thud/bump after stop - transmission or slip yoke

[Curtis]

Posting here to see if anyone else can shine some light
I posted in the "non-modified 2002 - 2005" section but never got any responses.

Its a 2004 V8 4x4

when you come to a stop there is a thud or clunk. You feel it in the rear of the truck. This happens when you normally feel the weight shift back after a complete stop. So you feel 2 bumps. One is the actual "jerk" you feel in any vehicle and then instantly right after that you feel another "jerk"

Transmission is shifting is fine and it only happens after a complete stop when the nose of the explorer comes back up. If I slow down slowly to minimize nose dive this "thud" doesn't happen.

I have been searching around here and it seems to be a slip yoke

I read about multiple fixes
- take the drive shaft out and clean and re-grease the slip yolk
- leave it in and re-grease but replace the clamps holding on the boot
- drill a small hole in the boot and spray in grease or teflon
- get the kit from Ford for under $30

I saw a post where someone removed the clamps, slid the boot away and put new grease on the slip joint.

Question is, how do you get the grease into the splines? should I pack it around and then jump on the rear bumper to move the yoke?

On one post I saw that screw clamps were used to re-attach the boot back in place. Is this recommended? If I got the same clips as the factory could I make a tool to compress them?

Or is this something to let the dealer diagnose as it could be something else?
I hate to think of that though...

Thanks
Curtis

 

[Curtis]

Turns out there were 2 bushings missing in the rear end. Like it had work done before and they were left out. Dont have the truck back yet but after $330 for 2 bushings, I hope its resolved.