Jeep Repair: 91 cherokee sport rear axle play, rear bearings, cherokee sport

Question
My sons 91 cherokee sport has been leaking gear lube on my driveway for a few weeks now. The car has close to 200000 miles on it. I don't know if any rear bearings have been replaced during the life of the vehicle, so I went ahead and replaced the driver side rear axle bearing and seal. The car runs well so it seemed worthwhile to do the repair myself. It appear to have the Spicer 35 axle. The diff has the c-clip retainer, and the axle shaft has 27 splines. There does appear to be some wear where the axle bearing rollers contact the axle shaft. After reassembly with the new axle bearing it still seems to have some up and down play while moving the wheel hub. Is this normal or was there likely too much wear at the bearing contact on the axle shaft. I don't want to finish this up just to have it start leaking again on the driveway right away.

Answer
having to much play there is not a good thing. yet is is sometimes normal. if after you replaced everything there it still feels a little lose then it may need to have further work done to it. weight it out and see if its worth it to do it. I have a 2000 cherokee and it has 220,500 miles and still going strong. so I would say think about replacing it. after all you can go to a junk yard and pick one up that maybe in better condition and cost like $25.