A Ford tech's take on "THE CLUNK" (THE ONE and ONLY CLUNK THREAD)

[Fordx4]

What is the difference between the 2010 and 2011? Did they re-engineer the tail shaft or the spline? Did they change to a different metal someplace?

I believe clunk has been reported on 2010s and 2011s.

 

[CineSLR]

My "Clunk"

Not a full on clunk yet, haven't driven around town enough...

 

[SilverBolt]

Cine,
Nice vid. You appear to be on the ragged edge of a clunk. I can't believe how much runout the u-joint flange has. Seeing that it sure does appear to be a lube issue. Too bad it couldn't be continuously lubed by the transfercase oil.

 

[19-Kilo]

If it only makes noise when it moves back in... would it be the pressure building inside the slip joint, then releasing under load?
Dont have a mechanical diagram... just wondering.

 

[JP7]

In speaking with a couple of guys who are on their second Raptors - This is a Raptor specific issue Ford has issued a bulletin on. The yoke from the transfer case will sometimes have issues with its (internal neoprene?silicone?strawbery jam? lubrication) and a replacement Ford's recommended fix. Once done, no repeat was reported within 40,000 miles.

I'll be back in the dealer for some things next week, and will get them to search for the TSB (or whatever they share with us for problems) and keep y'all posted.

 

[CineSLR]

Ford has already pulled that fix because the grease they were using wasn't good enough and was only lasting ~2k mi. I think I'll try and source some grease mentioned here and get them to do it while I'm there.

 

[CineSLR]

What do you guys think about this Amsoil Off Road grease? 5% Moly and good in high temps... (freezing is cold here...)

AMSOIL Synthetic Polymeric Off-Road Grease - NLGI #2

 

[bettieguitar]

Reassuring write up SOCOM. By the way there is a video of this. It is either on this forum or the other Raptor forum. It is also on YouTube. I have also read that there is a new slip yolk available through Ford that fixes this issue. I cannot verify this. What puzzles me is that I got off the phone today with the Ford Custom Service Department and Jennings Anderson Ford of Texas and neither said that they had ever received a complaint or had even heard of this clunk issue. I called BS on both of them. I was going to wait hoping that this issue would be resolved, but I might be waiting for hell to freeze over. I am sure that this is not a conspiacy theory, nor is this foum filled with a bunch of liars. I was considering cancelling my order but after reading this I think that I will proceed. The wife is getting impatient and the Raptor is going to be her daily driver that replaces her Mustang. She wants it now, and you don't want to keep a lady waiting(lol). Old school rules! New stuff is junk. No convincing her though.

 

[HoustonRider]

So I decided to fix the clunk today

I decided to fix the clunk myself instead of waste a day at the dealer.

I used Loctite® Moly Paste (contains 65% molybdenum ) 8oz can is like $25.

I started at 1:45p and picked up my son in my Raptor at 3 so it's not a long process. Using a 12mm 12pt socket I unbolted the four bolts holding the rear u-joint. I stuck a flat blade between the mounting flanges and pulled it apart ( very easy).

Do not drop the shaft, get someone to hold it or lay it on a blanket if u are by yourself. Then slide up to the front and pull the yoke shaft out. ( I marked the yoke and the tranny so I knew where it needed to go back in).

Some tranny fluid leaked out but that's ok. I took as much of the old lube off the inside of the yoke and coated the inside several times with the Moly Paste (comes with a brush).

Slid the yoke back over spline and then put the 4 bolts back and torqued to 75lbs. You may have to push truck either way to get to all four bolts, be sure to chock tires first. Cause when u drop the driveshaft nothing will keep it from rolling.

Smooth as glass. No clunk at all, but I expected that. The trick is to see how long this Moly Paste lasts

We will see

 

[bakab1010]

nice very easy fix sounds like...10 bucks says its ten times better than fords sex lube they are putting in there that works for 2 weeks