Drivetrain slack on/off throttle still!

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Aug 24, 2018 | 01:20 PM
  #1  
When I go on/off throttle I can still feel drivetrain slack like something's moving. In certain conditions (cruise control especially) going down a hill I get vibrations while engine braking and the gear stick starts jumping around a bit on its own until it's out of that RPM range where it does that.

I've got z1 poly engine mounts, new Ebay rubber trans mount, Whiteline poly diff bushing. I took a video under my bumper yesterday and my subframe isn't moving around at all while this is happening, so it's not that.
How do I check my driveshaft center support bearing to see if that's the problem?
The two axle pieces on my diff wobble in all directions and seem pretty loose, I'm wondering if I could have a diff backlash/bearing problem given the PO ran it with blown bushings for god knows how long.

Should I just give up chasing this, as the car drives great otherwise and shifts perfect when I'm thrashing it. Just that occasional jerking and the fact I know something's wrong somewhere is driving me crazy, esp. given how much work I've put into it already.

Thoughts?
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Aug 24, 2018 | 01:48 PM
  #2  
The cruise control in my 6mt will do the same thing when I'm going down a hill steep enough to maintain speed. I assumed it was just the computer not quite knowing what to do. Maybe try turning the two pieces of the driveshaft in opposite directions to see if there's any play?

I don't use CC enough to worry about it - but now you have me wondering again haha

Edit: I've installed subframe bushing collars since then, I'll see if it's still doing it, but I assume it will since they collars only made things stiffer.
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Aug 24, 2018 | 07:16 PM
  #3  
Ok, that's good to know I'm not the only one with this problem. There's definitely play in my driveshaft and diff but I don't know how much is normal as I've only owned shitty old cars. I feel it when I'm not in cruise control as well, but it's harder to make happen if just driving normally. I can actually "play" with the slack a bit if I very slightly press the gas and the let off, I can feel it flex a bit, especially in lower gears going slowly. Although it's nowhere NEAR as bad as it was before I went and replaced all of the above.
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Aug 24, 2018 | 09:25 PM
  #4  
Not sure how the G is setup with AWD, but on my Audi Quattro all you had to do was grab the drive shaft and it would wobble around if the bearing was shot. I had similar symptoms where it would feel like it was losing power, slow response, and going uphill the rear tire would like make a flopping noise. I ordered a used driveshaft off eBay, installed it, and those problems disappeared.
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