I was doing my brakes before and while everyone was off, i was inspecting it. I noticed that on both sides the axles have a little play in them. I am not sure if this is normal b/c while driving, i feel the back end swaying and the car pulls either way. Ive had the car for about 2 1/2 years and never noticed it until recently.

 

you will have a little play with no weight on them. are you hearing any new noises from the rearend? i would suspect the bushings in the lower control arms and the sway/panhard bar.

 

yeah i had play with no weight. i do hear a little humming but i already took a stethoscope to it and heard the axle bearing in the right rear is making the noise. i think its been swaying like that since i got my rims. 275/40zr18 c5 rims, not staggered so im hoping thats not it.

 

do you mean

with the car on a lift or jack stands and the tires mounted, you can push the tire in toward the car just a bit and pull it out just a little bit???

If that's the question..............perfectly normal

 

yeah, up on jack stands, but the wheels and rotors were off.

 

Some play is normal, but if it were mine I would but new bushings into it. The car is 14 or 15 years old depending on when it was made/bought. It couldn't hurt.

 

All rears that use a c-clip axle retention device have some in and out movement in them. I would not worry about that. If you are hearing a axle bearing noise, that does need to be taken care of. The rollers of the bearing roll directly onto the axle. When the bearings go, they take the roller surface of the axle with them.