Well, if its not one problem its another lately. I picked up my truck from the dealer today after getting my MAF replaced, and I noticed that when I hit the gas and rev past 2,000 around 40-50 mph, and let of the pedal quickly, there's a big "CLUNK" and relatively violent shake right under my truck. Maybe a tranny or driveshaft problem? I'm going to go get the driveshaft lubricated tomorrow to see if that helps, any other suggestions/ideas?

btw, i just put 300 lbs. of sandbags in the bed a couple days ago, dunno if it relates to it or not. Didnt notice it before putting them in though.

 

I normally associate driveline "clunks" with failing U-joints or too much backlash in the ring & pinion. I've never had broken teeth on a ring gear, but, I would suspect that you could get a "clunk" while it was trying to find some teeth to sync with. The sand bags are probably not the cause of the problem. Your Toy axle is pretty stout...Hayduke tested and will hold pretty close to a ton of sand or gravel. Get some 75-90W oil and pull the drain plug in your diff. See if there are a fair quantity of shavings/broken teeth stuck to the magnetic drain plug. If so, you know the verdict.

If it is your U-joints, greasing may quiet it down a little, but it will still fail. You don't mention whether you have a 5-speed or an automatic. Manual trannys and exuberant drivers are kinda hard on U-joints. Autos tend to soften the hammering and the shock on the U-joint. Popping the clutch is bad. But usually you don't even know why they go out...maybe some dirt from a mudhole, or rust from a water crossing. Check them out or get someone to check them out.

Oh, and give my best to granny...

 

Does that truck have a hanger bearing?

 

Thanks for the replies! My truck is an auto, and i dont know what a hanger bearing is I did get stuck in some rather deep sand a couple weeks ago....maybe it did do something to the U joints, hmmmm...I'll check it out. thanks again for the input guys!

 

Could be a bad u-joint OR loose flange bolts at either end of DS.

By "hanger bearing" he might mean the center bearing on a 2-piece rear DS.

 

...and known to the rest of the world as the "Carrier Bearing"

 

Well, I got my U-joints greased today and that seemed to fix the problem for about 5 miles....then it slowly came back, now its just as bad as before. I guess that helps narrow it down a bit but since I'm not mechanically inclined, I made an appoitment with the stealer on Monday to have it checked out. *sigh* Hopefully its covered under my extended warranty. Thanks for all the input!