I have a clanking noise on or near my rear axle. When I put the car in reverse it will clank. Then when I shift to pull forward it clanks again. I have to be careful when shifting gears to keep the noise from happening. If I don't baby my shifts it will do it again every time I shift.
I replaced my clutch about a year ago. My T.O. bearing already needs replaced as it is squeaking. I crawled underneath to look at the rear axle and the U-joint appears to be OK.
What is the steel mass with two bolt and a bushing that is attached to the front bottom side of the axle? I can move it to where it makes contact with the axle. It didn't start making this noise until a few months after i replaced the clutch.
Any help with this matter would be greatly appreciated.
1998 SVT Cobra #4941 of 5174 built on June 19,1998
4.30s, Speedcal, WMS CAI, Pro 5.0 shifter, Sniper Tuner, March pulleys, Mac O/R H pipe, Flowmaster orig. 40's, King Cobra clutch, D/S rotors, FRPP 9mm's, Max. Motorsports C/C plates, Termy front control arms, H&R SS springs, MM solid steering rack bushings, Tokico HP struts and shocks, Mac subrames, HID Bi-Xenon 6000k kit, Saleen 18" wheels, Saleen S-281 spoiler, sequential tails
Up Next: Termi diff, 31 spline Axles, LPW girdle, MM LCAs
I thought it might be the U-joint. How do I know for sure? There doesn't feel like there is any play in it when I crawl under and try to "feel" for looseness.
if you havent changed the ujoints then just change them,the 11lb piece of metal bolted to the bottom of the rear is for vibration purposes.the clank your hearing could be excessive end play in the diff.
I have a similer problem. Mine makes a clanking noise when I shift gears, usually only in 1st and 2nd sometimes in 3rd, . I changed my rear end a month ago. It started about a week after I changed it so I crawled under the car checked the rear end and all the control arms to make sure nothing was loose. I also changed my u joints last week as well and it is still doing it. I befuddled as to what is causing it though. It sounds like the rear end but I can feel it in my floor board too.
All I can figure is that the tranny mounts are loose or else the yolk (not sure about the technical name) on the rear end, where the drive shaft bolts too, is loose and needs to be replaced.
Drew
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If I take cars and hot girls with money and add them to my life, I have found the key to happiness!
87 GT (UNDER CONSTRUCTION) new paint job, 306 w/ TFS stage 1 cam, TFS intake , still cant decide on heads.
Check all the control arm bushings, and the pinion flange to pinion for slop.
Grab the rear yoke and try to move it side to side or up and down.
IF your careful !!!!...
Jack it up, place the rearend on jackstands, and as its running, have someone shift from reverse to 1st, 1st to reverse several times as your watching whats moving and noting anything odd.
Be careful !
i just went through this same problem, my car feels like it shifts really hard, clunks in the rear end, and will catch wheel in every gear, and my car is bone stock(the cats, muffs, wires, filter all say ford on them) well, i thought that i had a busted u-joint, but what i found when i took it to the rearend guy at my local ford dealer(friend of mine) was that it has a broken spider gear, not saying yours is broken, but excessive play can cause the same problem
Last weekend I was under my car because along withthe clanking noise I am getting vibrations in my shifter between 65-70 miles and hour. I just replaced the u joints 3 weeks ago!! So I greased them up amd checked them they are all fine. So I think my companion flange( one coming of the rearend) is causing my problems. The rearend I installed came out os a twin turbo'd car so I am sure it was flogged on enough to become loose/worn out. Well anyways I grabbed the driveshaft and started to turn it by hand and could feel something move when I heard the clanking noise. So now I am 95% sure it is the companion flange. My question now is how to change it???? DO I have to open up the rearend and do it?
I swapped out rearends about a month and a half ago and before i installed the "new" rearend I opened up the casing and inspected all the gears and thewy were all fine and I also made sure nothing was loose before and after I installed my 5 lug axles.
Drew
__________________
If I take cars and hot girls with money and add them to my life, I have found the key to happiness!
87 GT (UNDER CONSTRUCTION) new paint job, 306 w/ TFS stage 1 cam, TFS intake , still cant decide on heads.
did you mark the driveshaft when you took it out???? they are balanced from the factory, to the flanges, and can cause a hellacious vibration if not put back together the exact same way it came apart.... check the pinion play with the wheels held still (drop the driveshaft then turn the pinion while keeping the wheels from turning) see how much play is in there....
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bone stock but worn out 92 lx 5.0 owned by local sheriff's department wierd options, driven by a detective......... 83 t-bird turbocoupe 88 f250 87 mercur xr4ti ASE master cartified 13 years now, so don't let my post count fool ya!!!
I took the entire rear end out of a donor car( My brother has a 7.8 in his Capri and he just put a 306 in it so he needed an 8.8so I gave him my stock one) The rear end I took and put in mine had 3.55 gears so thats why I took it. There was no driveshaft in the donor car so there was no way to mark it. I have since rotated the driveshaft a 1/4 turn and reattached to the flange twice and still get vibrations between 65-75 mph. I am pretty sure the flange is worn out. It never made the clunking noise until after I swapped rearends, and I have checked to make sure the all the bolts were tight on the control arms and so forth. That leaves only the flange. Which i am sure is a pain in the ass to change. But I could be wrong about that too.
Drew
__________________
If I take cars and hot girls with money and add them to my life, I have found the key to happiness!
87 GT (UNDER CONSTRUCTION) new paint job, 306 w/ TFS stage 1 cam, TFS intake , still cant decide on heads.
OR... the rear end you got is just plain worn out......
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bone stock but worn out 92 lx 5.0 owned by local sheriff's department wierd options, driven by a detective......... 83 t-bird turbocoupe 88 f250 87 mercur xr4ti ASE master cartified 13 years now, so don't let my post count fool ya!!!
Well I opened the case to check the gears and they are practically new, so I put new synthetic lube in and went to town, I just think that the companion flange is worn out.
Drew
__________________
If I take cars and hot girls with money and add them to my life, I have found the key to happiness!
87 GT (UNDER CONSTRUCTION) new paint job, 306 w/ TFS stage 1 cam, TFS intake , still cant decide on heads.
I took the entire rear end out of a donor car( My brother has a 7.8 in his Capri and he just put a 306 in it so he needed an 8.8so I gave him my stock one) The rear end I took and put in mine had 3.55 gears so thats why I took it. There was no driveshaft in the donor car so there was no way to mark it. I have since rotated the driveshaft a 1/4 turn and reattached to the flange twice and still get vibrations between 65-75 mph. I am pretty sure the flange is worn out. It never made the clunking noise until after I swapped rearends, and I have checked to make sure the all the bolts were tight on the control arms and so forth. That leaves only the flange. Which i am sure is a pain in the ass to change. But I could be wrong about that too.
Drew
from the u-joint back is "new"? of so that's probibly ur problem, the pinion side of the u-joint isn't ballenced with the drive shaft, you would probibly have to go to like a drivetrain specialty shop and get them to see if they can ballence it for ya
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89 fox, mostly stock, C&L 73mm MAF, bypassed coolant hoses to egr spacer, intake silencer removal, no a/c, all options but power mirrors?? blown cats, msd cap and rotor, bosch wires, autolite plugs, 5 inch auto gauge tach with recal and blue lensed shift light, PAPER FILTER I BOUGHT ONE!!!!!!! felpro gasgets on everywhere accept oil pan and a nice big classic mustang decal on my back window
Clanking Noise - Rear End 
, msd cap and rotor, bosch wires, autolite plugs, 5 inch auto gauge tach with recal and blue lensed shift light, PAPER FILTER 
