rockpick,

i'm actually gonna take my truck in next week and have em' check it out. i've been paying more attention to the truck and the shudder, and now i'm convinced it isn't the tranny downshifting. i notice the shudder much more when the truck is cold and the engine is idling higher. there seems to be something binding in the driveline. perhaps the driveshaft. i know some folks with rangers were experiencing the same thing. i'll let ya know what happens...

troy

 

Yeah Troy, keep me posted. I couldn't make the correlation with the 'neutral' and 'drive' trick. I tried it a few times. I'm very interested in hearing what they have to say.

Honestly, I haven't been able to make a correlation about the temp or run-time though as you apparently have. Mine seems like it happens randomly whenever the truck is warm or cold.

It'll be interesting to hear what you find out. Keep me posted.

 

hey rockpik,

my truck is starting to do the thunk/shudder thing more regularly now. which is good because i was afraid i'd take it in and the service department would say we can't find anything wrong. it now does it when i pull up to a stop, or sometimes even when i pull away from a stop.

interestingly enough, some guys over in the s-crew forum were mentioning something similar happening to rangers. and in fact, i leased a 99 ranger which did something similar and ford replaced the driveshaft. that worked for awhile and then the thunk came back before i gave the truck back to ford off lease. anyhoo, i can't believe i forgot all about that!! what a dumb_ss! i'll let you know what happens after i finally get the truck in for service sometime this month...

troy

 

Troy,

I've been tracking the SCREW board on the issue. Doesn't sound like we're the only ones experiencing this 'thunk'. Mine is still doing it at abnormal frequency and thus, I'm going to hold off on checking it out until it will do it a little more obviously. Let me know if you find something out on this..

I noticed that the SCREW board mentions adding something to the rear case to aid in, what I'm assuming to be, lubrication. How could the Limited Slip be related? I don't see the correlation.

I'm starting a list of things to have looked at/replaced under warranty/etc. for my truck. Going to try to get it down there this summer... I'm going to add the thunk.

I wonder if it's the 'spring in the transmission' problem.

You're getting some good feedback in that forum... I'm going to attempt to keep the problem near the top of the list thus, people are looking at it more frequently. Surely this problem can be fixed.

Keep me posted... thanks for the info!

 

What I have found is that shifting from 2-1 and back to 2 again while accelerating causes this thunk. You can test it by putting your truck in "2" gear, getting it into 2nd gear, decelerate to downshift to first, then gun it. This is consistent when I do it in my truck. Try it out and let me know if this works for you all as well. I am about ready to take mine in for this service as well as the belt tensioner squeal.

 

okay, here's the latest on my thunker. yesterday the local ford garage put a new '03 transfer case on my '02 truck. they grabbed one of their '03s off the lot and went to town. a field engineer who is dealing with my issue recommended trying this first...or at least before he shows up in december. i'm not sure if he knows something i don't in reference to '02 transfer cases, but at least the local shop is doing something about my clunk/thunk rather than sitting back and doing nothing!

anyhoo, for the time being my truck is no longer thunking!! however, only time will tell weather this works in the long run.

btw, the reason they opted to install a new transfer case is because they think there was an incompatability issue between the output shaft on the old transfer case and the slip yoke on the driveshaft. apparently it's easier to just swap out a transfer case vs swapping out an output shaft...

regardless of what happens, i'll keep you guys informed...

 

Thanks Troy. Keep us posted.

 

I have a 2003 screw king ranch 4x4 and I have heard this sound too, but mine only does it under a really fast stop, The next time I get my oil changed Ill question my dealer and see what they have to say.

 

A fellow Kentucky King Ranch owner?!? Where you located King Ranch Dad? Louisville here...


RP

 

Rock Pick,

I live in pikeville, pike co. eastern ky.

 

well guys, it's been almost two weeks and so far no clunk!!!

i have a feeling the transfer case swap out might have really worked!

my personal belief is that some of ford's output shafts have poor compatibility with the slip yokes and that is what is actually causing the binding(clunk) when pulling up to or taking off from a stop. keep in mind that is just my opinion and nothing official...keep on truckin'!!

 

Troy,

Congrats man, I guess I need to start some dialogue with my dealer now. Thanks for the update too. I assume yours still clunks while rolling around 20-25 and you step on the gas and it drops down to second, correct?

Later,

~DM~

 

daveman,

i've never felt the rolling clunk (2-1 downshift) that you are talking about...maybe ford changed the tranny programming for '02...??

 

Troy,

It's not the 2-1 shift that clunks, it's the 3-2 between 20-25 mph. Mine will do it every time. Just get up to like 30 mph, let off the gas and coast to like between 20-25 and hit the gas part throttle and it should drop down from third to second and go clunk. If I slow down to less than 20 or like 18, the tranny automatically drops to second and if I hit the gas it just goes without a clunk, unless I punch it and then it's forced to go into first and the front wheels come off the ground and the wheelie bars catch

Try yours and let me know, the 3-2 at around 20-25 mph, not the wheelie part, hehehe.

~DM~