I bought my 2000 4runner a couple years ago and it always had that occasional weird thump or clunk coming to a stop or rolling from a stop. I really thought it could be just the transmission finally finding first gear but now I'm thinking different. This subject has been covered on multiple forums and many people believed it was a case of the slip yoke binding as the suspension compressed on a stop and then as the suspension would decompress the slip yoke would unstick and give you that clunk feeling like somebody rear-ended you.

I have greased that slip yoke zerk fitting multiple times but my theory is the grease was never getting back far enough in the slip yoke to prevent the binding. I decided to finally do something about it and just take the slip yoke off, grease the crap out it and put it back together. I drove around the neighborhood doing multiple hards stops and I haven't been able to recreate the clunk. So, I think taking the slip yoke off and greasing it really well might be the solution for some of you out there that have been experiencing the same thing with their 4runners.

The bolts that attach the driveshaft to the differential are on there pretty good. I'm glad I had an impact gun to make it much easier to take apart. I made a video of the repair and I hope it helps somebody out. I was solo so I was relying that I had the camera on my head pointed right. I think the video came out pretty good and I hope to do a better job on the next one.

If you have any comments or suggestions on how I can do a better job in the future, please comment and suggest away.

Here's a link to the video I uploaded to YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKX5UeE2Txs

Nice video. I dig the view from the head mounted camera.

I've been contemplating doing this as well. My 97 gets a clunk if I don't keep greasing about halfway between every oil change. That gets old quick. So I've been considering pulling it and giving a good cleaning and re-greasing to see if it can go a while longer without clunking again.

I've been doing it this way for a while now. I usually do it every 10k~ miles and haven't had a clunk in a long time. It is easy enough at that interval and is well worth it. I never really liked how much pressure the grease would put into the driveshaft, basically trying to extend the shaft, and it also wouldn't allow the suspension to work as effectively. After greasing, I remove the zerk and go to full compression of the shaft to remove all the extra grease to avoid the pressure buildup. No faults found in this method so far! I always use the molybdenum grease at that location as well.

Cheers!

Nicely done. I too get the clunk. I lube the driveshaft, and it is better. But I still get it. I hadn't even considered taking the dang thing apart. Might be doing that this weekend!

Well, I hate to say it but the bump feeling is still happening. I thought I might have pumped to much grease into the slip yoke after reassembling the driveshaft, so I removed the zerk fitting, jumped up and down on the bumper and escaped some of the excess grease. Driving my rig today, the symptoms returned.

My next course of action is to examine the transmission mount. One of the members on the forum had similar symptoms and it ended up his transmission mount was bad along with a motor mount. So, the next time I get a chance to work on my rig, I'm going to pull the trans mount and take a good look at it to see if the rubber is still affixed to both sides of the mount.

I still think taking the slip yoke off and greasing it is a good idea because I don't believe the yoke gets lubricated well enough with that zerk fitting at the back of the yoke.

You are on the right track! What type of grease did you use. You may just need to use a different grease for the splines.

Will you take pictures of this process? I suspect this what's happening to mine.

Red loctite is good for those bolts

I just used an all-purpose moly type grease I bought at O'Reilly. If someone has an actual brand and name of a good grease they like for this application, please chime in.

Yes, at the very least I'll take photos. But, I'll probably video the process with a GoPro mounted on a head strap. I'll post it back on this thread. So, in case I forget to get back to you personally, subscribe to this thread so you will be guaranteed to be notified when new posts are made.

There was a driveline type grease that is a Ford product if I remember correctly that we used at work for a long time. Seemed to work good. It's pretty thick and is literally smurf blue in color. After a quick Google search, looks like Ford xg-8 was the one. It may not be blue anymore, but is used for the same problem we have with our trucks.

Thanks for the great video, it's super helpful!

I'll probably be doing this soon...

Thanks for researching the grease for the slip yoke. Going to order some from Amazon and give it a go.

Here's the link to the Amazon page:http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Ford-F.../dp/B000NU77DA

Read some of the reviews. They're explaining the same symptoms we're experiencing on our trucks.

Just checked out your video, nice work, was very informative.

Excellent video. Good to actually see the yoke apart. Had the same thumping noise on my 98 when I first bought it last year. Like you I cleaned the yoke sleeve where it entered the drive shaft and gave it a few shots of grease every time I was under the rig and it freed up after a few months. Noise went away. You are on the right track, start looking at the drive train.