The Ranger Clunk?

[PaulZ]

Hey Guys,

Just went through several pages of a 'Clunk' search, looked at the Tech Library but still no answer. I have a '99 stick and my pal has an '01 auto. Both make the same driveling clunk when taking off from a stop unless deliberately slow. His has done it since new, I got mine used but have checked the U-joints. Both drive great, no vibration, no noise. Several threads mentioned the 'Notorious Clunk' without saying what it is? So, what is it?

 

[dvdswan]

Dry slip-joint in the driveline.

 

[PaulZ]

Thanks man!

 

[Eddo Rogue]

Thats just the Trak lok kicking in, the clunk means its working properly.

 

[Dirtman]

There is a TSB for Ford 2 piece driveshafts, they are well known to clunk at the slip joint. Ford sells a grease called XG-8 that fixes the issue. But there are many other things that clunk on Ford drive trains.

 

[scotts90ranger]

'98 and newer should be single piece driveshafts on extended cab's unlike earlier versions, that was my first thought too, I think that's where any clunking in my '97 lives...

The other thought is the limited slip, if both have those (look on the tag on the drivers door under "Axle", if the code starts with a letter that's a limited slip) then that's the cause. I'd call it normal if that's the case but wouldn't be bad to check into to make sure the spider gears don't strip out if they're worn out enough.

Only other thing I can think of is transmission mount or engine mount. If either was TTB/TIB I'd say radius arm bushings because I know that noise...

 

[cbxer55]

My 98 was doing that. It's a 7.5 open diff. Spider gears well rounded off on the corners. My friend who rebuilt the thing, said "they're worn but not terrible. just don't go selling them to anyone". Haha!

 

[fixizin]

Ixnay, ixnay, Public Service Announcement: FoMoCo "baby blue" XG-8 Anti-Clunk Grease: that 3 oz. tube is a whopping $28.79 at Duh Dealer, $14.30 on Amazon... and only $6.29 at O'Reilly... go figure.

 

[fixizin]

My '99 Ext Cab 4WD Manual has the so-called 1-piece driveshaft, but it still has a splined slip-joint (to compensate for suspension travel), and still relies on heavy nickel plating from the factory on those splines, which eventually wears off, and thus develops The Clunk... and benefits from being packed with the same XG-8 grease.

 

[Dirtman]

The only ranger driveshafts that are truly "one piece" are 2wd automatics that have the slip joint at the transmission output shaft. Any driveshaft with a bolt on yoke at the transmission or transfer case whether it's 1 piece, or 2 piece with a carrier bearing has a slip joint on the shaft and those are what causes the noise.

The ones with the slip joint at the transmission output shaft still clunk but there's not a damn thing you can do about it since you CAN NOT grease those splines. The splines are inside the transmission and the grease will contaminate the transmission fluid.