Is this Transmission Backlash normal?

[Mark A. Rogalski]

With the car the air (not running) and in 1st gear I rotate the rear wheel back and forth and there is a tremendous amount of noise and what appears to be slop coming from the transmission.

I was trying to see how loose the rear diff was and noticed and heard all this noise. It's not in the rear diff, the wheel and driveshaft are turning together.

Shouldn't this be relatively tight inside the tranny? What's the deal here?

When driving if you "slap" the gas peddle you get alot of tremors, like the rear is full of slop or is this actuall happening inside the tranny? Hmm!

[Phlip00WS6]

It shouldnt be loud.. but in first gear it wont be hard to turn since theres not that much weight. You would be able to turn the driveshaft a half inch either way though.

[calhoon]

There is a wind-up noise that is normal-yours sounds normal. What you are hearing at the trans is actually the accumulation of slop in the diff., u joints ,yoke fit, trans gear mesh, and clutch disc pline fit. The actual lash of the trans is a small portion and is measured in degrees of rotation. The only accurate way to measue this is with the trans out of the car, input held and out put rotated with 10 lb-ft of torque. The displacement, in degrees should be less than5 in 1-4 gears and less than 12 in ODs.

[Mark A. Rogalski]

Well I might as well put the tranny on the list of crap to repair or replace with this F-body. It's about the only thing left on this car that hasn't been gone through.

This week I'm replacing the entire rear all back to OEM freshly painted parts.