Ok folks, first the background...
I'm the original owner of the truck. It has 145K miles on it. It is garage kept and in very good condition. Never "abused". Stock other than the mods in my sig, below. Tires are 235-85-16 BFGs.
Few weeks ago, I had the rear transfer case output shaft oil seal replaced by a local shop. When I picked it up, I noticed a clunk, clunk, clunk that persisted for maybe 30 seconds while I traveled maybe 200 yards. After that time, the noise disappeared completely. For the last few weeks, I will hear this sound when the truck is first driven, but only if it has sat for 4 hours or so. If I run an errand, park the truck, then get back into it an hour or so later, the sound is not there.
My "only" thought is that it might be a bad U-joint but I'm at a loss as to how/why the sound is so short lived. U-joints are original. I crawled underneath and verified that the bolts on the U-joint are tight. The mechanic also marked and re-installed the driveshaft to match his index mark.
The noise does appear to be speed sensitive, but it doesn't matter if I brake or I'm in gear, or coasting in neutral. I even put the transfer case into neutral but that too had zero impact. No issues with 4wd as I used it several times after the seal was replaced.
IMO, the crazy thing is that after the approx. 30 seconds, 200 yards, the noise is gone until the next time that the truck has sat for 4 hours or so.
I'm open to your thoughts/suggestions.
Thanks in advance.
I'm the original owner of the truck. It has 145K miles on it. It is garage kept and in very good condition. Never "abused". Stock other than the mods in my sig, below. Tires are 235-85-16 BFGs.
Few weeks ago, I had the rear transfer case output shaft oil seal replaced by a local shop. When I picked it up, I noticed a clunk, clunk, clunk that persisted for maybe 30 seconds while I traveled maybe 200 yards. After that time, the noise disappeared completely. For the last few weeks, I will hear this sound when the truck is first driven, but only if it has sat for 4 hours or so. If I run an errand, park the truck, then get back into it an hour or so later, the sound is not there.
My "only" thought is that it might be a bad U-joint but I'm at a loss as to how/why the sound is so short lived. U-joints are original. I crawled underneath and verified that the bolts on the U-joint are tight. The mechanic also marked and re-installed the driveshaft to match his index mark.
The noise does appear to be speed sensitive, but it doesn't matter if I brake or I'm in gear, or coasting in neutral. I even put the transfer case into neutral but that too had zero impact. No issues with 4wd as I used it several times after the seal was replaced.
IMO, the crazy thing is that after the approx. 30 seconds, 200 yards, the noise is gone until the next time that the truck has sat for 4 hours or so.
I'm open to your thoughts/suggestions.
Thanks in advance.