hey all,
ive been hearing a clunk in my rearend area a lot lately especially whe i start the car in first gear and accelerate and sometimes when i decelerate. when it happens upon accleration it usually clunks in second gear. it has been more frequent lately so i had a look under the rear and saw a torn boot at the axle and diff and could see all sorts of grease slung everywhere. i suppose this could be why it creaks and moans every morning while i revers and switch gears and possibly why it slams into gear very hard sometimes. also i dont know if this is normal but when i shift gears it raises and lowers the rear of the car considerably and ive never noticed this with any other car ive owned with rear wheel drive. i found an axle reboot kit online for about 40 dollars wich could possibly be a cheap fix but i wonder if i should replace all the axle assemblies and do it right from the start. the axles seemed to range from the 2 - 3 hundred dollar range per side not including a 100 dollar core charge. i would love to take this to an indie and not worry about it but the one i have gone to in my area only wants to put dealer only parts on it so im sure that would make it a 1500 dollar job in no time , so i was wondering if there is a sure fire way to see if the axles definitlly need replacing at this point or if the reboot kit will suffice. as i am only 23 with a limited income, i would hate to spend a months salary on this job but then again i also worry about letting them deteriorate too badly and cause an accident or something. also id hate to spend a hundred bucks and a days labor on boots that wont solve my problem. i hope someone can shed some light on this and help me make the best decision to keep my car in good shape, thanks in advance

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1984 300SD Orient Red/ Palomino
1989 560SEC
2016 Mazda 6 6 speed manual
1995 Ford F-150 reg cab 4.9 5speed manual

nobody?

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1984 300SD Orient Red/ Palomino
1989 560SEC
2016 Mazda 6 6 speed manual
1995 Ford F-150 reg cab 4.9 5speed manual

I would think your CV joints would have to be pretty well destroyed to make the clunking sound you've been hearing. Whether or not they're worn enough to replace as opposed to just replacing the boot is hard to tell from here. They really should be removed, cleaned, and inspected. I would think it more likely that one or more of the rear suspension strut bushings have worn out (which would normally cause a squirrely feeling in the rear end when shifting or getting on or off the gas but could conceivably cause some noise, or the differential rubber mounts have worn allowing the diff to move when shifting or changing to reverse. What's the model, year and mileage of the car?

420sel with about 200,000 miles. circa 1986. what would be a reasonable estimate for an indy to do this job?

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1984 300SD Orient Red/ Palomino
1989 560SEC
2016 Mazda 6 6 speed manual
1995 Ford F-150 reg cab 4.9 5speed manual