I have noticed over the last day or so that the rear end clunks when I am going over bumps offcenter-like. A speedbump at an angle, for instance. It mainly seems like lower speeds its predominant and I am almost certain that its the right rear.

My problem is that ordinarily in a car, I'd go to the sway bar end links or control arm bushings.... I dont have them.

What could possibly clunk when the weight of the rear end shifts from side to side?





PS- This truck is really starting to get under my skin. The ratio of dollars spent on the truck to dollars spent in repairs (be them immediately or slightly future) is progressively swaying AWAY from my liking.

 

Could be something as simple as the leafs shifting /moving and mean nothing....older trucks make some strange noises some times. It could also be u joints,shocks,lash in the rear grears,heck it could even be your spare tire is not tight to the bottom of the truck causing this noise...I had that happen to me till I figured it out.

 

Cool. I will check out some of that stuff. Its been raining here non stop for the last 3 days.

 

...could be an axle sliding back and forth. There is quite a lot of slop where the end of the axle is retained by the C-clip; the axle can slide in and out butting up against the differential pinion gear shaft and then the side gears where the C-clip sits.

You can probably get the axle to make the noise by grabbing the bumper and heaving the rear end from side to side....takes a lot of grunt.

 

^ Let me go try that. It just started happening yesterday.

 

Yep... I can duplicate it using that shaking method... real loud outside the truck.

 

I don't think there is any problem associated with that noise. The axles can't go anywhere, so if the noise is not too objectionable, I'd just live with it.

A new set of C-clips might quiet the system down somewhat. The only wear points are the C-clip itself, the slot in the end of the axle and the end of the axle where it bears on the pinion shaft.

That problem is common to most semi-floating axles using the C-clip retainers. I've never found any of the Ford axles that weren't clunky to some degree.

 

Thats man... that helps me alot. I appreciate it. I'm going to jack it up tonight and see to what degree it actually moves and then if it seems minimal, I'll let it eat. Thanks.

 

I know where you're coming from.....I've had few problems with my '97 XLT, but when I work maintenance on it I find myself yearning to have my old '85 Chevy C10 6.2 diesel back.

 

that post answered my ????'S TO BECAUSE MY O3 SUPERCREW stared doing the same thing and my rear bushings are sqeaking alot now that's probably because it wasn't meant to haul almost 4000 lbs of broken concrete and several loads of rock