Check your rear hubs. Mine clunked and clanged as you are describing. I first replaced all ujoints still clunked and clanged. I then ended up replacing both rear hubs now no more clanging or clunking. They both had some play in the bearings but seems the better of the two hubs was the one that was causing the most problem. Go figure?

 

A loud clunk is normal if your just putting it in gear, if it does it at any other time, say shifting between gears then you've got a transmission problem. First thing you can do is check the TV cable and make sure that its properly adjusted. Also check the ATF fluid to make sure its full and not burned.

I have a newer trans in mine and it has always done it and the U-joints are still good. Just another reason why i'd prefer a stick.

 

I've learned that if you shift from Park into Reverse then Drive, the clunk/jerk is less noticable. When I didn't do this, the jerk was so hard it would throw me forward out of a parking space if not prepared.

 

that is true, maybe going from a gear with a ratio closer to first means less torque "shock".

 

"clunk" on my 85, no "clunk" on my 90...

 

Just a thought as you learn to live with the clunking, I would make a close inspection of some of the rear axle crossmember attaching points along with the hub bearing related issues mentioned earlier. See if any of the struts, shock mounts or anything else has loose bolts or deformed bushing. If your car wants to move left and right at driving speeds besides having the clunk when first starting, something might just be loose. If it is not your trans and drive axles, loading up a really worn suspension while backing, unloading it going to nuetral, and then loading it back up in "Drive" in the opposite direction could be a sympton--a clunk. I AM NOT SUGGESTING THAT EVERYONE HAS BAD SUSPENSIONS! Just look at all the attachment points when inspecting.

 

When the car goes into gear, all the slack anywhere in the driveline will be taken up so all the suggestions above are suspect. A key to checking ujoints I dont see mentioned is having the driveline slack when checking. If you are checking it with it in park, any incline will put enough tension on it to mask problems.

When you are checking driveline, it helps to have a buddy around for the extra set of eyes and hands. Have it off the ground and in neutral to hand spin wheels back and forth and keep an eye on the drive shafts. If the ujoints have slack, it will be alot easier to see it at this point, shake them and see if there is any play. You could also drop the rear of the main driveshaft and rotate the dif yoke to check for excessive ring and pinion slack. Check each wheel back and forth seperately, also lift them up and down to check the bearings. Hopefully, you will see where the slack is and go from there.

Most auto vehicles I have owned clunk to one degree or another when you drop em in gear. Unless its really loud or has a distinctive gear teeth metallic clack, its probly nothing serious. 'Course ya could put some slicks on the back, take it to the track and jump on it.........!! Instead of clunk, you should get a KAAPOWWWW and then the problem will be obvious. Might be a little more expensive to fix but there is always a down side, lol.

Seriously, hope ya find it before it screws up anything else. I know how it is wondering about the new noise and fretting til ya find it. Good Luck to ya!

 

I had the same problem with my '93. As with yours, I first checked the u-joints, and found nothing out of order. I looked for something rattling, and found nothing. I pulled the wheel, just to look again, and discovered the axle u-joint was bad. All the little bearings had disappeared, and the piece that fits into the bearings was clanging against the bearing holder (for lack of a better way to put it). It can be detected by jacking the car up, with the wheel still on, and trying to turn the wheel backward and forward. Mine would move about a quarter inch in both directions. Even after I did this, I had a tough time seeing the u-joint closest to the wheel. Turned out to be my problem. I replaced the inner and outer u-joints on the axle, and the "clank" was gone. In looking back, when cruising at 55 or 60, there was a slight vibration. After replacement, the vibration was also gone.

 

hmmm that's interesting mine has a vibration at 68 to 72 mph il have to take the wheels off and take a closer look at those U joints, but like i said when i checked under the car everything was tight and in order so will see...

 

my car vibrates like a **** above 70 mph..do you think its drivetrain related?

don't mean to thread jack

 

No problem bro i know how ya feel, at 70 mph mine shakes like crazy tryin to figure it out what it is without spending a ton of money on other problems that are not the cause of it ya know?

 

Good luck, Wicksta. BTW, nice avatar.

 

my 1975 has had a body off resteration rear end checked at paragon corvette............no trouble up to now, clunk going in drive and now will not shift into d1 or d2

 

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