Driveline issues.

[Island_Yota]

I have an 88 N/A, with the LSD and 4.30's. The rear end has a clunky feel to it, notice it the most say, when im in a parking lot in 1st and let off the gas.. I can feel it between shifts sometimes so I have to drive the car carefully, its very noticeable and makes a "clunk" sound. I had the same problem with my 83 Toyota 4x4, sort of knew what it was.. the crush sleeve was no longer preloaded and the whole driveshaft flange became loose, pinion seal let go eventually so I just swapped in my spare 3rd.

But, The supra has ALOT more to the rear end than the truck. The u-joints are fine, the driveshaft flange feels tight but I havnt had the shafts out yet, there seems to be close to normal backlash in the gears, LSD is working..

Trying to narrow it down, im thinking bad bushings somewhere, possibly upper a-arms. If I jack the car up so the rear wheels are hanging I can grab the tire and move it towards the front and back of the car, not a huge amount of play at all but id assume it should be tight. I can hear a "Clunk" sound from the rear of the car going over bumps which makes me think that may be the problem. The subframe looks to be in good shape, no rust or cracks, mounts look good. I havnt got a good look at things at the transmission end of the driveshaft either, I didn't get a good look at the steady bearing.. how can I tell if its gone? Im not sure if its normal for Supra's but I can feel a bit of vibration though the shifter aswell.

Im thinking about buying a complete set of rear end bushings anyway, everything under it is OEM, what kind of cost am I looking at? I really dont care if they are poly or rubber.

 

[7MGTEsup]

Two of the links on the rear suspension are sphericle joints and once worn will clunk on accel and decel, be prepared to spend alot at the dealers if your going to replace all the bushings. Energy suspension do a poly bush kit which does most of the rear bushes I think its something like $90.

 

[tbcmorris]

The back and forth of your rear tires sounds like the wheel bearings have had it. Your carriar bearing will be bad when there is a lot of play. It will cause I driveline vibration. Definetly check your driveshaft on the tranny side to to make sure its all still good. And do the energy kit as previously stated.

 

[7MGTEsup]

The back and forth of your rear tires sounds like the wheel bearings have had it.

Wheel bearings don't clunk they drone and as they get worse they grind.

 

[Island_Yota]

Id know if it were wheel bearings, definetly not. Its either in the drive shaft or the rear end, could be worn sidegears but feels more like worn bushings/link ends somewhere. I guess il try ordering that energy suspension kit and pull everything apart.

 

[ValgeKotkas]

I have freeplay in the differential, it clunks like you described (drive in first, let off gas, press, let off etc.)

 

[jdub]

Might want to check the subframe bushings.

 

[Island_Yota]

Think I found it, was fixing my exhaust and found I can grab the driveshafts on either side of the Center/Steady bearing and move it a good 3/4" up and down and all around.. Second would be the upper a-arm bushings have a minor amount of play, im guessing the "clunk" on bumps might be my sway bar links/bushings. Im going to start at the steady bearing and work my way back.

When I pull the drive shafts il do a rough check on the free play in the rear end with my dial indicator.

Oh so everyone knows, Dont use a Cat-Delete pipe on an N/A, I put my Catalytic converter back in and it sounds much nicer, and the back pressure helps alot, the cat is in good shape its an OEM style, been replaced before. My butt dyno shows that I my lower RPM torque back for the most part but lost a bit of top end power, fine by me I like being able to pull from 80km/h to 140km/h in 5th gear like nothing.