Here is a How to Grease your Slip Yoke Without Removing the Drive Shaft. This remedies the bump/clunk that happens in the drive shaft (two piece) when accelerating/decelerating.

This was performed on a 1999 Ford Ranger 4x4. Procedure will be very similar
with other year Rangers as well as Explorers and possibly Mustangs.

Tools Needed:
Flat Head Screwdriver
Zip Ties
Grease
Latex Gloves (if not using a grease gun)

1. First locate the slip yoke boot. It should be located near the
front of your truck near the catalytic converter.


2. Pry off the metal clamps on the boot with a flat head screwdriver.
They should pop off (break) easy, be careful not to damage the boot.




3. Pack the slip yoke boot with grease of choice. I used Valvoline ($4.79)
blend purchased at Checker Auto Parts. It was made for Fords, so that
is what I used.



4. Use zip ties to secure slip yoke boot back onto drive shaft. You could also
use hose clamps, but I didn't since I didn't want any chance of
unbalancing the drive shaft.


I took it out for a quick spin and bump/clunk was completely gone. Note that you will have to re-grease down the road, but with decent grease it should last a good while. Others have had similar results adding Jim Duff traction bars and not having to worry about re-greasing. This was truly a quick fix, took about 10min total. Suggestion/Comments are welcome.

 

I usually find it easier to remove the driveshaft, atleast the pig side bolts, mark the driveshaft first at the flange and at the slip yoke, and remove it to get more grease in it

 

what is even easier, deal with the bump thud. lol i dont notice it

 

a ranger with out a bump thud? that exists?!??!?!?!

 

thanks, i may have to go out and do that tommrow. That damn bump/thud drives me crazy.

 

personally i never noticed it on any of my trucks i would assume its there.. but all i have ever owned is ford trucks besides my escort but we dont talk about that car lol

 

I've learned to live with the pinging. but nice write up.. since its down for the count i may actually go out and do it just because i have nothing better to do.

 

so thats what makes that noise...hmm...im not taking it out to grease it lol...i had a hard time getting mine to align last time i took it out when i broke my yoke. (forgot to mark em had to guess)

 

You dont have to take it out to grease it. He didnt take his out to grease it. Someone just mentioned that you can get more grease in there if you take it out.

 

Correct, you don't have to remove anything except the metal bands that hold the boot. Then replace the bands with hose clamps or zip ties.

 

Thanks for that desciption and pics. I have always been bothered by that bump-thud but never realized that it is that easy to fix. Now if only I could get my drivers door to lock. It flicked back and forth between locked and unlocked 2-3 times the other day when I hit my remote and has been jammed in the unlock position ever since. It's always something, huh? I have about 144k miles on my 99 ranger and little things are starting to pop up. I don't plan on getting rid of it anytime soon, though. Best vehicle I have owned! Ford Rocks!

 

nice write up, mine is so bad that even with jd bars i still feel it

 

jd bars seemed to fix my issue. i really dident even realise it untill i read this thread i forgot all about the sound then i read this and i was like wow i havent herd it since i put the bars on... :)

 

ha guess it came back to bite me since i didnt read everything before i posted

 

I just removed my drive shaft last time I did mine and replaced the ujoints at the same time, Ive gone to whole summer and haven't felt it since. I dont remember what kind of lubricant I used it was what ever was in my grease gun lol

 

Well i just got done packing the boot with that same grease. Only $3.99 for me. LOL. Lets home this is a fix. If I have to grease it a couple of times a year, that is fine with me. Until i can save up the $$ for a one peace DS or some JD Traction bars this will have to do.

 

^^^
Nice, let us know if it worked for you.

 

damn ive always wandered what that was. mine has a pretty hard "clunk" only when i take off from a stop. good to know its a cheap fix. nice write up

 

Worked like a charm. There is no sign of the bump/thud what so ever. I wish I knew about this when I first got the truck. We will have to see how long the grease lasts. Hell if I have to do this once a month thats fine with me.

 

Just lubed my yoke last night. I know it would be better to remove the driveshaft to get the grease applied well, but I took off the driveshaft connection to the transfer case and moved the slip yoke in and out a bit to get the grease in better. I know the yoke needed it, it had some water in the boot actually, as well as got stuck in when I was messing with it. I drove around for a minute after I was done, and it seemed to be better instantly but not positive. I will post with positive results as soon as I drive it enough to tell.
Was a simple fix though.

 

i have done it a few times
on my 93 and it did not work

 

After lubing my slip yoke and driving enough to see if it helped, I don't feel that it did much. It still jolts during stopping and accelerating, it's probably axle wrap as many people have said. It's hard to believe that it is though, it just started doing this within the past few months and it jolts fairly hard...it's hard to imagine the axle twisting enough to cause this.
I'll see how it feels after I install some long travel leafs in the spring and deal with the issue from there if it still exists.

 

I know this is an old thread but, i just did this and it seems to work like a charm, good results so far...

 

I still experience the bump when accelerating and breaking. I changed my rear diff pinion seal and diff fluid and checked out the gears. One of the small spider gears is really worn on the shaft it's which makes up tons of play and i'm guessing it's most of the bump that I can feel when driving. So, if I want it to go away I suppose I need to either rebuild the gears or just get a new axle.