Hey all. Hooray! I rolled over 299,997 miles on my trek today. Heater core held up and all that.

Before I left, I pulled the driveshsaft support bearing crossmember (not the transmission crossmember). Here are some things I noticed. I don't really know my way around the driveline very well, so I thought I'd ask some questions.
This was with the passenger side jacked up at the rear jack point.

1) Should the driveshaft be under pressure front to back? i.e. Should it be lax or should it basically always deflect to the side until it hits something? It tends to deflect.

2) How does a mount fail? I think the mount is failed and not the bearing - the bearing is smooth and appears well-lubricated, and I can tell when a bearing is dry. How on earth do you separate the mount from the bearing? It seems like the two are fused or glued together, but I know they're sold separately. Could an oil leak blowing back from the engine lead to early failure?


3) How much axial movement should a mount allow? Mine appears to have at least half an inch of play in any direction.

Cheers