Am I allowed here? LoL

[Lester Geez]

Hi, I was informed that my Mazda is essentially a Ranger.... delete me if driving a Mazda B4000 is a sin. (o: Also, I'm in Canada. (Double strike)

(running and hiding)

Anyway, I just purchased this truck and when I apply the brakes, there's a loud clunk in the rear end. I'm guessing it's brakes but I have haven't had it check yet. Any guesses?

 

[superj]

welcome!!

can be any number of things back there. you will need to do a little more trouble shooting listening. can be brakes, can be u-joint in the driveshaft, can be differential.

does it do it when starting from a stop? when shifting to drive from park?

maybe see if you can get a video of it?

 

[Robertmangrum.rm]

Welcome to TRS. Like said above a little more info would help. We allow the B series Mazdas and Navajos as well. Hope you enjoy the site.

 

[Lester Geez]

welcome!!

can be any number of things back there. you will need to do a little more trouble shooting listening. can be brakes, can be u-joint in the driveshaft, can be differential.

does it do it when starting from a stop? when shifting to drive from park?

maybe see if you can get a video of it?

No it doesn't start until I'm driving and apply the brakes. Except now it's clunking a few seconds apart without even applying the brakes. It could be the u-joint. I'm having it checked over next week.

 

[Ranger850]

I'd pull the drums off and see if anything is loose or flopping around in there.

 

[Lester Geez]

Good idea. Hopefully that's the problem
... and not the transmission.

 

[WutUp Clegg]

DId you check the suspension? The leaf spring bolts could be loose at the axle or frame brackets.

 

[Lester Geez]

Ok... I didn't check anything yet. A mechanic down the street is going to give it a full checkup next week. I'll post the results.

 

[JoshT]

There are several things to check before worrying about the transmission. Brakes, u-joint, differential, something loose in the suspension.

If you have a 4wd, I'm going to place my bets on something that hasn't been mentioned yet. Driveshaft slip joint (or yoke).

I'm not 100% on thre 2wds, but the 4wds have a 2 piece driveshaft to allow for suspension movement. Front is a splined shaft that slips into the rear section with a protective boot over it. When they get a little worn, or the boot tears and grease gets washed out, they can start making a sound like that. There was actually a Ford TSB on disassembling and replacing the grease in them on some vehicles. I don't know if they ever officially applied the TSB to the Ranger, but the same thing happens to them too. It was actually doing it some on my 99 whel the shaft was loaded and unloaded (aka coasting and applying power) before the V8 swap, I could make it do it on command. Never fixed it, but due to other changes associated with the swap it is unlikely to happen now.