97 4Runner axle "clunk"
 

This one has me slightly worried. Am getting an occasional "clunk" - quite noticeable - can hear it and feel it while driving in 2WD - possibly somewhere in the drive train or axle. Went over a rough washboarded road a couple weeks ago in 4WD high. Maybe something loosened? Any suggestions what to look for?

Does the clunk occur when you first start out? Do you feel resistance, then the bind breaks free and the clunk is heard? I bought my son a 97 4runner and it turned out to be the rear drum brakes binding. Had to have a rear brake job... then just yesterday his rear axle seals are leaking. The gear oil gets into the drum brakes, saturates the brake shoes and now they have to do another brake job PLUS the rear axle job is $1000 bucks! Advice, if the seals have never been replaced...do it when you have your rear brakes serviced or else you'll be paying for 2 rear brake jobs..

..my 10 cents

Curt

The noise occurs sometimes at least 30 minutes into a drive, but very seldom, making it hard to track down. At first it seemed like just running over a raised cat's eye, but it happened as well on a clean paved road. I'm gonna get a mechanic to check it out. Doubt it's the drum brakes though, had them serviced less than a year ago.

Follow up post. Mechanic found nothing wrong. 2WD/4WD works fine. Drove home, no clunking. Maybe I imagined the whole thing or was just cat's eyes...