Clunking in reverse, where to start

W

Wile.E.Coyote

New member
I changed a lot of things at once, so I don't know where to start. Just looking for suggestions on where I should start looking.

I have a deep clunk in reverse only. Sounds like it's coming from the rear, but can't be sure. Seems to happen with each tire rotation, but also can't be sure. 2004 V6 4x4, 105k.

I recently did all of the following:

FJ springs all around with Bilstein 5100's set at .85.
Powerstop slotted and drilled rotors with pads all around.
New front calipers.
Greased all the zerks I could find in the driveline.

My mechanic seemed to think Ujoints. Suggestions?
 
Register to hide this ad
I'd be surprised if it was a u-joint based on the description of the symptoms. A u-joint can clunk when there is slack in the driveline or when shifting from drive to reverse or reverse to drive but it doesn't often clunk while there is tension in the system like there would be while moving in reverse. Also, the drive shaft spins 3.5 to 4 times for every single revolution of the tire so it would clunk multiple times with every tire rotation.

My bet is on the brakes somehow since they were replaced right at the time when this started happening.

Since it's not full-time 4x4, why not lift the rear off the ground, chock the front tires, start it up, put it in reverse and let the engine idle spin the rear wheels. It should be pretty easy to tell where the sound is coming from.
 
Last edited:
So I put it up last weekend and guess what? No noise when in reverse. Still does it when backing out of my driveway. Would u-joints have play that I'd be able to feel by pulling by hand? Or would it be too small to notice by hand?
 
The u-joints may be bad enough to feel the slop by hand, but they may not. When mine went bad, I just had a driveline vibration but couldn't fell any slop by hand.

You could probably pull the rear driveshaft off and drive it around the neighborhood in 4HI letting the front wheels do all the pushing and find out real quick whether it's the u-joints on the rear driveshaft. If the noise goes away it'll be pretty definitive that the u-joints are bad. If the noise persists you can be pretty certain that they're not causing the problem.

Our vehicles are pretty smart and it may figure out that the rear wheels aren't getting power and try to do something with the traction control. If so, you could probably lock the differential and be OK. If you do that, I'd only back it out of the driveway and pull it back in a few times. That should tell you what you need to know without messing anything up.
 
fdbyrne said:
The u-joints may be bad enough to feel the slop by hand, but they may not. When mine went bad, I just had a driveline vibration but couldn't fell any slop by hand.

You could probably pull the rear driveshaft off and drive it around the neighborhood in 4HI letting the front wheels do all the pushing and find out real quick whether it's the u-joints on the rear driveshaft. If the noise goes away it'll be pretty definitive that the u-joints are bad. If the noise persists you can be pretty certain that they're not causing the problem.

Our vehicles are pretty smart and it may figure out that the rear wheels aren't getting power and try to do something with the traction control. If so, you could probably lock the differential and be OK. If you do that, I'd only back it out of the driveway and pull it back in a few times. That should tell you what you need to know without messing anything up.
Click to expand...

Could also just pull the plug on the Master to disable VSC/ABS/TRAC if going this route.

That being said, did you put the clips in the brake pads that keep them from moving? Could just be the pads shifting around. Also, since you just lifted, make sure you loosen/retorque all the bolts on the rear control arms and lateral bar. Otherwise those are still torqued down for stock suspension and can make noise. Might as well check your sway bar bushings while you're at it.
 
I do not have a 4th gen, but looking to maybe buy one.

Do the rear driveshafts on these have a slip joint?

If so, that is also a possibility for the noise.

When the joint does not have enough grease in it, it can bind, then slip, creating the clunk/jerk, etc. when going from forward to reverse and the other way. It can also create the same issues when just going forward under load after going backwards.

It is a common problem on many 4WD pickups. I have had it on my 2009 Superduty.

If it has a zerk fitting, the fix is easy. If it does not, the driveshaft needs to be dropped so you can get at the splines and grease them.
 
I admit to not being an expert but Yes, there is a zerk for greasing the u-joints and then another which I assume is for the slip joint. I've had the truck about a year and I didn't grease it until I did all the other work that I mentioned last month and the interesting part is that the clunk started AFTER I greased the driveline. I wasn't sure how much to grease the slip joint because I couldn't see where it would push any grease out so I just did maybe a dozen pumps and stopped. Not sure this is helpful info. I'm heading into the shop for some other work tomorrow and I'm just gunna have them take a look.
 
When I grease the slip joint, I pump grease into it until I see the drive shaft start to expand under the pressure of the new grease. I do this while it's sitting on the ground with weight on all four wheels. Then, I unscrew the zerk fitting and let the built up pressure push any overfill out the hole where the zerk was so that nothing is under pressure. That has always worked for me.

I wouldn't assume that the prior owner lubed the lube points as often as necessary. It may have been bone dry. If so, it would likely take more than a dozen pumps from the grease gun to fill the joint.
 
I definitely think the PO did not grease. It's good to know the proper procedure and I'm going to do that this weekend but it's unclear that it would cause my issue. Why would it be quiet when bone dry then bind once I added grease?
 
What year is the truck. does it have the older style wheels or newer model.

Verify the lug nuts and make sure they are tight, or remove the wheel, put it back on and tighten up the nuts by hand with a torque wrench don't rely on when an air gun stops. I've experienced this, and another local toyota club memeber too. Both were after the wheels had been off for some work.

I've never had an issue with older style sport wheels, but I do with the FJ Cruiser wheels with the nuts seeming like they are torqued all the way, but really they are not.

Look at the rear drive shaft, and check if it is hitting the gas tank skid.

Rear 3rd dust shield also rotates, if it is bent it might be pushed in, in reverse and rub and make a sound and pulled when going forward so it doesn't rub and make a sound.

Pull the backing plate out, it might be rubbing, it may have been bent when the wheels were removed and reinstalled.

Look at the rear parking brake shoes.

Look at the control arm bushings.
 
I think your noise is coming from the parking brake. If they are not adjusted correctly (and they normally aren't after you R & R the rear brake rotors. If they are loose they can clunk when backing up. I had to actually adjust the bellcranks on the parking brake after I replaced the rotor.
 
I'm sorry to bump this, but I didn't want to start another thread.

I was eager to grease the U-joints on an '05 4R (V8, 2WD) and I could not find any zerks. Do they all have zerks or did some vehicles come from the factory without zerks (2WD models perhaps)? I have the service records for the car and it's never had U-joints replaced, per the paperwork.

Thank you.
 
Toyoter said:
I'm sorry to bump this, but I didn't want to start another thread.

I was eager to grease the U-joints on an '05 4R (V8, 2WD) and I could not find any zerks. Do they all have zerks or did some vehicles come from the factory without zerks (2WD models perhaps)? I have the service records for the car and it's never had U-joints replaced, per the paperwork.

Thank you.
Click to expand...

No zerks on 2wd, 4wd only.
 
Reviving this old thread as I just experienced this issue on my 2003 V8 4x4 Sport Edition with 101000 miles.

Can't determine the cause of the bumping/clunking in reverse. Frequency, when happening, is regular while reversing. Both in 4hi and 4lo. Bump..Bump...Bump...

Anyone know?! I am hoping just grease or u-joints!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 330 (members: 2, guests: 328)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,310
Messages
3,554,078
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top