When i pull on the drum on my rear brakes, the drum won't budge, yet i can move the whole assembly in and out like i am pulling the axle in and out. I noticed on similar car it also has some play, but not near as much as this one. I am guessing around an eighth to a quarter inch of play. Is this normal? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

1/8 or 1/4 is massive, so i highly doubt its that much, the axle would fall out at that point.

some play is normal, since there is a little slop in the diff where the c-clips are. If it is really bad however, you should take the diff apart and see if the clips are wearing somhow.

 

I had this on my '88. It was like 1/16", and it made the car too spooky to drive on the highway. I immediately slowed from 55 to 35 and took the next exit. Once I got the cross shaft out, I saw wear on it. The ends of the exle shafts also showed wear. I welded nubs on the tip of each shaft, then alternated between grinding and test-fitting until the cross-shaft would go back in, just barely. Reinstall shaft pin, new gasket, rear cover, new lube, test-drive: problem solved! This isn't really a common fix, but it served me well.

 

Thanks 86TA and A.t.F. for the responses! I greatly appreciate your help! And yes, 86TA, i realize now that one eighth to a quarter inch of play would seem catastrophic! lol Obviously, i have a lot to learn about rear ends...btw, I have (in another camaro) a disc brake rear i was told was a 1LE out of an '88 GTA. I haven't verified this, but i trust the source. Would this be a straightforward swap for my drum rear? What (if any) special tools or equip. might i need to do this? Thanks again for your input!

 

Swapping the whole assembly is easy, then you're just left with changing the brake proportioning valve and maybe the E-brake cables. However, you're probably changing the gear ratio at the same time, so then you need to correct the speedometer.