Clunking in rear driver's side

inutero1212 · 10-14-2008, 08:56 PM

I have a 2000 TJ with a 3" lift and 33x12.50's not much else' recently I started hearing a clunking noise that i could feel in the tub of my vehicle. I started looking and saw my rear trac bar was loose, so i tightened it. then i noticed my front trac bar ball joint was junk. i replaced it and greased it. next i jiggled the drive shaft to test for u-joint integrity, and no play whatsoever. i can only now think that it may be a control arm or something of the sort. i jumped up on my back end and wiggled back and forth side to side and up and down and no noise, but when i accelerate from a stop or go from P to any gear fwd or rev, it makes a loud clunk. also to be noted i have and auto tranny. anything you can give me helps.

lilman · 10-14-2008, 09:09 PM

Dude, I just had same problem and fixed it by tightening the 4 bolts on the transmission hump that hold the transfer case linkage to undercarriage and also I had a rear lower control arm that was a little loose. I could tell the arm was loose cause all around it on the control arm bracket was shiny where it was rubbing.

inutero1212 · 10-14-2008, 09:57 PM

it is night here now, but a quick update from the drive home from the girlfriend's leads me to think that it might be the tranny as i was getting a more frequent clunk from simply driving on our crappy roads without the acceleration. in the morning i will check and post later that night.

inutero1212 · 10-15-2008, 10:42 PM

ok, i have all the intel i can gather before i start taking everything apart. The noise is usually when accelerating from a complete stop and more extreme when i am doing it while turning. while driving i can hear it only on small choppy bumps. I checked the tranny mount and it seems good. What do we have?

thsydup · 10-15-2008, 11:11 PM

Take a look at your lower shock mounts.. the nuts may look tight, but if not properly torqued, the shocks will tap the stud during sharp acceleration (in forward & reverse).

**Xiled1** · 10-16-2008, 11:37 AM

also check the tightness of any rear sway bar extensions. I get clunking from those shifting up and down.

**mdm** · 10-16-2008, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by inutero1212

...I checked the tranny mount and it seems good...

How did you check the transmission mount? You can have a transmission mount that has completely separated and not be able to see it by just looking at it with it installed. Try jacking up the transmission a little and see if you get any separation in the mount.

Check your motor mounts also.

inutero1212 · 11-17-2008, 04:15 PM

the problem was my U-joint on the front driver side of the axle for the record, thanks for the help.