corvette1987coupe

I have clunking noise in the rear of the driveline of my '95 Corvette. It really seams to only happens when going from park to drive, or park to reverse, etc. I thought it might be axle half-shaft U-Joints, but they look good. The rear U-Joint on the drive shaft looked good also. Need to take a better look at the drive shaft front U-Joint, but the sounds is at the rear side of the car.
Is there a good way to check the condition of the rear hub/bearing assembly without removing them?
Thanks for the help.

1986coupe

Sounds like the u-joints on the drive shaft. Sometimes they may look alright but when you take them off you can feel they are worn out.

The hub/bearings wont' make a sound like that. Bearings will make a humming sound at speed.

Rob31

Bearing check :
Grab the wheel at 10 and 4 o'clock and try to move it . with the tire off the ground
/ or with the wheel and rotor off clamp a big vise grip to the flange and try to wiggle it . I just said wiggle (wierd )

1985 Corvette

More than likely your joints going. The old auto D36 would make that signature metallic clunk when shifting from park to drive. With foot on the brake, the car would still jerk forward.

Wheel bearings in my experience make a chirping noise when the bearings start to go.

corvette1987coupe

Thanks for all the help!

Do the U-Joints on the Drive Shaft tend to fail earlier than the U-Joints on the Half-Shafts?

I am hoping it is the Drive Shaft U-Joints, as that would be a much easier repair I believe.

ghoastrider1

this is a classic discription of a driveshaft u-joint getting ready to fail.When installing, I believe the grease fitting faces forward.

94z07fx3

[1] no. The propeller shaft u-joints tend to last longer than the half shaft ones.

Even with your visual inspection of the half shaft u-joints, based upon your description of the symptoms I would still put half shaft u-joints at the top of my suspect list.