My '82 K20 has always seemed to have more "lash" in the drivetrain than other trucks that I've driven have had (though it's the first 4x4 truck I've had, and the first with a granny-low manual tranny, so I don't have a good basis for comparison). I have the full-floating 14-bolt rear axle. I have the driveshaft out this evening to change a bad U-joint, and I noticed that the driveshaft yoke has a lot of free rotation back and forth. It will turn back and forth about 30 degrees before stopping. I'm not sure if this is normal, but I don't seem to remember any other rear end I've dealt with having this kind of free rotation.
I think that I can feel the free play between the pinion and ring gears, and it only accounts for about 5 degrees of back-and-forth rotation. As I'm rotating the yoke back and forth, I can hear noises from the axle area. I'm thinking that it might be the spider gears taking up their play.
So basically, is this amount of play normal?