"Clank" when shifting to reverse.

[bruker]

Occasionally when I shift from drive to reverse I get a loud "clank" sound. I serviced the transmission (fluid & filter) earlier this year but just started to notice the "clank" noise. Any ideas?

 

[Toofarnorth]

First suspicion would be to look at the u-joints.

 

[srteach]

There was a TSB for servicing the drive line in 98-00 trucks for this very symptom. It that doesn't apply (I assume the 2003 in your sig is the truck), check the u-joints in the drive line for wear. There is a minimum of 2 in rangers.

 

[smoke81]

universal check

not long ago i noticed a sound like b-bs in a can at about 2000rpm between each gear. after problems with the trans i figured it was acting up again. after manylifted trucks with extremely oversized tires i was used to all the signs of worn out u-jointsthe tell tale clunk when going into gear and the shudder feeling at different speeds. just put it in nuetral and shake the shaft. i did a visual inspection on my stock 2wd ranger u-joints and it looked fine. shook the shaftin nuetral and solid as a rock. now guessin the noise must be the trans i jacked up the truck by the differential(which i dont recommend unless u have to)to spin the tires and try to pinpoint the noise. this is when i noticed the ujoints were just about to fall off. iguess im tryin to say is ujoints are cheap fix...dropping a shaft at highway speed never is...so just change them out..its agood place to start