Universal Joints going bad or transfer case?

[jbres]

My 2003 Tahoe has been making this "clunking" noise for about a year now but is getting progressively worse. Whenever I put it into reverse, I hear the clunk. Whenever I am driving and decelerate as coming to a light, then I tromp the gas to get back at it, I hear the clunk. It almost feels there is slack in the driveshaft...
I got underneath my Tahoe and the rear driveshaft when in park doesn't move and doesn't rattle. The FRONT driveshaft rotates with little effort even when in park.... When I put the e-brake on and Tahoe in neutral, the rear driveshaft feels stiff as it should, and the front driveshaft is like a dead fish and rotates easy as can be... Hopefully this is a sign my universals on the front driveshaft are bad??....Took it to my transmission guy a few weeks back and he said trans is fine...
Baby is coming any day now, and hoping its not my transfer case, because I don't have thousands to spend....

Tahoe is a 2003 with 123,000 miles on it, and very well serviced and taken care of by myself.

Any opinions? Thanks alot

[wcjeep]

I would definetly pull the rear driveshaft. Some Ujoints feel good on the truck. Obvious problem on the ground. On my Dodge I was able to verify with infrared heat gun. The bad Ujoint was slightly warmer. Ujoints are a consumable item. It's probably time to change anyway. Also, if the vehicle is newer the factory Ujoints could be held in with injected plastic. The replacement will use regular clips. For $20 install charge per Ujoint I let the driveline shop mess with it.

[enblethen]

Sounds like rear differential, ring and pinion or spider gears!

[jbres]

After reading up on the slip yolk issues, I don't exactly have the symptoms it describes. I don't ever feel the clunk that comes after sitting already stopped. Also, I don't get the clunking when beginning to accelerate.

I get the clunking when shifting into reverse, and also when tromping back on the gas after decelerating.

[Mvander]

GWolfe wrote:
A common problem on GM trucks, slack in the slip yoke. There is a replacement yoke from GM that is nickle plated that solves the problem, some people just grease them and that quiets it for a few thousand miles but it will come back. Do a search for slip yoke noise Chevy Tahoe and read on.

THIS!
I have the same truck qith the same noise. I tryed greasing the splines as advised by many web mechanics but that didnt work. I learned to live with it. Also have the 2-3 shift clunk but thats another thread.

[Iraqvet05]

I just replaced the u-joints on my Silverado last weekend at 87k miles and I didn't have any noticable play in the joints. My truck started making a squeeking noise on acceleration (especially in low speed turns) and some clunking when I left from a stop. I also had a "clunk" that would happen several seconds after I came to a stop...I believe this is the slip yolk problem and I greased the yolk while I had the drive shaft out and that problem hasn't come back since.

[Huntindog]

jbres wrote:
hmmm my Tahoe is 4 wheel drive only when I select it on the dash. I never had this "clunking" in the past until about 4,000 miles ago. I am starting to doubt taking it on long trips because of the noise.... Nobody thinks it my front drive shaft universals?

It is NOT the front driveshaft u joints. Those don't do anything unless it's in 4x4.
It is likely a rear u joint. Often those can seem tight unless you take the load off of the rear wheels.

[Flyfisherman128]

If in doubt take them out.. If you know what you are doing, changing the u-joints cant take half hour per drive shaft, an hour if you don't know what your doing and set you back about $20 per set. Personally I would change them out because its the easiest and cheapest thing to do. Like others have said, put in the greasable ones. A little trick, put a couple of clamps on the bearing caps and pump grease before you install them.. save you lots of aggravation.

[bguy]

jbres wrote:
I just got underneath the Tahoe again. On the front driveshaft where the front universal is I CANNOT rattle it back it forth side to side. BUT on the front driveshaft rear universal I can rattle the universal joint up and down and side to side. Its got a pretty good amount of wobble to it. Even though this is my front driveshaft and not my rear, could this be the clunking I am hearing?

You don't have full time 4wd, so unless you're running around in 4 all the time you can forget the front driveshaft. If you're at all mechanically inclined remove the rear shaft and inspect the joints. Descriptions given don't make me think U-joints. U-joints will usually produce a "shaking" while you're bootin down the road or under acceleration.

[GWolfe]

A common problem on GM trucks, slack in the slip yoke. There is a replacement yoke from GM that is nickle plated that solves the problem, some people just grease them and that quiets it for a few thousand miles but it will come back. Do a search for slip yoke noise Chevy Tahoe and read on.

[jbres]

I just got underneath the Tahoe again. On the front driveshaft where the front universal is I CANNOT rattle it back it forth side to side. BUT on the front driveshaft rear universal I can rattle the universal joint up and down and side to side. Its got a pretty good amount of wobble to it. Even though this is my front driveshaft and not my rear, could this be the clunking I am hearing?

[1oldtruck]

I would try to find a good driveline shop and have them check the U-joints or try it yourself with a large screwdriver. Try to mimic the torque put on the joint by the motor. You might find slack that you can't find by hand. Otherwise I would suspect a differential.

I had the front differential on the 2005 rebuilt last year. A pitted bearing was found inside. It made a growling sound at first and later became a vibration. That took about a year. Finally had them tear into it to find the problem. $1800 at 80,000 miles. Hard to tell until you start pulling it apart.

[RoamingGnomes]

probably talking out of my hat but many years ago had a dodge 150 power wagon pickup. had clunking, everything as fine until I brought it to a local 4x4 speed shop. it turned out the spline on the drive shaft was worn. They pulled the shaft cut off the spline welded on spline with heavier fingers, never had a problem after that.

Just thought I would add my two cents to your problem.

PS, Couldn't detect the problem due when the shaft was in the transfer case, only when it was dropped and the spline was visually checked. Should crazy, can only tell you what happened to me.

[jbres]

1oldtruck---I changed both front, rear, and transfer case all somewhat recently. Problem was there before I did them hoping it would go away but didn't...

[1oldtruck]

When was the last time you had the differential fluid levels checked?