The clunk

bringing this back from the dead with a question. As stated before, I have the clunk when coming to a stop and when starting from a stop. I have 2 new spring fro each side of the brake pads and I am going to replace the brakes and rotors with oem equipment. I also have the ford grease mentioned earlier to grease my slip yoke. I have narrowed the clunk down to only after the truck has warmed up. When I first start driving, the clunk does not exist... Only afetr driving for a while does the clunk start. What could that mean? Brakes heat up and then the clunk starts or the the slip yoke heats up and causes the clunk? Now that its a little colder here in Jersey, the clunk takes a little longer to start happening. What does anyone think, Im grateful for any input. FYI im lifted 1 3/4 in the rear with icon 3 leaf and 1.75 in the front with bilstiens at 0 and eibachs.

 

anyone? Happens when the truck is warm...

 

I doubt temperature has any affect on the brakes but maybe it would on slip yoke grease. But that doesn't warm up like engine, transmission, diff or even wheel bearing grease might.

Do you have an automatic or manual transmission? Maybe wheel bearings, ball joints, bushing? The brakes clunk I had did it out of the gate in the morning, warm or cold. It seems dependent on backing up, usually the next stop after reversing would clunk.

Seems like it would have to be something that's either shrinking or swelling depending on temperature.

 

Im experiencing the thump at times when coming to a stop and shortly after takeoff. Took it to a driveline shop and the owner inspected the shaft for which he said my carrier bearing had too much play. I originally took it there for them to regrease the slip yoke but will now be replacing the carrier bearing to see if it helps the thump. It is on order now and will be installed in less than a week. Will report back to advise if my thumping has been cured.

 

My clunk started after an alignment turned out lower control arm bolts were not torqued. Tightened up no clunk, happend when put in drive an reverse an sometimes turning or after a semi hard stop when I released the brake pedal.

 

I had exactly the same clunk with an old Ford F100. The spline connecting the driveshaft to the transmission needed grease. Being dry it didn't accommodate the movement of the rear diff when starting or stopping. So, it would hang until it had enough and then pop to a new position.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. Lower control arms are torqued to spec and Im sure they are not the culprit. The brake pads are in good order and Im not sure of the condition of the grease in the slip yoke. Whats confusing me is as the weather gets colder, the truck takes longer to make the sound. When I would take it on out in the summer, the clunk would occur way faster. I drove the truck this morning in 50 degree weather and no clunk on my 10 minute drive to work. Maybe when the brakes heat up or does the slip yoke heat up or carrier bearing?

 

Its the junk pinion gear in the rear ends that cause the clunk,Toyota has the worst sloppy gearing ,no quality control in the loose pinion gears at all.When I took my truck in and showed them how sloppy the gear was,they said what they always say,its fuc..ing normal

 

would that only clunk when warm? truck drives great until the clunk comes. Takes around a half hour in warmer weather and mot sure how long it takes when its colder because i havent driven the truck that far yet in this weather.

 

Im getting the carrier bearing replaced tomorrow. My clunk sounds similar to yours in that when it is cold its almost non existent however warmer weather brings it 100% of the time. Check for too much play in your carrier bearing, there is supposed to be a little play but too much is a bad thing. Ill report back tomorrow with findings. Could also be a bad u joint.

 

Ok thank you, definitely let me know what happens

 

Clunk has been defeated. I originally took it in just to get the slip yoke greased after research but was talked into also changing the carrier bearing due to excessive play. Carrier bearing was only 75 bucks. So tech said he changed it out and went to check slip yoke and it was bone dry so he greased it up. No clunk whatsoever now. Ive defeated the dreaded 30-40mph vibe with ECGS bushing, clunk at start/stop im crediting to regreasing slip yoke but new carrier bearing while your at it isnt a bad idea. Went with spicer. Now im pretty comfy come and go in the Taco.

 

Find a driveshop if you dont want to mess with disconnecting driveshaft. I paid 190 for regrease of u joints, new spicer carrier bearing, regrease slip yoke and a cleaned up driveshaft. They said my ujoints were good. 108k miles 2011

 

Great news. I'll look around for a drive shaft shop. Or if i can find Spicer part numbers for all the u joints and carrier bearing, I'd rather buy the stuff myself and bring it to them so i just get charged labor. Either way, awesome news cause yours was just like mine in only warm weather.

 

Impulsed it sounds like you and I have the exact same issue. Did you find a cure?

 

The cure is to grease the slip joint.

 

If left un-greased, is it causing any long term damage?

 

Nah most of these trucks have the clunk. It's a design flaw due to non greasable yoke, paired with really weak leaf springs that allow too much axle movement. In the past I have unbolted the carrier bearing, pulled the two driveshaft pieces at the yoke out as far as I can, and apply the ford moly grease. It's a lazy man's cure but I didn't have to unbolt the entire shaft and the clunk went away for a few months. Came back later though.

 

The slip yoke on our trucks doesn't have a grease fitting so it's not an easy thing to maintain. I personally never greased mine and by about 95k it had worn enough that grease didn't help for more than a few miles. It just gets displaced and the clunking starts again.



As I chased it down I ended up having a new slip yoke put in my driveshaft. But I'd also replaced all my u-joints and the carrier bearing. In my case I think the carrier being completely worn and shifting around was the primary source of the clunk but the yoke was bad enough that the shaft wobble made effective balancing impossible.

I have no clunk whatsoever now. It's feels very solid in that regard. After all this I do have more vibrations, though. So it's never ending. :-/