I don't want to complicate issues.