Tail housing bushing

[Prairie Dog]

I didn't want to hijack AWeavers thread but have a couple of questions.
I checked the play in the tail shaft bushing of my NV5600 and found it has some up and down movement but not side to side. I have no way to measure it but it feels like (very) roughly .010". There's no heavy leakage from the seal but the area around the tail housing and on the bottom side of the truck is slightly black but dry. The vibe is pretty minor but annoying - makes the mirrors blur slightly.
My vibes come on at 40, gets better and then comes back at 74 MPH where it continues to be present on up.
When I changed to slightly bigger tires the speed at which it occurs rose slightly.
It does not vibe when on a lift with axles supported.
Truck has 93,000 miles with nearly half that towing.

Is this enough play to cause any vibes?

If so, does the bushing just come out the back (towards the seal) and is there a special tool for removing it?

Thanks in advance,
Scott

 

[jhenderson]

I kind of doubt that amount of play would cause a vibration. You. Need a little clearance to allow lubrication of the bushing from splash. I had a vibration at 68-75 mph for about 300,000 miles. Tried new joints, new front drive shaft, etc. I finally cured it with a free spin hub kit. Should have done it much sooner.

 

[Prairie Dog]

I drove around all summer without a front DS. Do you think that would have isolated the front end enough that I can rule out hubs?
I can't justify a free spin kit, it takes me 16 months to put 5K miles on it.

I talked to Standard Transmission, Richard told me it could even be the clutch.
I want to get rid of that gawd awful SBC anyway.

 

[jhenderson]

I drove mine without the front shaft but still had a vibration. The free spin kit fixed it.