CLUNK! (rear axle?)

'95, 4.0, AX15, 231, 8.25... 100% stock with a little sag in the rear.

When I let the clutch out on almost every shift, regardless of up or down shift, I get a pretty loud clunk from what sounds like the rear axle. I was thinking I had a bad u joint, but upon inspection, all the joints look fine! There is just a tiny bit of rotational play, and maybe a millimeter of play at the most up/down at the tcase side. My other XJ(88 4.0,aw4,231,d35) has the exact same amount of play in it too, just checked them both out side by side, but that one doesnt "clunk"... should my next step be taking the dshaft off and seeing if there is alot more play at the yoke? If there is excessive play in the rear end, what would be the likely causes/solutions of this?

Transmission mount, wear in the differential.

Could be a minor issue aggravated by too high of an idle in an auto equipped vehicle.

U-joints and electrical connections, two things that I never accept as "looking good".

Put the transfer case in N, then crawl under there and grab a hold of the DS right in front of the rear axle yoke and turn the DS as hard as you can back and forth--how much slop?

good idea(easier than removing the shaft... doh!) Ill give this a shot bright and early in the morning and post the results!

Tried rotating the drive shaft /w the tcase in neutral, it appears to be the same amount of rotation/play and with it in gear... unfortunately i didnt have a helper, so i couldnt get a comparison without a 5-10 second delay from me hopping in the jeep then back under it... either way, if it wasnt the exact same, it felt pretty close...

i would check the trans mount and even the leaf bushings as well

joe_peters said:

U-joints and electrical connections, two things that I never accept as "looking good".

Click to expand...

X2!!!!

i have this same clunk and i have replaced the mount and my u joints are not bad either mine is a 99 ax-15 4.0 when i bought it with 72,000 it did it just as loud as it does it now with 98,000. if it were a u joint i would have fell apart by now but if you shift and dont drop the clutch as fast or when its up a slight incline it wont do it
its like slope in the transfer case or somthin its annoying

Anybody find a solution on this? My brothers '93 ax-15 8.25 is clunking extremely loud upon decelleration, regardless of the clutch being depressed. Under load, it does not make the sound at all, just when my foot was off the gas.

There was a lot of slop in the driveshaft while in neutral, but no more than my '91, which runs beautifully.

Anyone?

Check the mounts?

Check the rear axle "U" bolts/locating pins?

most of these sound like slop in the gear set from standard wear and tare. id suggest if you havent done a diff fluid change in a while to do one and spray the diff out as best you can with brake cleaner. make sure it all dries befor putting fluid back in. if its getting wear and has had alot of miles since the last change theres probly a fair ammount of metal dust in there

Look at the exhaust were it mounts to the trans x member grab it (if I have to say when cold then you deserve what ever you get) and push it toward the body. There will probably already be a mark on the floor board. The other exhaust test is to basically just kick the tailpipe in different directions but it doesn't always work.