Recently purchased a 1996 Ranger XLT 4.0L V6 and on occasion when putting the truck in Drive there is a metallic clank that can be heard.

Even rarer is that I will hear it as I pull away from a stop sign or light. Is this the drive line failing, ujoints, or something else all together?

There are 118,000 miles on the rig. Any suggestions shy of hitting a dealership would be great. Thanks!

 

U-joints would probably be a good place to start with!

 

I would vote U-Joints too but check your fluid level in the rear diff, T/C and the trans, just to be on the safe side.

 

Thanks folks... I will check all those items. Hopefully I get lucky, don't want to mess with replacing that drive line.

 

theres a bit of play in the driveline. i get a clunk going into reverse.

 

That's not normal though right? I'd say whatever I've got going on needs attention as it has increased in frequency over the month I've owned it so I'm going to dig to try and figure it out. The other oddity is the trucks desire to move once in gear without pressing the accelerator. Now my BMW does this a bit but just a bit where in the truck I can get to 15 mph without ever touching the pedal.