Drive line Clunk immobilizes my LX450... (1 Viewer)

[gemoose23]

Apparently after a great weekend of shuttling the wife and kids around for shopping in the snow, the driveline clunk Immobilized my LX450 enroute this morning with the kids to school.

I was stuck in the kid drop off line... clunk happened, LX450 sat there unable to move. I put her in reverse.. backed up 1 foot. Then she was able to go forward again. Drove her back around the block, after the kiddos got out, back home.

This was our 1st real morning of cold (0 deg morning here in Iowa), I assume driving in the snow and muck yesterday allowed it to freeze in my driveline, exasperating any issues I have.

So while in the office today: Making some plans for my LX450. (130k miles)

U-Joint inspection (I assume this is the issue)
Remove front Drive Shaft and lock CDL to see if the clunk is gone (from another mud thread)

Anything else I am probably missing from my diagnosis steps?

 

[BILT4ME]

I'm guessing brake caliper bolt.

Check to make sure both upper and lower bolts are still in your brake calipers on both sides (front calipers)

You may have to actually try to turn the bolts, as they may be in the caliper, but unthreaded to allow rotation of the caliper.

Supposed to be torqued to 90 LB-FT.

 

[LS1FJ40]

Where in Iowa are you? I'm in Cedar Rapids.

 

[jfz80]

I would seriously doubt a Ujoint bound the truck to point of immobility.

Id check the caliper bolts solely because you were able to back up and free up the system.

Drive flanges could be a culprit to inspect but id not think they were the cause based on your description.

Is there frozen slush plastered to entire undercarriage? ive seen a pad freeze to a disc once when cold and user set pbrake after a creek crossing or generally slushy run. Also I have once seen ice build up on backing plates and knuckles pretty bad.... to point of interference with bellcranks and or grinding as wheel spins against block of ice.

 

[Pippylongsausage]

I had this happen on my old ford ranger. If I hit the brakes, and then tried to go, it would move about a fot and then completely lock up. It turned out to be a leaf spring U-bolt on the axle that broke and allowed the axle to shift when I hit the brakes, and then the pinion angle was too much for the DS to turn. Reverse a foot or so, and it would tilt back into place and it would go again. Obviously we don't have leaf springs, but maybe the axle is tilting somehow???

 

[BILT4ME]

Could also have been as simple as a chunk of ice fall off and wedge between the caliper and wheel. When you backed up, it fell out. BTDT too.

 

[gemoose23]

Where in Iowa are you? I'm in Cedar Rapids.

I am close to Fort Dodge.. 45 mins north of Ames.


It looks like everyone is tending towards brakes... this is a chance since I replaced my rear 3rd member, I could have missed a torque on the brakes on reassembly.

I shall take a look tonight, thanks for the feedback all!

 

[BILT4ME]

You replaced the third member in the rear?

What did you have done to it?

Not experienced on this with the LC, BUT, I had a similar experience on a Studebaker when the bolt for the center pin on the spiders fell out and the pin started to slide out and hit the case while I tried to pull away from a stop sign. I backed up a tick and it dropped back in enough to work. As long as I kept torque on it, it stayed in place. I had to pull the rear cover and install a new bolt.

Not sure what you need to do here. That would be bothersome to me, indeed.

Still, check your brakes first, KISS.

Good Luck!

 

[gemoose23]

You replaced the third member in the rear?

What did you have done to it?

Not experienced on this with the LC, BUT, I had a similar experience on a Studebaker when the bolt for the center pin on the spiders fell out and the pin started to slide out and hit the case while I tried to pull away from a stop sign. I backed up a tick and it dropped back in enough to work. As long as I kept torque on it, it stayed in place. I had to pull the rear cover and install a new bolt.

Not sure what you need to do here. That would be bothersome to me, indeed.

Still, check your brakes first, KISS.

Good Luck!

Upon buying my LX450 last year, driving home with my new purchase, I had the rear 3rd member fail on me. So I had it rebuilt with stock ratio etc, since I am building this as the family adventure/camping vehicle.

Update but not sure if it is what froze me up the other day:

Propane garage heater finally arrived from amazon... -10 wind chill tonight, brrr.. But heater fired up kept it workable in the garage.

Checked Brake calipers and brake mounting bolts.. all solid and tight.
As I was under the LX450.. I was prying at the U joints to see any play and movement. Very tight.

Since I was reading the Driveline FAQ clunk, I remembered about in phase or out of phase regarding the driveshafts, apparently I didn't read my Factory Service Manual in detail enough, but I had it out of phase and not aligned grease nipples like the factory manual had pictured. Corrected this, cleaned up and relubed the rear drive shaft, hitting all the other grease zerks on the drive line as well.

I put my hand on the exhaust pipe and it moved and made the familiar clunk. The bracket that attaches the muffler to the frame was rusted through, with the exhaust sitting on the rear axle. I seriously hope this is my issue. I am going to try to fix it tomorrow with my little 110v Miller MIG.

I also started to replace my rear diff fluid, since I was overdue after the recommended milage from the rebuilder, 1000 miles. But the fluid is moving like honey and it is getting late. Going to search for some ideas on how to make this gear oil move faster into the differential.

Update TLDR.......

• Brakes Tight. U-Joints Tight.
• Found Rear Drive shaft was incorrectly installed, fixed.
• Found Muffler hanging on the axle and it makes the familiar clunk noise, attempting my crappy welding skills tomorrow.
• Found out with -10 wind temps, differential gear oil moves as slow as molasses.