Ok, looking for some help here. I've exhausted myself trying to figure this one out. I bought a car with a "we think it's the original" dana in it from a very reputable friend and after driving it home found that the driver side axle had excessive end play. I'm talking about a 1/4 inch of end play. gear oil was dripping out the end of the axle tubes from the heat ruining the seals. I'm glad I made it home at all :-( so upon removal of the axles, the pass side axle was loose also, the adjuster wasn't seized but it was awfully wore out. I found the thrust washers (spacer buttons I call them) in the spider gear are missing. Ok, I tell myself someone didn't put them back in, seems to make sense that it wouldn't adjust properly. The car hadn't been drivin in awhile and was put together hastily all of which I was told so no major surprises that I had an issue to fix (it's a long story) So after buying the thrust washers and reinstalling them and reinstalling the axles I have the same problem. I bought a new set of stock axles from Dr Diff with new tapered bearings and his new heavier end plates and while it is possible the rear end has been cut, changed or narrowed somewhere in the past I find it very unlikely being we thru multiple people know the history of the car going back to the late 70's and the previous owners and this is supposed to have been an untouched original bird, I have the same problem. So my question for you all is, what else could be the issue? while I find it very unlikely that the diff has been narrowed or widened? anything of course is possible My guess is the issue lies somewhere in the adjusting plate or bearing housing? but it's only a guess. any other ideas on where to look? or what to look for? I can torque the driver axle into place and still have 1/4 inch of endplay with the other side not installed. And if I install the other side as far as it will go, the new passenger axle has a new problem also, it doesn't go in all the way, maybe it's too long? (I'll come back to this new headache) it has no effect on the slop in the driver side axle. Can someone describe to me exactly how the thrust washers (poorly named in my opinion) float in the spider gears center section to provide the movement needed to achieve proper end play adjustment. Do they simply float in the housing? Allowing one to "center" the axles? is it that simple? seems to be. I have tried installing the pass axle with the slack adjuster all the way out and all the way in and it has no effect on the driver's axle, I still have the massive end play issue I started with, the end play is out of the possibility of the mechanical adjustment of the pass axle setting. I have removed the rear cover and can see that the axle ends are touching the thrust washer in the posi unit. Please ask any questions you have......I'm sure Im missing something in the steps I have taken, please feel free to ask me to clarify anything I've stated or described poorly. Thanks for reading