I have the '94 with the 4.0 v6, manual trans.
Recently I've been experiencing a loud clank when I go into gear. Only in low gears (mostly just 1st on takeoff) and reverse. I checked U Joints, they seem solid. When I try to turn the crank shaft by hand there is a little play in the output shaft, I'm not sure if this is normal or not. It makes the noise mostly only when there is extra stress on the driveshaft. That is when going into gear or when going down a hill in low gear. My transmission fluid is full, I topped it off the other day. (Pain in the butt, but that's a whole other story) U joints seem fine as well. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Could be 2 things

Most common is the Slip Joint(slip yoke) on the drive shaft, just needs to be re-lubed, you can do it without removal of drive shaft but I would pull it out, mark it in rear axle first, then replace u-joints and lube the slip joint, then its all done for the next 20 years, lol
Info here: https://www.ranger-forums.com/drivet...-sticky-73528/


The other thing can be the carrier bearing, these are used on extended cabs with a two-piece drive shafts, they wear out and can be a bit of a bear to changed but needs to be done when they start to wear out
If you have one just push drive shaft from side to side and you will see if move inside housing, a bad thing, lol
It will cause a cluck noise at first then it will be a vibration
Several videos out there on changing it

 

Thanks. I don't have a 2 part drive shaft, so that rules out the second option. It looks like I'll have to pull my shaft off to get to it,mine looks pretty different from the one in the other thread. This is what the transmission end of my drive shaft looks like.

 

Do you have a regular cab 4.0l manual trans?


Fairly rare combination if so, and yes that is what they looked like, two piece was on extended cabs

You unbolt the drive shaft at the rear axle(mark it) and the part in the picture can be pulled out of transmission tail shaft housing

 

Yep. It's the splash model.
Ok, so once I pull that out of the tail shaft housing I just grease it up and slide it back in? Doesn't sound too bad.

 

Block tires before removing drive line

Change the U-joints, they are cheap, well relatively cheap, and maybe change the rear seal on the transmission, also not expensive

While drive line is out move rear axle drive line attachment to see if its "clunking"

 

Quick Update,
I haven't had a chance to pull the driveshaft to take care of that yet. However the original clunk is now accompanied by a knocking/ tapping/clicking from somewhere behind the cab. It sounds like it's coming from roughly the same area as the clunk, but it's hard to tell as it only does it when moving. Nothing I do seems to particularly make it happen more or less, other than that putting in the clutch makes it stop, so it is somewhere behind the transmission. Could this be due to the same issue? A dry slip joint?

 

While you're under the truck, check your transmission mount.

 

My money is on U-joint, both noises fit failing u-joint

 

And that was my thinking as well. But I don't seem to have any play in them. So when I turn the shaft by hand it doesn't wiggle on the u joints. Can the u joints be bad without having that wiggle?

 

Yes, its welding itself in place after you stop, until enough needle bearings disintegrate there would be no play with just your arm strength, engine strength is ALOT more, so clunk, and the new tick/click is the needle bearings starting to shift around, so getting closer to end of life