My left wheel makes a clunk sound if I have been in reverse then take off straight ahead. Also if I let off the gas then regas it I can hear a clunk. With car parked in gear I have 6 speed and if I rock the left car wheel I hear the clunk, sounds like noise is coming from right at the wheel. I do not think it is the rear end. Is there a u joint where wheel hooks up axle?
Thanks
Ted


[Modified by BigTed, 11:58 AM 8/20/2001]

 

Check the tie rod ends. I've heard similar complaints caused by them.

 

Sounds like what I had when I installed my Z51 sway bars. The end links and the bars need to be torqued down with a torque wrench.
It wouldn't hurt to check all the fittings on the suspension and torque 'em down to spec.

 

Just jacked up rear end. Axle joint going into wheel with rubber boot seems to be my problem. When I turn axle back and forth I can hear noise and feel vibration. When I do the same to the other side, you hear some noise but a lot less vibration. Must be a bearing in there?

 

I recently developed this same sort of clunk (I'm at 15K miles) on the drivers side rear. Happens when pulling gently away in first, or backing up. I also put the car in first (brake off, of course), opened the trunk to get a good grip for pushing and pulling..........and clunk....clunk....clunk as I rocked it.

I suspect halfshaft joints, not swaybar bolts, since I haven't had any suspension stuff off.

Anybody had this noise and had it investigatedf and fixed?

 

I too, had a problem with drunks hanging on to my C5! I thought I was the only one! At least once a week, I'd come out, get in and start to drive away, and I'd hear the sound of the damn drunk, usually from the left wheel area. Really annoying. Oh...what? Clunk! Oh! Uh...never mind... :D

 

Sounds like the same probem I'm having with my 01 ZO6. I posted a question on this topic on Saturday and only had a few responses. In my case, I only hear the sound when I take off in 1st gear, and it normally only happens the first time I take off. On future starts and stops there's no clunk.
Has anybody else had this problem and had it fixed? If so, please provide details. Thanks

 

One cause of a clunk or pop noise from the rear is due to the splined axle shaft shifting in the splined hub bearing assembly,even though the retaining nut is tight.This usually happens on initial take-off.The telltail sign is that the splines get rusty due to the movement.This can be corrected by appling an anti-seize compound to the splines,but requires removing the axles.An easy way to check is to remove the retaining nut and spray WD-40 into the splines...

 

Fixed!!! I followed the above tip from C5-Tech and eliminated the clunk/knock noise from my rear wheel by removing the big axle nut and spraying in some WD-40 and a little motor oil, just for good measure.

This is what to do:

Do not jack car or remove rear wheel. Apply bark brake and put in 1st gear. (Hopefully your brake works. If not, you'll probably need a helper to apply brakes)

Remove lug nut covers and center cap.

You will see a large threaded shaft (the axle) and a large nut. This nut is torqued to 118 ft-lbs, according to the service manual.

You will need a 1 5/16 deep socket and a fairly large breaker bar. I was using 3/4 drive equipment. You may have a hard time finding this large of a socket in 1/2 inch drive. And, it does have to be deep, because the end of the axle (the threaded portion) sticks out about an inch past the nut.

Put some oil on the threads (mine were quite rusty), have your helper hold the brake, and break the nut loose and remove. It's not really very tight...only a little bit more than wheel lug torque. But the initial "break loose" does require some leveragae. Be carful not to gouge the side of your car with the breaker bar!!

Do not worry about removing this nut. The wheel will NOT come flying off and you will not damage anything.

You will probably see some dusty rust in the cavity after you remove the nut. Blow the dust out if you can, but it's not a big deal.

Oh yeah, tell your helper to relax. I'll bet his/her leg is tired by now!:cry

Using the red wand on your WD-40, stick the wand in to the spline area and give it some squirts in a few places. Excess will run out so have a grease rag handy. Give it a few minutes and do it again to try to inject as much lube in as you can. Rock the car in gear (brake off, dummy!) to work the lube into the splines. It won't go far into that spline....it has to creep in, so spray and rock, spray and rock. That's where the noise is coming from, so work it in.

Put a little bit of engine oil in there if you have a squirter, just for good measure. Don't go wild....just a little. I used 3-in-1. Not the thickest oil in the world, but more lube-y than WD.

Your clunk/knock should be gone.

Put some oil on the threads, and run the nut in. It doesn't spin on....you'll have to wrench it on after the first few threads engage.

Have helper apply brake, and tighten to 118 ft-lbs or, in my case with no 3/4 inch torqe wrench, to goodendamntight specifications. ;)

Finish up with the center cap and lug covers and you're done.

No more clunk! Hurray!
I'm gonna do the other side now, just for preventive maintenance.

I was thinking that a good quality antisieze spray might be better, but getting it worked into the spline might be difficult. I didn't have any, so I went with the WD to experiment. The WD probably won't last forever, which is why I think a little shot of heavier oil, after the penetrating spray, might keep things quiet longer.

Total time--15 minutes, assuming you have that big socket laying around.

 

MichiganZ06 and Z06bliss,

I'd posted this very same topic a few months ago, until now, no one had responded. Mine is the same way...first pull out of the driveway in first gear (when the wheels drop off the curb). So I've read the remedy, could do myself, but my question is what causes it, and is there any chance of long term damage?

 

Black2001--I was wondering the same thing regarding long term damage, but I don't think it's a problem. As C5-Tech indicated, it's not so much a lube thing as a "dry" thing. Ideally, you would take the whole shebang apart (ugh!) and apply antiseize to the spline for a long term fix. But if it's not clunk/knocking, I do believe you can assume that no damage is being done.

But yeah, I wonder how long WD will last on this high load component.

As for your noise.........is it because the wheels drop off the curb, or because of engine torque applied to the splines when you engage clutch or give it some gas (auto)? If it's due to suspension motion (as opposed to driveline loading), it might not be this dry spline problem.

My noise got so bad that in first gear, idling around in a parking lot, it would knock as you gave it a little gas AND when you backed off the gas. KNOCK.....knock....KNOCK...knock......wh o's there?