Driveshaft Slack?
 

Hey everyone, ive searched for answers, but cant find a specific answer to my problem.

sometimes when i take off from a stop light or sign, it feels like there is lag from when i press the gas and it takes off... meaning i let off the brake, then press the gas and it kind of clunks. this only takes less than a second, and i cant seem to find a rhyme or reason to why it does this

it doesnt do this everytime, and it doesnt really make a noise, its just really annoying and i dont know what it is. i just had my rear end regeared and a new diff put in it, so i dont think its that...

could my driveshaft just have extra slack in it or is this a tranny problem surfacing?

thanks in advance...

I actually get this on occasion as well. A little grease in the driveshaft zerks helps it a bit, and I even went as far as replacing the U-joints, but lo and behold, the problem is still there.

With the engine off, put the vehicle in neutral and the parking brake set, on a flat surface. Climb under the vehicle and turn the driveshafts back and forth by hand to see if you can locate the slack...I had this problem with an old Cherokee (full size) I had. Hopefully it is in the u-joints and not somewhere else in the drive train.

i would so go outside and do this right now, but my parking brake no longer works since the disc swap... will chucking the wheels be sufficient?

Yeah..that will work fine just so you don't run over yourself....the drive train will turn on its own...you can do it in park for slack too, unless it is bound up. That should tell you if it is a U-joint of drive shaft pretty quickly.

I have noticed the same thing with my 4Runner as well. I am inclined to believe that the problem is in my transmission. It shifts with a thud when I get on the gas too. I guess that could still possibly be the driveshaft though. When I get some time, maybe this weekend, I plan to take off the driveshaft and run in FWD to see if that makes a difference.

because of my detroit locker whenever i get on or off the gas the there is a little jolt.

could there be play in the spline for the slip joint? :think:

When I had my old full size Cherokee it was in the transfercase chain...Quadratrac. It was an automatic and would clunk when it was put in gear.

Kyle-
Did you find anything on yours?

Well what felt like slack in my truck is now gone after tightening the throttle cable, the transmission kickdown cable and draining/filling the transmission fluid. I also realized I had put way too much transmission fluid in the last time I drained it. Not sure which one made the difference but it was probably a combination of all 3.