Rear diff metallic clunk

Hello ,Iam a first time Tacoma owner I picked up a 2001 Tacoma 4X4 with 170.000 miles . Recently I've noticed a metallic clunk coming from the rear diff when coming to a stop ,or going from reverse to drive. Besides the that sound it seams to be driving just fine . I've done a few searches but can't seam to find a thread on this issue , any help would be appreciated. And sorry if I posted this in the wrong place .

 

Could be u joints or the carrier bearing.

When going from reverse to drive or drive to reverse....is it a "ping" noise by any chance?

 

Oops I forgot to add that I had the u joints checked ,and are fine ,I had the carrier bearing replaced as well . Yes it's doesn't it more from reverse to drive , and a definite "ping" . I had a friend underneath the truck and from what he can tell its the diff

 

Yea. The reason I asked is my u joints and carrier bearing are original. (175k).
I have slop in my driveline but I hear that's typical with a full time locker. (Pre runner).

But when I'm on a slant and shift into drive or reverse with tension on the driveline, most times it shifts hard and I get a pretty loud, metallic ping.

 

It does it on flat surface as well , I may just have to take it to a shop

 

I have the same issue along with the shifter moving a little every once in a while. I replaced the carrier bearing and transmission mount and still does the little metallic ping every once in a while specially when the car is cold and is doing the little high rpm thing and I take off. I hope it's not the diff

 

I have the metal "PING" sound too when going into/out of reverse, or when letting off the accelerator in gear. From what I've read, it's most likely the slip yoke...there's a zerk fitting for greasing the slip yoke but it doesn't get the grease on the splines, which is where the sound comes from. To properly grease the splines you have to disassemble the slip yoke and grease them by hand, it isn't difficult from I've read. There are some videos on Youtube on how to do it.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/driveshaft-ping-noise-5-speed.478050/#post-14536574

 

I greased the heck out of that thing a while back. If you put too much the crank shaft gets the grease everywhere. Lol my Tacoma has grease stain from all that grease. Got lucky because the fitting is very accessible.

Really hope is the slip yoke not being gresed properly and not the diff. I've had the truck for 3 years and aside from that there is no metal grinding.

 

The "PING" is a very distinct driveshaft sound, I would bet money that it is not your differential. If you go under the truck and tap the driveshaft with a hammer, it will recreate the same "PING" that you hear from inside the truck when you shift gears, let off the accelerator, go into reverse, etc.

Yeah I've over-greased the slip yoke via the zerk fitting before and it makes a mess, the driveshaft flings the grease all over the rear end. You don't want to pump too much grease into that zerk because it doesn't make it's way up the slip yoke, it stays at the bottom and if it gets too full it can prevent the slip yoke from being able to compress fully when you brake really hard, which can damage the driveshaft and/or your seals at either end of the driveshaft. Better to disassemble the slip yoke and grease it by hand, if you do it right with the right grease you shouldn't have to do it very often, maybe every 50k miles or more.

 

Do you know the type of greese?

I looked at it just now. It's rock solid. Maybe some wobble where the tranny meets the crankshaft.

 

if you looked at the link @Dirty Pool posted, you'd see my first post says to use Molybdenum grease (dark grey in color)

 

There's a grease that Ford sells that I've heard works really well, XG-8 by Motorcraft I think

 

grab the driveshaft behind the carrier bearing and rotate it back and forth and see if you can recreate the noise.

This is the grease I used I think. It was some type of valvoline labeled for Ford/Mercury etc

https://www.autozone.com/greases-an...ury-vehicles-multipurpose-grease-tube/54186_0

 

Greasing the slip yoke sounds like a good idea