farmer12

Just for the hell of it open your hood and do what you did before, put it in reverse then into drive and vise versa...try to watch the engine and see if it moves drastically either direction....could possibly be a motor mount...or mounts. But the clanking noise does make me wonder if its the diff as well. How many miles are on it? After you check to see if you might have a bad motor mount...I would pull the cover off the diff before you do anything drastic and see what the oil looks like. Like redneck said you might have a bad pinion...either gear or bearing. You shouldnt even have a 1/4 of a turn in your driveshaft.

kckndrgn

After looking at the new axle again, boy do I feel like an idiot. I had thought that both wheel mounts were secured so they wouldn't move. Nope they were free. After holding on to the lugs of one wheel I tried the diff again, no movement what so ever. Looks like it's good to go to swap the axle. I can't wait.