Clunk is gone!

[HeavyD]

Thanks to all of the expert advice on this forum the clunk in my "new" 96 is gone. I, like most newbs w/ 80's I suppose, expected the now infamous clunk to be much more than a drive shaft greasing issue. However, I followed the advice in the FAQ, disassembled both drive shafts, hand greased the splines and I am now clunkless!

 

[airlaird]

Hmmm...so the fix is simply dropping the driveshafts and greasing the splines??
airlaird

 

[HeavyD]

Yes, it's that easy. There is a great link on the FAQ list regarding driveline clunk. It is very detailed and explains all of the scenarios. Most of the time it is apparently due to being over greased or not enough grease. Mine was not enough grease. Anyway it solved my problem.

 

[cheap 40]

Same with me........I too thought that the clunk HAD to be something worse, but after searching here I dropped just the front, greased it, and no more noise!! The people here on 'Mud are such a fantastic wealth of knowledge!!

Tony

 

[whodat]

how many banana job is this?

 

[cheap 40]

Personally, I thought it was pretty easy. Just make sure that you don't overlook marking the driveshaft before you pull it so that everything goes back together the way it came out. Don't ask me how I know!!

Tony

 

[HeavyD]

I would say about a 1 1/2 to 2 banana job. The most time consuming part for me was removing the stubborn bolts. After that, about 30 min for cleaning and greasing. DEFINITELY mark both sections of the drive shaft before removal. And also check to make sure the drive shafts are in the correct phase before you begin.

 

[Biff]

What kind of grease did you use? I have to do this because my clunk is getting anoying.

 

[e9999]

don't be surprised if it comes back again in a few thousand miles, pretty common I think

 

[OGBeno]

What kind of grease did you use? I have to do this because my clunk is getting anoying.

Victor:

I use the Mobil 1 red grease that many people use on their wheel bearings. Seems to work really well for both the u-joints as well as the yoke sleeve on both the front and rear drive shafts.

Best.
-onur

 

[Biff]

Victor:

I use the Mobil 1 red grease that many people use on their wheel bearings. Seems to work really well for both the u-joints as well as the yoke sleeve on both the front and rear drive shafts.

Best.
-onur

Thanks Onur, I'll have to try that. Just one more thing to add on my todo list.

 

[tarbe]

don't be surprised if it comes back again in a few thousand miles, pretty common I think

The above is worth repeating....

Remember, greasing the slip yokes is a PM item. Give the zerks a couple shots with the grease gun at the first sign of the grabbing/clunking. You should notice fresh grease on the shaft after a few miles of driving.

Some folks have experienced constipated slip yokes that would not vent. Be careful not to overgrease from the zerk until you are sure your shafts will pass grease. There is a danger of "hydrolocking" your shaft....rare, but it has happened.

Do a search if you want to read more on this.

 

[flintknapper]

don't be surprised if it comes back again in a few thousand miles, pretty common I think

I've been able to avoid this by using a using a grease that we normally reserve for tractor use.

Schaeffer's #229 Ultra Red Moly. We use it on farm equipment to lubricate pins, tie rod ends, anything that is subject to high pressure...but does not move at high speed (like U-Joints).

It is completely waterproof, paraffin based, synthetic, and tacky as hell. This stuff stays put. I have used it on drive shaft splines with good success. Other greases seem to "pound out" too quickly.

It does not dispense from the tube very well in cold weather (just warning you) but you can apply it by hand to any surface you can reach.

We buy it locally at our NAPA store, and wouldn't use anything else on parts that need a grease that will last. It has a temp. range of 250 deg.

If your "clunk" comes back, give it a try.

 

[semlin]

mmm, tractor grease...

actually I think that is excellent advice. Flint would you mind posting that suggestion on the driveline clunk FAQ?

 

[Nordic]

Clunking in the Ozarks

New to this forum, I was happy when I saw the apparantly infamous clunk issue addressed. I rushed out to the garage, pulled the driveshafts and greased them with some heavy agricultural green grease. The front was ok, but the back was almost dry. Test drive showed marginal improvement. I did notice about 10 degrees of play on the back pinion(probably fine) but about 45 degrees of play in the front. I can use all the advice I can get, Im not afraid to get dirty, but the axles scare me a bit. I'm also a Birfield virgin, and noticing a bit of crunch at full lock, and near lock in reverse. Please bestow some sage wisdom on me wise ones!


'91-FJ80 Stock, and purty, but not for long...........

 

[cruiserman]

45* of play with the center diff locked?

 

[Nordic]

45 degrees in the front axle with no tires turning. no, diff not locked

 

[Elijah]

You mean that you can rotate the driveshaft 45* by hand??!! Please clarify.

 

[hobbes]

Was there any vertical play or was it all rotational?

 

[Cruiser Jimmy]

Nordic,
Having a '91 also I have found that I have excessive play in the front diff even after greasing the driveshafts although it did help out a little with the cluck.

To clarify my analysis, here's what I did to judge that the front diff is still contributing to the cluck:
With the FR draftshaft off and the front wheels off the ground, I can turn the 'Companion Flange' on the FR diff about one inch of free play. To me free play is the distance from the two points where the wheels start to turn. For my rig that's about 30º to 40º.

Soon I'll be disassembling the front diff to add a spacer to fix the problem.

Hope that helps ya'll.