2001 XJ
RE 3.5" (modified whoops!)

Next on my list is to address a driveline noise (CLUNK) when I shift into drive. Skip to the vids? OK here they are.



Scouring this site the main areas to look are

Engine Mounts/Transmission Mount: Engine mounts good/Transmission Mount NEW
U-Joints: OLD but I see and hear no Play. Only reason I haven't swapped them already is bc I am installing an SYE soon
Dry Slip Yoke: This is more associated with the clunk on starts/stops, which I also exhibited... fortunately my 231 has a leak out of the rear seal so that services the slip yoke for me as long as I keep filling =]

The last thing I want this noise to be is diff related but I'm ready to move past denial. Unfortunately it poured today so I didn't get to crack the case and use my new lube locker but that is happening very soon. What am I looking at here and what should I look for when I crack it open?

Thanks!

 

Look, there's no shame in talking about wiggling your drive shaft guys this is a support group. Just looking for some perspective here

 

 

same here and the rear end can be noisy always had a clunk it got a bit less when motor mounts were replaced but the clunk is still there
dont think you can check backlash by wiggling the drive shaft the spider gears have quite a bit of play and cant be meassured by twisting the drive shaft
ive replaced ever bearing in the rear end on a chrysler 8.25 still same clunk..

-Marc

 

Thanks Marc and Grease, glad to hear it. I think the noise may be exaggerated a bit for me since my brake drums are pretty noisy. Probably should have titled "driveshaft play" vs "backlash" bc I think you're right Marc.

 

i know what you mean the noise can be annoying im not sure if you still have carpet in the back but that helps to muffle the noise a bit hehe your welcome

 

Just following up... I had popped off the rear diff cover to change fluid and check things out. Turned out there was some spider gear wear you could see them doing their dance. It wasn't over exaggerated and I don't see it as much of an issue but it may be contributor to this and others noises as I believe this is fairly average wear. In other news I came across an almost free C8.25 that i'll be swapping in before the snow comes.

 

spider gears have a bit of play even new ones, what did the fluid look like ?


-Marc

 

I'm just following up here to say I still experience this over a year later and it seems to be normal behavior. It can be minimized with shifting technique and selective hearing. I probably wouldn't worry about it if your "issue" is similar. I actually had observed this play in the spider gears themselves when I had the diff open.

 

Yeah, that amount of play looks pretty normal to me. You might try greasing the splines on the slip-joint at the xfer case.

 

Yeah, I don't have a spline on my x-fer case anymore which just doubles down on the noise being due to play in the diff case but I do hear that is the go to first fix. I may have taken a vid of the wear in the spider joints when I had it open, if I find it it I will post it later