96 suburban driveline clunk

hi . i have a drive line clunk. when i come to a complet stop and go to take off agian. i have checked u joints and bushings all good. i do have some play in the rear end but this seems to be somthing else. could a shock be sticking? i have tryed laying near car while having someone stop and go i can not locate clunk. it also seems to be worse if you stop harder. if you stop very slow it will not do it. any help would be great. thank you. mark.

hi . i have a drive line clunk. when i come to a complet stop and go to take off agian. i have checked u joints and bushings all good. i do have some play in the rear end but this seems to be somthing else. could a shock be sticking? i have tryed laying near car while having someone stop and go i can not locate clunk. it also seems to be worse if you stop harder. if you stop very slow it will not do it. any help would be great. thank you. mark.

Have you checked all ball joints, tie rods, sway bar bushings?

Check your brake calipers they could be sticking and release once moving again.

I had this problem when cold..after warm up it would go away...or on very cold days continue...it was the drive shaft not sliding at the transfercase...I replaced the transfercase fluid and it never returned....

My thoughts are the rear brakes. Your '96 most likely has rear drum brakes. I would have those checked.

thanks. i will check the brakes. mark

This is the driveshaft spline. GM has a fix which is the new yoke and spline assy. It is highly polished and chrome plated. Easy fix is to remove and clean then grease with teflon greas and molykote

hi do you know if that spline and yoke deal was a recall and can i still have it done? thanks.

I thought the Driveline Yoke problem was for the Tahoe/Yukon models? These 2 models had a shorter driveline so it was at a steeper angle which caused the binding on the yoke.

Didn't think this affected the Suburban because of it's longer driveline.

As mentioned, this is more than likely play in the drive shaft yoke. Remove the driveshaft and apply a liberal coating of moly wheel bearing grease inside the yoke splines, the reinstall the drive shaft. In addition, be sure to tighten the trans mount bolt to proper torque specs.

Another thing to consider is rear axle wrap. Under deceleration the axle housing wraps forward against the springs, if you hold the brakes at a stop, when you release the brakes and hit the throttle the axle housing unwinds- causing a clunk. You stated it was worse on hard stops, that's because the housing wraps tighter causing more slack in the springs. New shocks may help, but I don't know if you can entirely eliminate it under all conditions.

thanks for all the replys i will look into all of these ideas. its been to darn cold to check lattly. thanks.

Mr Moose,
I know this is an old thread, just want to know if you found out what was making the clunk? I've been having the same clunk when stopping but not when taking off. Had rear u-joints replaced and yoke splines greased. An update would be greatly appreciated.

Mr Moose,
I know this is an old thread, just want to know if you found out what was making the clunk? I've been having the same clunk when stopping but not when taking off. Had rear u-joints replaced and yoke splines greased. An update would be greatly appreciated.

what year and vehicle is this ? what is the idle RPM. how many miles on it ?

what year and vehicle is this ? what is the idle RPM. how many miles on it ?

I have a 2006 suburban with 118,000 miles. Idle is 700 RPM.

I have a 2006 suburban with 118,000 miles. Idle is 700 RPM.

700 RPM is a little high. 550-600 rpm is normal 5.3/6.0 L ..vacuum leaks / clean throttle body with throttle body cleaner.

with the transfercase if this is 4wd replace this fluid every 40K miles. this fluid will cause the drive shaft to NOT slide easy and then the clunk. all these trucks when cold have some clunking but it should be slight not heavy type force.

years ago GM did have some of these not properly machined [drive shaft yoke] and these had to be replaced. since this is old I would suspect the fluid needs replacing . my 2000 needed this at 3oK miles dealership did it because I complained about it . now I replace this fluid 40K miles just as it starts to clunk.. I have 150K plus on it and I have changed this fluid a few times 4 wd never a problem ..