Play

[Tanky]

Morning all. When I pull away in first and shift into second in my 1500 Spitfire, I get a lot of vibration, when I've asked this question before, people pointed me towards the clutch, though this seems to be in great shape. My question is this, how much play should there be in the propshaft? I seem to have quite a lot probably about an inch or so.....is this right?

Many thanks all...

Charlie 

[thescrapman]

Play in which directions?

there should be no rotational play in any part of the prop, but make sure you lock one end solid to check

[Tanky]

Hi, thanks, by lock it, do you mean put it in gear? Should there be play when in neutral?

Thanks

Charlie 

[Tanky]

Hi again, I can turn it left and right with a travel of about an inch....

Thanks

Charlie 

[Pete Lewis]

there will be a good bit of free play /rotation of the prop /diff coupling due to free play/endfloat of the planet and sun gears in the differential 

what you have is not excessive , often quite normal

if thats where you find the rotation,  you may improve /reduce it by fitting new thrust washers but its not overly important , its nothing to do with crownwheel and pinion settings 

Pete

[Colin Lindsay]

I assume that with the gearbox in neutral, you're rotating it and getting the movement at the diff end before the flanges start to grip? There has to be some movement before the wheels start to turn; although whether or not an inch is excessive will be a debate for the diff experts.

Put  it in gear and there should be next to no movement at all as the gearbox will prevent it turning.

[Tanky]

You guys Rock!

Thanks.

Charlie 

[KevinR]

Have you ruled out a bent engine backplate ?

Vibration can be caused by an out of balance propshaft - this is usually at a given road speed, rather than in any specific gear.

Propshaft induced vibration can also be caused by worn universal joints - and the amount of play in the joint that causes vibration is tiny and you are unlikely to be able to feel it  by hand.  As the joint wears more, the vibration will feel as though it is going to teat the car apart.