Are you talking about wheel hop or bucking? My truck has the 6 speed and 3.21's, and there's no 'bouncing' from a takeoff. If I try to launch hard and spin a wheel, I will get wheel hop (like most trucks), or if I for whatever reason baby it too much and almost stall, it might buck. But neither has to do with the gears...it's the driver

 

More back-lash will cause slack in the drivetrain...

 

Yea that makes sense, I'm not really sure how concerned I should be. I asked the mechanic if they could change it back and he said not to worry as a slight knock or clunk isn't unusual. The backlash is now .007 which is in dodge's and motives specified range. I think they adjusted the pinion depth in some last time, but I'm not sure. The clunk sounds like it is coming from the rear, maybe I just need to take it to a transmission shop and see what they say. I can keep it from making a sound if I shift it really fast or really slow and it happens no matter what gear I put it in after I come to a stop. I can shift between 1st and Reverse w/ no noise when and can do a rolling stop into first w/ no clunk. The clunk happens as I am putting it into first w/ the clutch pressed in.

 

My 6 speed does the same thing. There's always a little slack in the driveline, and when you push the clutch in and go to 1st, parts of the clutch and transmission shafts are still spinning. That motion is absorbed as you grab 1st and the result is a little *thunk*. No biggie...

 

Yea it's not severe, just a slight clunk and it wasn't there before so it kind of worried me. As long as it doesn't cause any extra wear on my tranny or differential it will just be a little annoying.

 

could it be U joints?

 

I checked them today and there was no movement in them, so I don't think it's them. I'll live w/ it for a little while and if it really gets to me I'll take it to a tranny shop and see what they say.

 

My old 86 would clunk like that going back in forth...but never any movement. It really started get'n to me after like 5k miles...so I upgraded to something stronger then stock. Clunk went away after that.

 

LOL that sounds like what happened w/ my exhaust drone. It may get to me but right now I'm kind of working around it w/ rolling stop shifts and really slow shifting from N to 1st b/c it doesn't clunk when I do them.

 

I really wouldn't sweat it, unless the clunking gets worse, or the truck starts vibrating.

Check the U Joints and chalk it up to axle slop.

Next time you have one or both wheels off the ground, turn one tire, and see how long it takes before you engage the spider gears and turn the other wheel. Then grab the driveshaft and see how much play is in that.

Going from N to any foward gear should make a bit of a thunk, since the axle was backdriving the transmission as you slowed to a stop. That put the pinion and ring at the far limit of backlash.

Going from R to 1 = no thunk, since the reverse synchros brought the rotating transmission parts to a stop.