Clunking front end

I've had issues with my D35 since I have swapped but no clunking that I can recall. I remember at the time inquiring on BroncoII.org about the transfer case fearing that may be it, but I seem to recall that I was informed the BW's were quite strong, many still running them with 4.0/5.0 swaps and large tires 35"+ (this would have been about 6-8 years ago). Your problems very well could have existed in the driveshaft being too long. I robbed the rear d-shaft out of a mid to late 90s ranger and had it cut down at a shop before installing so that could be why I never had your symptoms you describe. I think my issues are due to the limited slip stock diff and gears not slipping ever and eventually must have broke a tooth and seized the diff at one point. My b2 has been a back burner project for some time now so it has only been getting what it needs to move essentially and hasn't been off road for probably 8 years or more unfortunately.

88bustedbronc

I've had issues with my D35 since I have swapped but no clunking that I can recall. I remember at the time inquiring on BroncoII.org about the transfer case fearing that may be it, but I seem to recall that I was informed the BW's were quite strong, many still running them with 4.0/5.0 swaps and large tires 35"+ (this would have been about 6-8 years ago). Your problems very well could have existed in the driveshaft being too long. I robbed the rear d-shaft out of a mid to late 90s ranger and had it cut down at a shop before installing so that could be why I never had your symptoms you describe. I think my issues are due to the limited slip stock diff and gears not slipping ever and eventually must have broke a tooth and seized the diff at one point. My b2 has been a back burner project for some time now so it has only been getting what it needs to move essentially and hasn't been off road for probably 8 years or more unfortunately.

88bustedbronc

I've had issues with my D35 since I have swapped but no clunking that I can recall. I remember at the time inquiring on BroncoII.org about the transfer case fearing that may be it, but I seem to recall that I was informed the BW's were quite strong, many still running them with 4.0/5.0 swaps and large tires 35"+ (this would have been about 6-8 years ago). Your problems very well could have existed in the driveshaft being too long. I robbed the rear d-shaft out of a mid to late 90s ranger and had it cut down at a shop before installing so that could be why I never had your symptoms you describe. I think my issues are due to the limited slip stock diff and gears not slipping ever and eventually must have broke a tooth and seized the diff at one point. My b2 has been a back burner project for some time now so it has only been getting what it needs to move essentially and hasn't been off road for probably 8 years or more unfortunately.

Thanks for the response Busted, I just received a new slip yoke, installed it with the 1” cut down driveshaft. I don’t think I needed the yoke but I’m sure I needed to shorten the driveshaft, however, it’s still clunking. It’s pretty annoying, the problem is it’s so elusive. I can’t get it to do it regularly, like for a mechanic to hear it. Guess I’m gonna have to use it until it gets worse so I can figure it out. Thanks again for the reply.

I know its hard to tell from the cab, but is there a possibility something else is clunking? Just trying to think outside of the box. perhaps something that would be affected by the additional torque from 4L? radius arm bushing or ball joint? Maybe even a sway bar bushing or link (if installed)? Probably not much help, just trying to think of anything that could be clunking.

My dad had an early 90s chevy k1500 that the rear end would clunk occasionally. IIRC it would happen between 1st and 2nd gears (it was an auto). U joints didnt fix it. He drove it around for a long time (a few years maybe?) before eventually trading it off. Never ended up causing a problem but I know he was always afraid it would one day require a different diff.

Its very possible its something else. During this search I found that the front sway bar drop bracket was installed backwards and the sway bar arm knuckle was pushing against the coil spring, thought that was it, but no cigar. I think I'm going to re-install the original open differential and see what happens. The trutrac I have up front could be the issue. It's for a rear dana 35, I've been trying to make it work because I really want more than an open diff up front. I spoke with a guy today at Randys worldwide? He sounded like he knew what he was talking about. he said there isn't really anything other than open for that dana 35 IFS reverse cut diff. I would take a smooth running open over the worry of the noise. I have a winch, maybe I'll get a chance to use it. It's all about the overall purpose of this vehicle. We are towing it behind our camper so its our get around vehicle when on the road. I got a little obsessed with wanting better than open diffs. The trutrac in the rear is working well so that's a help. I will take another look at all the connections in the front suspension to try and eliminate that as you suggest. thanks again for the input.

I am pretty sure there were limited slips from the factory in some D35s. At least I thought the one I grabbed from a 94 explorer was that I swapped into mine. I'll have to look at some old forums like TRS and see if I can find a table for axle configs and codes. Its been a long time since I was researching these though, so perhaps I am mistaken or cant remember right lol

Looks like I stand corrected. The front diff I got must have came from a 1994 exploder with a L/S rear diff and open front diff. http://www.fordrangerforum.com/drivetrain-tech/50060-dana-35-ttb-axle-code-id.html

I would say you are on the right track by swapping the old back in to see if the issue continues. At a minimum it could eliminate another item off the potential problem list.

Still running the stock transmission cross member?

Yes on the cross member, still stock, I agree swapping old back in will at least tell me if it’s in the diff.

I used to drill a hole through both the crossmember and the frame, run a bolt through with a spacer sandwiched between them. That'll take away any slop and help with driveshaft alignment on the TTB.

I’ll have to take a pillow and lay underneath to picture that.

Drill your hole with the yellow arrow. Put your spacer between the crossmember and frame where the blue arrow points. Use 3/8" or 7/16" bolts.

thanks for the picture, ill probably try it, I'm in the process of doing the weed eater spring modification on the shaft assembly, I have a trutrac differential installed by a shop, don't think it has a c clip installed. I'll try this too. Thanks for the help.

Too easy! I miss my B2 so build your and don't sell it! lol

good advise, I plan to keep it.

I re-installed the passenger side shaft assembly last night with the echo weed eater spring trick installed. This is covered in several old posts on other BII and explorer forums for the dana 35. The small clicks and clunks are gone. I need to do further testing to see if it eliminated the big clunk. I think it may be resolved. I won't really know until I can do a little more extreme off-roading than I can find here in south texas. What I have gathered in my research is that the Detroit Trutrac differential doesn't allow for the c clip to retain the slip yoke from axle shaft (passenger side only). A shop installed the tru trac differential for me so I don't really know what happened there. Anyway, I'm thinking it may be resolved and I can keep the gear type LS diffs front and rear as I wanted. Having this forum to bounce stuff off of is better and cheaper than therapy. thanks.

Any improvement in wheel travel from stock will create this mid-axle spline issue. Just part of the TTB life. lol

dubya, any pics of that 65 f100?

Man that is sweet