Just bought my first blazer and loving it, but I've got a question (the first of many, I'm sure). It's a 73, the truck is lifted on 35's with manual hubs. It's got it's share of squeaks and rattles that I'm slowly attempting to track down, and the engine has plenty of upgrades, but could run smoother. Anyway, while I was looking for the source of a particular noise, I was checking the u joints on the front axle and they were fine, but both axle shafts move in and out a good bit, I'd say an inch total on each side. I'm talking about a horizontal movement, parallel with the ground, in and out of the axle housing and wheel. I apologize for my ineptitude, just want to know if that's normal. Thanks.

 

That's normal for solid axles. The shafts actually slide out freely with the hub/rotor/knuckle removed (when you change ball joints). There are no C-clips like the rear axle. There is a good length of spline for the shafts to engage with the hub and diff at both ends.