I recently purchased a 2002 Ranger Edge. It is an automatic with 4WD. I am noticing that when I start or stop moving, there is what feels like a slight delay before the rear wheels engage or when they come to a complete stop. I have been reading about what people have been referring to as rear wheel clunk. Wondering if that could be my issue?

 

U joints would explain the slight delay and clunk of driving forward.

Coming to a stop would be something in breaking department

 

That symptom is very typical of a binding slip joint in the drive shaft. It needs to be taken apart, cleaned up, relubed and reassembled. I had to do this to my 2002 Ranger about 1-1/2 years ago. I wished I had done it sooner. It not only eliminated the delayed engagement sensation, it also eliminated most of what I thought was axle wrap that I was getting when starting from a stop. You should not be experiencing anything like axle wrap with an automatic.

 

LEARN TO SPELL NEWB

 

This sounds like a fairly easy fix so I will try it. I hope it works. Thanks for the advice

 

ball buster

 

Also, check the U-Joints on the drive shaft.
See if they are moving around and see if there has ever been grease in them.
If they flip around inside of the side pieces or if no grease they may need replacing.
Get U-Joints with grease fitting and remember to grease them on a regular basis and more if using the truck off road.

 

Thanks for the advice. Binding slip joint was actually the culprit! No more clunk!