Rear end CLunk

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Mar 3, 2004 | 02:09 PM

Jason T

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From: Canton Ga

Rear end CLunk

I have a 96 bronco and everytime I come to a complete stop I get a clunking noise in the rear end. Then when I accelrate I get the same noise only sometimes sevaral clunks in a row until I get moving. Nothing seems or looks loose and I just did a rear diff service to see if that would help. All teeth and gears looked fine. I was told something about greasing the slip joint but I am clueless as to how to do that. Any other idease or suggestion, or how-to on greasing slip joint would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Jason

Mar 3, 2004 | 02:17 PM

frogger01

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Joined: Mar 2001

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From: Corona, CA

Try looking at your leaf springs too. If one is cracked it will make that noise. One other place to look is the tranny mount if that is degraded or the bolt is loose then it cna cause this same condtion.

Mar 3, 2004 | 04:58 PM

kaised

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Take the driveshaft off, clip the zip ties holding the rubber boot on. Mark the 2 parts of the driveshaft so you can reassemble it the same way it came apart. Pull the 2 sections apart and lube the shaft and the, well, hole. Reassemble.

You should also check your u-joints as well as the cardan joint.

While you've got the shaft off, check the pinion nut on the rear diff. Mine was loose and tightening it helped my clunking. Might want to check your Chiltons or Haynes for tightening procedures....

Hope this helps!

Mar 3, 2004 | 08:46 PM

Jason T

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From: Canton Ga

Thank you that helps a lot do I have to replace the rubber boot after I remove it to lube. How can I tell if the u joints are bad (tell tale signs) Also you have to excuse my ignorance the pinion nut if where the shaft meets the diff?

Thanks
Jason

Mar 4, 2004 | 05:41 AM

kaised

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1. You can reuse the rubber boot.
2. If your ujoints are bad there might be movement in the shaft when you pull/push on it when under the truck. Otherwise I'm not sure, sometimes you can tell visually if its real bad.
3. Yes, The pinion nut is in the middle of the flange on the rear diff where the shaft attaches.

Mar 4, 2004 | 09:11 AM

Jason T

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From: Canton Ga

Well it worked great greased the snot out of the rear slip joint reassembled everything and presto noise all gone.
Thanks for the advice.
Jason

Mar 4, 2004 | 02:13 PM

Gary (UT)

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Joined: Jan 2004

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From: Payson, UT

I have the same problem with my 94. I jacked up the back end so I could move the drive shaft, axles, etc. around to identify the problem. My drive train play seems to be in the transfer case. The vehicle has 150k miles on it and I am wondering if the chain in the transfer case stretches over time. Before I get serious about this clunking noise I need to replace my radius arm bushings.