I have the weirdest loud knocking and shake that seems to be coming from my rear. The weird thing is it does it on real cold mornings and when it warms up on the road,10 mins or so, it completely goes away. My mechanic is at a loss. We have replaced all 4 brake calipers, some were sticking, greased emergency brake. Change diff and transfer case fluid and no significant metal found in the old fluid. No sign of wear in the U joint. It is a consistent popping noise that is consistent with the speed. Today it seemed a little like it messed when I turned right but worse with turning left. I do have the v8 4x4 and concerned this may be something more serious in the all wheel drive components. Any ideas?

My only thought is that it could potentially be your rear differential starting to wear. How many miles are on your rig?

I see this is a double post for the same issue that you got no responses to. For anyone that is willing to help on this one here is a copy of the previous post as it has additional info not stated in this post. Maybe a Mod can clean this up?

My 05 V8 4 wheel drive has started doing something very strange. It only seems to happen on cold mornings, when it’s been in the 20s. When I back out of the drive I notice a periodic consistent drag and feel like the brakes grab an a specific pint or maybe like a plat spot on a tire. When I put it in drive it does the same thing, getting faster as I accelerate. It shakes the vehicle and gets louder but still seems to be a specific point in the revolution. It shakes so bad I feel like I should pull over. Here’s the weird part. After driving maybe 5-10 min it starts to settle down and eventually goes away. Runs fine the rest of the day (warmer temperatures). My mechanic found a stuck front brake caliber and we replaced both of the front one. This morning it was in the 20s and it did the same things. It did seem not quite as strong as previously. The U joint was checked and is find. Mechanic wants to check the rear brake calibers, but said they’re less common to seize up. Any ideas on what else could be doing this?

Sorry for the repeat post. Didn’t see my earlier post visible until now.

I have about 182000 miles.

One thing I think I failed to mention. When I left it overnight for my mechanic to drive in the cold morning they didn’t set the emergency brake. He couldn’t reproduce the problem. I always set it and it did it again for me this morning. All 4 calipers have been replaced. They did inspect emergency brake and greased the cable. Could not find a problem. I plan to leave the emergency brake off tonight and see what happens tomorrow morning.

Take a look at the springs and cups that hold the E brake shoes to the backing plate. They are hard to see as they are behind the axle flange. A bright flashlight is your friend.

Wondering how this turned-out as I have the bumping/dragging happening when cold...now only in reverse although it was happening in both directions a few weeks ago. It is a significant bumping/dragging and very apparent at slow speeds in reverse. If I apply the emergency brake to stop, the issue goes away...but comes back later after parked for awhile.

All my suspension is in great shape, many new parts, 4-wheel drive hi and low are functioning normally. All regular driving is without issue.

2003 V8 4x4 SE 112,100 miles....I've owned it since new!

It’s definitely the E brake on mine. Stopped using it and it went away even in super cold mornings. Haven’t had a chance to look at it yet though.