Hey guys I welded my diff as well as a solid front diff mount with a preloaded pinion snubber, poly tranny mounts and when I turn while the inner wheel skips,I get clunking noise in the tranny area when I'm in neutral, But goes away if i turn while in gear. I remember replacing my tranny mounts and the bushing on the tranny crossmember fell out. So my next step was to look into the driveshaft u-joints and see if there is any play or purchase a new crossmember. Can you guys help me to see what other things can cause this clunk? Thanks!

 

My guess would be the front diff mount slapping the body of the car.

Or it could be a (way less violent) jerk on the driveshaft.. I'm thinking that as the tire skips, the diff quickly jerks the drive shaft, making it bounce back and fourth(freely since it's in neutral).. I have a 1.5 way diff + a 6-puck clutch, and *rarely* when I press in the clutch, and pull it out of gear, while moving slowly, the diff will lock up, and bounce my driveshaft back and fourth.. It makes a funny clunking noise, and is pretty harmless since the weight of the drive shaft alone will not likely damage u-joints.

 

That would also explain why it will only happen out of gear.. If you were in gear, the drive shaft wouldn't have room to jerk.

 

Okay the driveshaft on it was from the junkyard so who knows how many miles have been on them and so the drive shaft on the car should have no play whatsoever while in gear?

 

It may have a bit.. But the u joints is where it would be bad.. If there is any play at either u joint, then the driveshaft is doo doo

 

Okay ill check it out tomorrow and see how it goes

 

check the 2 nuts that hold the forward diff mount in place, mine weren't tightened enough and I got an awful clunk everytime I shifted

 

I checked the driveshaft and there seems to be no play on the u joints what so ever and i checked the front diff mount bolts when i put the pinion snubber on. Any other suggestions guys?

 

What I said could still be true. Which would be nothing to worry about.. I'm actually pretty confident that's what it is.

 

well the only play going on is the tranny and its really minimal. If you can pm your number i can send you a vid from my phone

 

Pm'd.

I really don't think there needs to be much play for it to make a noise. Also, the amount of force you can put into it is faaar faaaaaar less then a 2,800 lb. Car can while in gear, so you might not be feeling all the play..

maybe look above the diff/diff mount area for fresh scars/marks in the the body. It could just be banging against it. My buddy has solid diff mounts, and his clanks and bangs when he shifts.. Like 75% of the time hahaha

 

Well the pinion snubber is preloaded so there's pressure on it pushing onto the subframe so I'm almost positive it's not that and the noise is near the armrest. You think a broken crossmember could be the issue? I kind of feel iffy spending 100 on a new one cause it seems like it wouldn't make a difference cause the two mounts on the tranny should be doing the job but than again they wouldn't put the bushing on the crossmember for no reason

 

I had a clunk while shifting which could be replicated by letting the clutch out a bit and pushing it back in with the brake set
I put the car on stands and with the help of a friend we determined that it's just a lot of slop in the transmission.

 

Damn that was the last thing I wanted it to be lol