Slip Yoke Clunk

I notice a clunk or slack in the drive train every so often when taking off. Nothing major. I've had a lot of Fords with slip yoke clunk and read about GMs also. Has anybody looked inside the center slip yoke to see if it is greased or has some type of coating on the spline ?

 

I have felt it as well

 

Yes; member @mello03 had pics of his apart at the dealer...it is coated and is greased. What finally resolved his clunk was having a relief hole drilled to relieve pressure.

 

I have a 2000 Tahoe Limited (99 body style) with the same issue when I bought it. A friend of mine who was a GM mechanic for years said that people would bring in trucks and SUVs for this problem all the time thinking it was the transmission. He said to pull the drive shaft and put white lithium grease in the slip yoke and the clunking goes away. This worked perfectly and I add grease to it every couple of years now and have not have the problem since.

 

Isn't this normal? I feel/hear a mild clunk when on and off the accelerator on the freeway all the time.

 

This is what mine looked like when i pulled it.
it was a little dry i think,
I put some grease on it.. it was a pain in the ass to pull.. i needed a different wrench for it,
I used a pair of heavy zip ties to hold the boot back on as i did not have a steel band crimper..
I did not feel much of a difference, sad to say..

 

I’ve had a driveline clunk for almost 10k miles that I couldn’t figure out. Greasing my slip yoke yesterday 100% CURED my symptom and I couldn’t be happier. It only took about an hour. Mine had virtually NOT A DROP of grease in it.

 

I’m having this same issue with the clunk. Plus there’s a lot of play in the yoke. I do have a lift on mine but the truck itself is under warranty still. Do you think I should take my chances and take it in or just handle it myself and take it in if it’s more than a grease problem?

 

That's the stuff to use. Toyota doesn't make it. They don't have the crimp band either....ridiculous. There is no such thing as a lifetime no lube slip yoke. Ford for the right grease, and Napa auto for the crimp bands. They wouldn't have this issue if they put an old school grease fitting on the slip yoke.

 

I need to re-grease mine again with the ford stuff i got 1 year later because i need to use better grease ...... post #6

BUT i used heavy duty ZIP Ties (2) to hold the boot on, and have been on for 25K miles, still there, and very cheap.
can you post what you used ?

 

What's the crimp band for? Is there an accordion boot on there? I can't picture it in my head.

 

Yes sir.

 

Where does the band need to be? Far side?

 

Had the same issue with my 2nd gen, it sure drove a lot nicer when it wasn't binding. Unfortunately grease was only a temporary fix.

 

@splitbolt always coming in clutch

 

Not quite sure of the proper name, but they look like this; you can get them at auto parts stores. A good zip tie would work too.

 

Haha I knew what the crimp band was. Just not why it was needed.

 

They're called oetiker clamps.

 

Ear-type boot clamp