2002 ranger 5 speed auto 4x4 had rear end looked at by trans shop and replaced transmission mount before I brought it in, if I'm driving with the over drive off and get on and off the gas I get a clunk ing noise, transmission shop said that the u joints and everything else is fine, where is this noise coming from, all springs are ok as well as shocks and bushings, please help

 

I'd replace the U-joints anyways, they are cheap. I'm doing mine tomorrow as a matter of fact. I have the same issue. I've also heard if your pinion isn't greased up it can cause the same problem. To do that you just unbolt the driveshaft from the differential and put some bearing grease in it.

 

Could be the slip joint on the driveshaft.

 

Yeah, what I said but with his correct terminology. Lol.

 

How do you get grease behind the boot, is there a fitting

 

Is there a grease fitting to grease slip joint

 

No there's no fitting. You can cut the clamp off, move the bolt till you can get an grease gun tip in there and stuff it with grease, then put a hose clamp on it to re clamp the boot.

 

could that make that kind of noise

 

Yes the slip joint clunk in the driveshaft is a very normal thing for these trucks.

Some people have good luck greasing them and never have it again. Some have to constantly grease it every oil change.

 

Do auto parts stores have boot clamps, and I really appreciate your opinion

 

Personally around me, auto parts stores never have any boot clamps that are large enough for this job depending on what year you have and if you have the steel or aluminum driveshaft. My 06 had the aluminum one and it had quite a big diameter.

I ended up going to lowes/home depot and they had a big enough boot clamp as well as big enough zip ties. I ended up buying both just in case and used the large zip tie on mine. I never had it break a single time; it just has to be strong enough to secure the rubber boot. I just got it as tight as I could be hand, just use some pliers to really get it as tight as I could. Snipped the excess off and was good to go.

I still got some if you would want a picture of them but im sure any brand and kind you would find would work.

 

Why would truck make that noise only with od off, when I take off from complete stop there is a hesitation in the drivetrain like it is taking up some slack before it actually move s , it's slight but I can feel it, you have been a huge help to me

 

Is it truly only when OD is off?

I know you said when driving with OD off and you get on and off of it quickly that it makes the clunk but did you do the exact same thing with the OD on?

It doesnt make any sense that it would only clunk getting on and off of it quickly when driving with OD off but not with it on. Also why were you driving with OD anyways? Towing or something?

 

It's like od takes the edges off the torque,just tried it with it off to try to find out where the noise was coming from

 

I would say it is 95% your slip joint on the driveshaft that needs to be greased.

Do you have the aluminum or steel driveshaft? I think yours is right around the years they started switching.

 

Aluminum with the big black boot on it

 

Here is an example with the large circle clamp on it. That is where the factory clamp is at that you will have to remove.

 

127xxx miles on it

 

That's is the same one

 

Well that is the first thing I would do. You can do it with it still in the truck and attached, you can just unbolt it from the differential and seperate it there, or actually take the whole driveshaft out which is what I did since it makes it easier. Plus I wanted to really clean the old stuff out good and get it really full of new fresh grease.

Its a splined section in there and the driveshaft will actually seperate there.

 

Thanks a lot will try tomorrow and repost

 

Sounds good man. Also don't just go by the factory grease looking good.

I did mine at 50,000 miles on my 06 and the factory blueish grease looked perfect. There was absolutely no reason in my mind why the clunk was still happening with what I was looking at. But cleaning it all out and putting fresh grease in quieted it down some.

If you have a manual it will sometimes do it more when shifting gears, and if you have an auto it seems to show it more when going from P to D, D to R, etc but can also do it while driving if you just hit the gas quickly from a cruise situation making it downshift quickly.

I could make mine do it badly if I wanted to with the 4.0, manual transmission, tiny 235 tires, and 4.10 gears but once I had the 32's and 33's on it, it hardly ever did it mainly with all the extra weight and mass soaking a lot of the energy and power up.

 

Just wanted to say thanks to all of you problem was slip joint, I'm on cape cod. In Massachusetts if I can ever be of help to someone, thanks again

 

I wanna say they started switching them earlier. My 08 has an aluminum one with the boot.

 

In case anyone is wondering, here is the TSB regarding this thunk problem

www.fordforumsonline.com/attachments/tsb04-23-07-pdf.1619/