I'm leaving on a trip and I need to know if it is normal to have some in and out movement of the left front inner cv joint where it goes into the front diff housing, the seal's not leaking but the right side has no play. It's a year old with only 700 miles on it.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

 

Yes absolutely normal, it's a design requirment that big 'cylynder thing' contains a slider sort of mechanism that allows for the half shaft to move in and out. On the rancher the cylynder thingie should be seated up against a carbon seal on the side of the diff, if it's not it's come unlocked for whatever reason(large stick wedged it loose - ID 10 T error ect ) the fix is simple, push it back in till it locks.