Clunk when rocking truck while it’s in park.

So I climb on my rear tires to reach into the bed of my truck, truck is off and in park. My weight caused the truck to rock forward and I heard a distinct “clunk” noise. I can replicate it by just rocking the truck back and forth. My Tacoma is lifted, I have 285/75r16, springs, 2.5 icons in the rear and aftermarket gears (equivalent to 4.10). My u joints look good, no rust, no rot in carrier bearing. I’ve heard of the “pawl” on the trans can wear out. Does anyone have an idea of what’s going on? I can see the driveshaft rotate clockwise and counterclockwise about an inch when I rock the truck.

 

My first thought was Lower Control Arm Bushings. There is a pretty distinctive clunk when those are worn out. I buy full replacement LCA's from Moog or dorman. They're cheap and easy to swap in/out relative to the labor involved in pressing in/out a bushing.

 

If hes standing on the rear tire, I wouldnt think there'd be any up/down movement to induce movement in the arms. I would personally think something in the rear drivetrain like a u-joint has some slop. The trans is holding it in park and rocking the tires is producing movement

How old / how many miles on the u-joints?

 

Thx for the quick response, I’m actually in the process of rebuilding my upper arms (total chaos) and getting new lower control arms. Driver side ball joint seems worn out. I have icon coil overs with king springs and a lift spindles (rough ride). Everything I’ve read has suggested I stick with OE lower control arm stuff. $$$. Anyways, the sound seemed to come from the driveline area, really distinct in the rear and shaft area.

 

I have 98 thousand miles and they are the original u joints(visually look great lol). I still need to see if a pry bar can show me if there is any “slop” in them.

 

If it is u-joints, then there will be play in the caps/needle bearings. I would go to each joint and press with my hand at the u-joint itself trying to make it flex. If it even flexes 1mm, then the u-joint is bad. If you're changing 1, change all 3 plus the carrier bearing. The labor is a minor at that point and u-joints are dirt cheap. The most expensive part would be the carrier bearing.

 

Probably just the backlash in the gears.

Apply the parking brake.

 

that makes the most sense to me for the sound and movement it makes. Also what I feel in the tire as I rock it.
Boy was it a nightmare getting gears correctly installed in my truck. 1st company destroyed them and the gear company told me on the phone they had no business installing gears even though they told me the install “Ford” gears all the time. Lol. I had to repurchase a set of gears and took my truck to a hotrod shop on the other side of the county back in 11’-13’ can’t remember exactly and never had a issue. From what I remember is Toyota installs are not the same as Ford and that was a costly experience. I’m trying to remember if the gear company recommended the 2nd company for the install.
The reason I put in gears was I got tired real quick driving on the highway and my rpms hovered around 3000, with the gear change they dropped back down to a more normal range. Issue with the gears is sometimes it can be too much torque at times, I pucker up when is snows or rains sometimes seems to be fine when I have weight in the bed.

 

Just a thought from somebody who's had some experience with Moog and Dorman parts. Moog used to be high quality, but no longer is. At best they're hit or miss. Dorman was always junk and still is. Their parts may be cheap, but you definitely get what you pay for. Beware.

 

Agree. If you can buy OEM, then get OEM since they are the highest quality. Moog/Dorman is kinda like a 50k miles/2 year part from my perspective and experience.

 

Agreed. Maybe 50k miles if you're lucky. And it's sad to see Moog even mentioned in the same sentence as Dorman these days. Moog used to be top notch and are just riding the coat tails of that old reputation as the new owners drive quality (and price) continually downward.