If you grab the spindles and pull out there is about 1/4" of play front and rear. What is normal? If this is not what is the problem and what needs replaced?

Thanks

Eric  

Made the post clearer and to the point.  

Is the spindle moving or the axle?

I think I understand what you are saying, or mean to say, and yea, this would be normal. It shouldn't be too excessive, but they should be able to move a bit.  

In the rear with a semi floating rear axle there can be some sloop where axles move in and out with wheel but in front there should be no movement at wheel. With a solid front axle it is possible to move axle in and out a bit at ujoint and it floats a bit in hub but with IFS there will be no play at all.  

In both cases front and back i had the wheels off and grabbed ahold of the wheel hub and pulled out and pushed back in and there was play. I assumed there would be some but my dad said there shouldnt be so i wanted to confirm. All this started while trying to diagnose the clunk that happens when letting off the gas while accelerating.  

Again in rear it is normal with a 10 bolt, 12 bolt or 14 bolt 9.5 to have a bit of slop/endplay. Without knowing what front axle you have it is hard to say what problem might be there.  

Thanks for the help. Not really sure what the front axle is either. Still working my way around this truck (1st 4x4)  

Year and model truck would tell the axle type.  

They specs are in my sig. Looking on change the gears. I have 31's on it what size should I run and what all do i need to know when buying them? I have a truck that the tranny is out of so if i can find a 700R4 for a good price i will be sticking that in this truck and putting the TH350 out of this into the other truck.  

fedspunisher:
They specs are in my sig. Looking on change the gears. I have 31's on it what size should I run and what all do i need to know when buying them? I have a truck that the tranny is out of so if i can find a 700R4 for a good price i will be sticking that in this truck and putting the TH350 out of this into the other truck.

Okay you have a 10 bolt front a rear axle. You will have some end play in rear axle as it is a semi floater and you will be able to move wheels in and out a bit. Up front if you are doing this, wheel bearing are out of adjustment. Also when you look for a 700R4, you want one with a 30 spline input shaft for torque converter, not 27. They came out in late 84 in 30 spline model and with spline change also came internal changes in tranny too. 81 to 84 27 spline models are to be avoided. 700R4 saw its last revision in 87 with the addition of a secondary valve body for shift quality a bit. It remained unchanged until 93 when a computer controlled valve body was used in place of hydraulically/mechanically controlled one and it was renamed a 4L60e. (actually 700R4 was renamed a 4L60 around 91 but it was just a relabeled 700R4 and was renamed again a 4L60e in 93 with valve body change)  

If i get a 2wd tranny can i just find a 4wd trailshaft? Also does anything have to move from the TH350 to the 700R4 or are they close enough in length?  

One, you cannot use a 2wd 700R4. While it is possible to swap tail shafts, the 4x4 version has a thicker stronger case to arrest counter torque from Tcase bolts to it and transfer it to engine mounts. It is easy to tell tranny cases apart because one with HD case has a cast bolt on lower torque converter cover while LD case is stamped steel. It "might" be possible to find HD tranny case in a 2wd setup. On length, it is a few inches longer but being that 700R4 was a option then, it can bolt in. One tip, if you are not planning on regearing axles, a 700R4 may not last long with big tires and stock gear if you do not disable/stop OD usage because it will force tranny onto converter stall a lot and slow bake tranny.  

Good to know on the difference of 2wd and 4wd trannys. I did post that I'm looking to swap gears in my early post. If you could suggest what gears to run if i keep the 350 or go with the 700 that would be great!  

Well for my nickle I would use 4.10's with a THM350 if you want it to run well and have towing potential with 31's or if you think you might go a little bit bigger. 3.73 would cruise at a bit lower RPM but it would effect performance some to. With a 700R4 I would go for the gold and get 4.56's and it would cruise at a lower RPM in OD than THM 350 with 3.73's and run like a bandit with 31 or 33's. You would have much more power off line and rarely need low range except for maybe speed control at low ground speeds because the 700R4 has a lower first gear and that together with 4.56 would give you a start up ratio in first high of about 14 to one vs a a ratio of 9.4 to one with THM 350 and 3.73's (basically you would have about 50% more wheel torque available with 700R4 combo at start out.)  

See how money and time play out. Weather i can do the tranny swap. Still have a 68 camaro waiting for me to finish....

Thanks for all the advice and quick responces snow!