I have been having this horrible clank and i got under my truck and was shaking stuff around and noticed this shaft was loose when i shook it with my hands. is it normal to be loose when i shake it with my hand or could there be u-joints bad in this? this is the front shaft...

 

I'm not really sure what you mean by loose. Since you have an '03 you shouldnt be able to spin it by hand. It might move side to side a little if you try and twist it. There shouldnt be any slop in the u-joints or in expansion splines. Besides I dont see where any loud noises would come from there even if you did have some play in the front drive shaft. Usually harmonic noises and vibrations come from that area. What kind of noises are you hearing? Only freeway, changing gears, under power, deceleration, ect.?

 

when i am going slow around town around 20 mph if i let off the accelerator right before it wants to shift, it will shift and make a loud clank. it sounds like it comes from the rear end and i was told to shake the drive shafts and see if there is any play in them at all and if there is then i have a bad u-joint. i cant turn these but i can move it side to side a little bit. i can't move the one in the rear at all but this one moves a little so thats why i was wondering if its normal for this one. i may be looking at this totally wrong. i really have no clue about these... thanks for the input though if this helps you please respond back. thanks

 

Sounds almost like it may be coming from the tranny or the transfer case. Off the subject but once bought a Chev dually with 205 transfer case and previous owner took it to Jiffy Lube. They put auto tranny oil in the 205 which is supposed to have gear lube. None the less it was making quite the racket untill the error was discovered. Anyways if your checking the drive shaft you are looking for any side to side play in both end yokes. Just grab the end of the drive shaft and tug it around. The one at the tranny will probably move a little but the rear shouldnt. And by trying to turn the drive shaft by hand you are looking for any play in the u-joints (stare at the u-joint caps). Sometimes this can be harder than it looks unless you know what you looking for. Have you even checked your tranny mounts? Does it only do it when you described?

 

i havent checked the mounts. its done this ever since i bought it new over 30,000 miles ago. its going to the dealer tmw, i just wanted to get some ideas of what it could be so i could get them to look at it. i could probably guarentee it will not do it for them tmw if they take it out. i keep trying and trying to duplicate the problem but i never can duplicate it. it just happens. so thats why im trying to gather as much info to get them to check out while its there...

 

Let us know what they come up with.

 

i will, thanks for helpin out, i just hope they will get it fixed.. at least i have untill 70k for them to find out

 

have them check the rear ring and pinion. sounds like when you let off at 20mph and the tranny shifts, the ring and pinion become unloaded then reloaded with the shift. this can make a loud clank in rear diff. good luck