This is probably easier and more obvious than I realize however, I need some help.

Particulars: 87 Coupe, Automatic, Stock, 90,000 Miles

Problem: Several weeks ago backed out of the garage only to hear a loud thunk. It happens upon acceleration not on on braking. Sounds like its coming from the rear passenger side. Occassionally a knocking occurs like something rotating into something else. Havent driven since. My brother is actually the mechanic so I'm at his schedules mercy. He came over the next day and drove it thought it sounded like a U-Joint going bad.

Tonight jacked her up and pulled the tire. Everthing seems to check out O.K. Everything seems tight, nothing loose, nothing dangling, brake pads and rotors good, shocks fine. Only anomaly is orange dust on the right side settling on the suspension.

Brother is questioning bearings.....

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

TT

 

sure sounds like a u-joint. the ones on the half shafts, especially the outboard ones will go first. if you are driving an 87 w/90K miles, i'd almost bet $$$ on it. i have an 85, and replaced mine at about the same mileage. my drivers side, outboard, was completely dry - no grease. as a matter of fact, there weren't any needle bearings left - just a bunch of powered rust! the inboard ones faired a little better, and the drive-shaft ones were still in pretty good shape. if you are planning to keep the car for a while, replace all six. i got "brute-force" for my 85 at advance auto parts. nice parts - heavy duty with synthetic grease. i think they were something like $17 each - (???).

just a note - if you are planning to replace the driveshaft u-joints, the shop manual says to drop the brace (the big "C" channel member) that goes between the transmission and the differential - WRONG!!! its a lot of work. by dropping the brace, you have to prop-up the engine/transmission assembly. that's just crazy! just take a small die-grinder and grind away a small section (about 1.5 inches X .125 inches) of some body sheetmetal near the differential. just try to drop the driveshaft, and you'll see where you have the interference (near the rearend). it will sure save you a lot of time and $$$ (labor), and the minor trim job on the sheetmetal doesn't hurt the structural integrity of the car. by doing that, the driveshaft drops right out without removing the brace.

 

Thanks Joe,

My brother will be happy to hear someone back him up, even if he is beginning to doubt his original diagnosis.

One night next week we'll take it to a friends garage with an actual lift instead of a just a jack and look again.