Curtis,
If you saw your front shaft rotate, then as that was occuring there was no slack in the center diff. Center diff slack had been already taken up and was turning the shaft. Once the front shaft is being turned the slack allowing it to freewheel before stopping with a clunk is at some point farther forward in the drive system - ie the front diff or the drive plates at the wheels. The front diff is bulletproof. The drive plates in the pre-93 are well known in the 80 community as a source of slack for two reasons:
1 - During axle service, most mechanics fail to put grease on the splines that mesh with the drive plates.
2 - The drive plates on the pre 93 80 series were deemed too thin by Toyota and modified to thicker plates to increase the amount of spline to drive plate surface area. Fortunately for you, they're cheap and a half banana job to retrofit (99% sure you can use the newer ones on yours - Dan?)
So, save your cash for nice rubber or a stereo, eh?
DougM
If you saw your front shaft rotate, then as that was occuring there was no slack in the center diff. Center diff slack had been already taken up and was turning the shaft. Once the front shaft is being turned the slack allowing it to freewheel before stopping with a clunk is at some point farther forward in the drive system - ie the front diff or the drive plates at the wheels. The front diff is bulletproof. The drive plates in the pre-93 are well known in the 80 community as a source of slack for two reasons:
1 - During axle service, most mechanics fail to put grease on the splines that mesh with the drive plates.
2 - The drive plates on the pre 93 80 series were deemed too thin by Toyota and modified to thicker plates to increase the amount of spline to drive plate surface area. Fortunately for you, they're cheap and a half banana job to retrofit (99% sure you can use the newer ones on yours - Dan?)
So, save your cash for nice rubber or a stereo, eh?
DougM