Do I have a problem ? I have a 1997 Ford F150 4X4 with the Supercab that I recently purchased with 97K. The truck runs well and shifts fine however from a stop it "feels" like there is a small jump or slip coming from the rear end. It is hard to actually describe almost like the tires are slipping just a bit then it goes fine. The transmission shifts fine and the truck seems to run okay. The tires are new although they are B.F Goodrich Long Trail LT 265-75-16, which are oversized by a good bit from the factory tires

Should I take it to a transmission shop and have it looked at or just keep driving along until something happens. Is this normal ?

Thanks all to an excellent group.

 

I have the same problem, and apparently so many other people do. From what i've read it's the slip joint on the driveshaft, and it needs to be cleaned and lubricated.

 

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Yeah I thought it was the ujoint being worn out, I have 52K on my 02 F-150, but I didn't see a grease fitting so I've never tried to clean or lub it? Is it dificult? I know my replacement ujoint will have a grease fitting. I can take a sigh of relief on this question. I thought it was me.

 

Could be a u-joint, but there was a thread in here that outlined the problem and the fix...of course I can't find it bcuz i'm looking 4 it!!!!! Nevermind I found it. Under driveshaft "clunk" revisited in the search. It was found to be the yoke that goes into the trans that was bad. Synthetic grease was a temporary fix

 

Sounds like this could qualify to be a dealer fix under warranty? I'm surprised at this initial feeling, I owned a 79 F-150 for many many years so besides ujoint replacement during my time I owned it nothing else. So next trip to the ole dealer I'll be having them look at this thing. Thanks I'll investigate later.

 

If u have a warranty still on it, absolutely. I have 5k left on my warranty, so i'm waiting

 

Yeah I have that extended up to 100K and 6 years, but if it is anything like my mopar I just gave my money away. Because they don't cover anything worth a damn and make excuses on what they do cover. My last mopar for sure! At this point I haven't needed to use it. But I'll look and see what the warranty covers.

 

They will probably say it is normal wear and tear, damn warranties!

 

I have a 97 f150 supercab 4x4. It does this too, and I've never known why. U joints tight. Not under warranty. Could you point me in the direction of a good explanation of the cause and what the fix is. Tater, you described my problem to a t.

 

Have an oil change coming up and called dealer this afternoon. described problem and he yelled to someone in the background, "hey is it the f150's that we grease the splines on the driveshaft to stop the clunk on acceleration?" He came back with a yes. Made the appt for the oil change. I'll let u know how it goes

 

Couldn't take it anymore, and brought the truck to the dealer this am. I have the low speed clunk, but also feel like the whole rearend assembly is loose and about to come out from underneath the truck. In addition, I think I have a left ball joint gone bad. I'm off this week and told them to keep the truck for the day because I want it fixed. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

I am very curious to hear whats wrong with it, sounds like mine, although I havent actually tried greasing my driveshaft yet.

 

Well, bad news, I'm driving a Ford Freestyle until they fix my truck. They never even got to it yesterday, but my service rep hunted me down a loaner when there weren't any. The tech she wanted to look at it was slammed yesterday, and she wanted to make sure it was safe for me to drive. Hopefully get it back today or at least hear whats wrong with it.

 

Still driving the rental Freestyle. They have already replaced both lower ball joints under warranty. They also took out the driveshaft, lubed it, check all u-joints. Hoping to have it back tomorrow. I'll let u know whether I still have the stoplight shudder