Popping Noise Under Load/In park

[VelociRanger]

I have a 2008, XLT 4.0 V6 AWD with 112,000 miles.
1) Occasionally, after not driving for a day or two mostly, when I turn the truck on while still in park it’ll make a loud “clunk”. Drives fine other wise, no weird awd issues or wrench light or CEL.

2) When I was pulling my trailer up into the drive way (from grass to gravel) I guess the tires slipped a little and I heard a loud clunk from front drivers side. I looked under there, cv axles still look good, no leaking grease, bearings seemed okay, balljoints good, sway bar links are good, everything looked good. This only happens when the wheel slips. I can try turning off traction control to see if it still does it, maybe it’s the traction control stopping the wheel from spinning? Not sure. Any thoughts are appreciated, thanks.

I will try to get video of #1, but #2 I’d prefer to not have to replicate the noise. It sounds like something’s broken. Again, nothing seems broken, no CEL, no wrench light…nothing. Even on a Bluetooth code reader it shows absolutely zero codes, even for body control modules.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

I have a 2008, XLT 4.0 V6 AWD with 112,000 miles.
1) Occasionally, after not driving for a day or two mostly, when I turn the truck on while still in park it’ll make a loud “clunk”. Drives fine other wise, no weird awd issues or wrench light or CEL.

2) When I was pulling my trailer up into the drive way (from grass to gravel) I guess the tires slipped a little and I heard a loud clunk from front drivers side. I looked under there, cv axles still look good, no leaking grease, bearings seemed okay, balljoints good, sway bar links are good, everything looked good. This only happens when the wheel slips. I can try turning off traction control to see if it still does it, maybe it’s the traction control stopping the wheel from spinning? Not sure. Any thoughts are appreciated, thanks.

I will try to get video of #1, but #2 I’d prefer to not have to replicate the noise. It sounds like something’s broken. Again, nothing seems broken, no CEL, no wrench light…nothing. Even on a Bluetooth code reader it shows absolutely zero codes, even for body control modules.

for #2 a bad controltrac 4x4 unit sounds identical when it shifts power to the front/is wesring out. i wonder if its a tcase thing?

#1 not sure

 

[VelociRanger]

for #2 a bad controltrac 4x4 unit sounds identical when it shifts power to the front/is wesring out. i wonder if its a tcase thing?

#1 not sure

Is there a way to test that? Are you talking about the entire t-case or a solenoid or something in there? New to the awd/automatic world.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

Is there a way to test that? Are you talking about the entire t-case or a solenoid or something in there? New to the awd/automatic world.

on the control trac 4wds at leadt its a tcase issue. im not sure if the awd is different and in what way, just wondering if its similiar to the 4wd world

 

[07EddyB]

I honestly don't know what your problem is based on what info you've given but your number two point gives me pause. You stated that you 'looked under there and everything looked good'. Faulty suspension components and faulty drive line components fall into the realm of things that can be bad without looking bad.
If you aren't aware of what it takes to diagnose those issues then you might need to take it to a mechanic.

 

[VelociRanger]

I honestly don't know what your problem is based on what info you've given but your number two point gives me pause. You stated that you 'looked under there and everything looked good'. Faulty suspension components and faulty drive line components fall into the realm of things that can be bad without looking bad.
If you aren't aware of what it takes to diagnose those issues then you might need to take it to a mechanic

Ball joints had no play, no popping/grinding noises in wheel bearing, no up/down or side to side movement, u joints had no play when testing with pry bar, cv joints didn’t make any noises and the boots aren’t leaking grease anywhere. I do my own work, the only time I’ve taken my vehicles to the shop is for alignments and inspections once a year. The best I can describe it is a “clunk”, it’s a really weird sound I’ve never heard before, and I know what bad explorer wheel bearings sound like; I just replaced my moms on her 03.