Rear Wheel Rotation Freeplay?

[Ratty]

Hi All,
I have a 2002 Ford Explorer Sport. 175K miles. I'm about to put in new rear wheel axle oil seals (and bearings and brakes).

Once I had it off the ground, but before aggressive disassembly, I rotated one rear wheel and it seemed to have a lot of "freeplay" or "takeup" before the opposite wheel started to rotate. It is approximately 1.25" at the rim of the wheel and 12.6 degrees of rotation (measured) before the opposite rear wheel moves.

What do you all consider "normal" freeplay? If I have a rear end that's trashed I would rather look for a used or rebuilt one now before tearing into it only to learn it needs seals AND all new gears...

Note: this has a solid rear axle and per the door panel, a D4 limited slip 3.73 diff, NOT the independent rear suspension with CV joint&halfshafts that both the Haynes manual and the 6" thick Ford Workshop Manual SAYS I should have...

Thanks in advance. This is truly one of the greatest forums on the WWW!

 

[colintrax]

12.6 degrees sounds about right, I wouldn't worry about it if you don't have any other problems