I just got back from helping a friend get his Explorer unstuck from it's snowy tomb, it took us 3 hours to dig and tug it out.

Now it appears I have a mysterious clunking that I am unable to pinpoint or recreate by yanking and hitting stuff. See if you can help me...

It only clunks over bumps.

It seems to be coming from the passenger rear side, right at the very back of the truck.

It doesn't appear to be the hitch, the receiver shackle, the shock, the tire, the coil, the tailgate, the spare tire carrier.

The noise is louder on the inside than it is on the outside (apparently).

Nothing in the cargo area is clanging around loose.

So what I ask you, would cause this to happen solely from alot of stress put onto the hitch?

I'm going to investigate in the morning, so all ideas will be examined.

Cheers!

 

Rear end?

 

that same sound was and is coming from my runner...but i know what makes my sound....the rear bumper has a bit of movement no matter how tight it is bolted on...it just does move everytime you go over a bump pothole etc.....ever since i had a small fender bender with a concert wall (small tap really) it has cluncked....never could figure it out till i started noticing a sort of rubbing off of the paint from the rear (fender/cowl ?) where i'd had that slight encounter with the wall....apparently i'd bent the bumper bracket so that it was/is to close to the fender/cowl and now everytime a bump or pot hole comes along it makes that sound.....so check your bumper...and yeah it sounds louder inside than outside of the runner........

 

I know the fuel tank is on the passenger rear end, on my truck. Maybe it something around that (the skid plate)? Just shootin what came in my head at first.

Thanks,
Mario

 

Hmmmm. The only thing I can think of is the tugging pressure on the hitch may have caused enough stress on the frame to break a bumper mount or something similiar.

 

It's weird, because I cannot recreate it for the life of me... even jumping on the bumper to simulate bumps in the road won't do it...

At least it's nothing serious It's just loud and annoying.

I was under there for a bit tonight tugging on stuff, but it's -15 or so, and I was already freezing from standing outside for 3 hours.

I'm thinking that perhaps where the hitch is connected to the frame, it may have been seized up with rust and junk, and all the tugging may have loosened it up. Though trying the rattle the hitch by hand was inconclusive.

Shame I didn't have a camera tonight, I had to tow the explorer back down the trail and all the way down to the Ford dealership because he roasted his tranny it seems (my guess anyways). Good times