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08-20-2014, 01:42 PM
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Learning to use the forums
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Join Date: Aug 2014
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Re: (TSB)Technical Service Bulletin - Ranger driveshaft thump/clunk
My ranger thunks and clunks when I shift gears but now down shifting its very annoying I only owned it for three weeks it has 96xxx Km on it its a 05
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Factory 4.10 gears
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09-19-2016, 12:50 PM
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Re: (TSB)Technical Service Bulletin - Ranger driveshaft thump/clunk
Realizing the age of this post, it is what a search turned up when searching for "thunk" as in the drive line. My experience was similar to the TSB in my recently purchased 2000 Ranger 3.0 auto. I had a thunk or bit of a jerk both when stopping and starting out. It felt like the transmission shifting or hunting for a gear. I followed the TSB except for 2 things. First the grease has been updated. It is now light blue in color and comes, as far as I can tell, only in a 1 lb can for a bit over $30! It must be the snot of Unicorns for that price. The new part # is XG8A. There are still some of the kits available that use the old grease (white) and include two of the steel clamps but they seem few and far between. I also only cut off the front clamp and replaced it with a heavy duty zip tie instead of the steel band.
Hints beyond the TSB:
Index carefully, on my 2000, it looked like the splines were indexed as the female had a spline missing but there wasn't a wide spline to index it in the male end. Don't be tempted to fill the boot with grease. Grease isn't very compressible and you could end up splitting the boot. Indexing is much more important than for balance. If you want to know why, do a bit of study on cardan angles.
A bit of background, totally second hand from the parts guy at a local Ford dealer. The offending slip joint is to allow the drive shaft to vary some in length to account for drive axle wind up on start and stop. Originally Ford used a metal coating that did not require lube. Unfortunately, it wore off and the slip joint failed soon thereafter. They replaced the coating with a rubberish, I suspect Teflon coating. They should have known that teflon, though a fairly good lube has two characteristics that make it unsuitable for the job. First, it has a higher coefficient of friction under stress that reduces considerably when it starts to slide, thus the thunk as it lets go. Second it makes a tight seal against metal, particularly under stress, so that when Ford added grease to combat the first problem, the Teflon as it slides wipes away the grease so that it doesn't last. I suspect that is why the updated grease.
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2000 XLS 3.0 Auto 4x4
Last edited by Malf15; 09-19-2016 at 12:53 PM.
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04-14-2018, 09:42 AM
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Learning to use the forums
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Join Date: Aug 2016
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Malf15
Realizing the age of this post, it is what a search turned up when searching for "thunk" as in the drive line. My experience was similar to the TSB in my recently purchased 2000 Ranger 3.0 auto. I had a thunk or bit of a jerk both when stopping and starting out. It felt like the transmission shifting or hunting for a gear. I followed the TSB except for 2 things. First the grease has been updated. It is now light blue in color and comes, as far as I can tell, only in a 1 lb can for a bit over $30! It must be the snot of Unicorns for that price. The new part # is XG8A. There are still some of the kits available that use the old grease (white) and include two of the steel clamps but they seem few and far between. I also only cut off the front clamp and replaced it with a heavy duty zip tie instead of the steel band.
Hints beyond the TSB:
Index carefully, on my 2000, it looked like the splines were indexed as the female had a spline missing but there wasn't a wide spline to index it in the male end. Don't be tempted to fill the boot with grease. Grease isn't very compressible and you could end up splitting the boot. Indexing is much more important than for balance. If you want to know why, do a bit of study on cardan angles.
A bit of background, totally second hand from the parts guy at a local Ford dealer. The offending slip joint is to allow the drive shaft to vary some in length to account for drive axle wind up on start and stop. Originally Ford used a metal coating that did not require lube. Unfortunately, it wore off and the slip joint failed soon thereafter. They replaced the coating with a rubberish, I suspect Teflon coating. They should have known that teflon, though a fairly good lube has two characteristics that make it unsuitable for the job. First, it has a higher coefficient of friction under stress that reduces considerably when it starts to slide, thus the thunk as it lets go. Second it makes a tight seal against metal, particularly under stress, so that when Ford added grease to combat the first problem, the Teflon as it slides wipes away the grease so that it doesn't last. I suspect that is why the updated grease.
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I will add to this post only to say that the expensive grease only lasted a year and the clunk is back. Don't know whether to live with it or try a Zerk fitting or renew it every year.
I would recommend NOT paying for the expensive grease.
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2000 XLS 3.0 Auto 4x4
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04-14-2018, 10:07 AM
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Some assembly required...
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 921
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Re: (TSB)Technical Service Bulletin - Ranger driveshaft thump/clunk
I went through the regreasing routine more than once using the expensive Ford lube. As you said, only a temporary fix. The lasting fix is a set of traction bars that limit the axle wind up that makes the slip/bump possible. I have had a set of James Duff bars on mine for years and the problem has not returned.
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