I bought a '97 DI for my son. wife has a 2004 DII and we love it. the '97 is high mileage (130k and need a little love but nothing too bad. I changed the power steering lines and minor maintenance. last night I changed the plugs and wires. engine sounds brand new. when my son took her out today he heard a loud "clunck" then when we drive there a thump that sounds like a washing machine out of balance. it seems to be tied to the speed ... thump increases with speed. nothing looks broken, leaking or out of place. any thoughts?

 

Laugh out mother trucking loud, 130,000 miles is high?
Sorry, couldn't resist.

Where is the noise coming from? Can you tell? Under the truck? Under the hood? Back of truck?
Is there a vibration as you drive?

 

I was gonna post the same thing. I wish mine only had 130K.

 

Kind of tough to diagnose with so little information other than a noise.....

Woodpecker that wants to go faster?

 

A wheel bearing will sound sort of like woo-woo and rise with the speed of the truck. Not a thump-thump though.

 

Touche' ... I guess she's only just getting broken in! It does vibrate when it thumps. but absolutely nothing when running in park. seems to be coming from the front area. sounds/feel like the left side, but that's where I'm sitting so that could be throwing me off. Similar feeling when my axle went out in my volvo.

 

OK.

Perhaps one place to start will be a full service of the underside fluids. That would be the swivel joints, the front diff, the transfer case, the rear diff. Plus lube the drive shaft u joints and slip coupling. Jacking up and rotating the front tires may reveal your noise. It might also be diagnosed by slow cornering, left or right, to see if noise changes. Wheel bearings could be involved.

If you come out without grease on your coveralls you missed a spot.


The swivel joints are the CV joints. They are group of ball bearings the size of ping pong *****, in a cavity the size of a grape fruit. The norm is diff oil, but can be upgraded to 00 grade grease from lawn mower shop, and some ruffians use Lucas red and tacky #2 with grease (pudding). These are designed to be drained and refilled after a weekend of "wading".

 

So, first, quit driving it before it fails and makes for an expensive repair.
When was the truck last major service, see major service in the sticky at the top of this section, sounds like it is major need of one.
When did you last grease your u-joints?

 

Could be a bad tire.
Rotate the tires and see if the noise follows the tires, rotate front to back, same side.

 

Thanks, Guys. She's definately off the road. Ill try the major service. Not sure when that's been done last.