Hey there, just picked up an 85, with an 83 or earlier rear end (discs/LSD) and it had a few issues... the back brakes were dragging, so I fixed those, new lines, etc. Brakes are good now, rear wheel bearings were f'd so replaced those, but there is STILL a metal on metal sound. I pulled the diff and checked the ring/pinion backlash, looks good, oil was good no metal shavings or anything in there, swapped to royal purple... There was however a little play in the carrier bearing, especially on the passenger side. So question is, how much play should there be in the carrier bearings? Thanks!

 

Anybody have any input on this one? I spoke with a guy at a local autocross this past weekend and he said that it's most likely the pinion bearings causing all the noise. However, the carrier bearings have maybe 1/16th inch play in them and he was saying that play should be almost unnoticeable? Is that true? Anybody have a link to data on this, the shop manual I have doesn't seem to have a lot of info on this part, it just says to take it into a shop, but I'd like to rebuild it myself. I just want to diagnose the issues first.