93 explorer front diff clunk

[luckeykilljoy99]

Hello everyone my name is John and I am new to the forum, nice to meet y'all.

So I have a 93 explorer and I am having this loud clunk coming from my front differential whenever I shift into drive or reverse.. at first I was thinking it was the transmission so I got underneath and had my wife shift in and out of d/r multiple times and learned it's coming from the front differential. I even took off the front axle shaft and had her do it again and I could visibly see the front axle yoke clunk up and down when it's put into drive or reverse. Do I need a whole front differential? Does anyone know why or what causes this?? It happens when it's hot, cold, rain, snow. Everytime. Or is there a cheaper option to fix this other then a new whole front differential?? Any feedback, opinion, suggestions or whatever you guys got would be extremely helpful and appreciated. Thank you for your time

 

[ChildIdenticant]

welcome to EF. Not familiar enough with the 4wd to competently assist. Wait for another to chime. Auto or manual trans though btw?

 

[Mbrooks420]

When you say axle shaft, do you mean front drive shaft?

 

[Josh P]

You are describing play in the pinion, need to pull the cover off the axle and inspect. If you are able, create a video and post it to YouTube. Put the link here.

 

[410Fortune]

The front differential on a 93 is a ttb
The center of the diff is mounted to the drivers beam. If the entire beam is shifting when you place the transmission in d or r it could be due to worn bushings
You may need radius arm bushings or beam pivot bushings or both
Also would not hurt to check condition if the transmission mount as it can allow excess movement of the t case when shifting the transmission

 

[Josh P]

The front differential on a 93 is a ttb
The center of the diff is mounted to the drivers beam. If the entire beam is shifting when you place the transmission in d or r it could be due to worn bushings
You may need radius arm bushings or beam pivot bushings or both
Also would not hurt to check condition if the transmission mount as it can allow excess movement of the t case when shifting the transmission

That's a good point, need more information or a video to determine if the entire arm is moving or just the yoke, as stated.

 

[Nadams01]

The front differential on a 93 is a ttb
The center of the diff is mounted to the drivers beam. If the entire beam is shifting when you place the transmission in d or r it could be due to worn bushings
You may need radius arm bushings or beam pivot bushings or both
Also would not hurt to check condition if the transmission mount as it can allow excess movement of the t case when shifting the transmission

Can confirm, my radius arm bushings were fine but the brackets were cracked. Could be axle pivot bushings were the I beams pivot from but that's not nearly as common. I don't think the axle shafts are to blame but each shift has 2 u joints, just like a drive shift so it's worth wobbling those up and down and checking for play.

 

[410Fortune]

Also does this truck still have auto hubs?