Automatics tailhouse bushing ?

[surfbeast]

Should there be ANY play in the tailhouse bushing on my auto tranny? I've had a periodic bumping sound coming from under the shifter so I got the car up to check it out. Found the X-pipe was bumping the cross member so I fixed the problem. The noise seems to have gone away, but when I was down there i noticed the shaft coming out of the tranny could be pushed up and down about a 1/4 inch or so. No horizontal movement just vertical. Also, I could turn the driveshaft about a half inch clockwise and back. No fluid leaks or anything. Is this normal or is it time for a new tailhouse bushing? I've done this on my Z-28's but fluid would always be leaking out by the time you noticed any problems.

Thanks