About every 10-15 feet it clanks real hard and jolts 3 times in a row... just did this last night after switching from reverse to drive. drove 10 feet and it happened, it's sitting in my garage now. The U joints have always been loose. I've had a semi rough clank noise when shifting from park to drive or reverse since i got the car. I put it in park and there was quite a bit of play in the drive shaft. I've drained the rear diff. fluid and it had metal dust in it. I need help as to what to do. Have to get it fixed cheap, struggling student haha. Thanks

 

Determine if the play is in the differential or the tranny. If the metal dust came out of the differential then your problem is probably in there but the tranny may also be a problem. There is no cheap answer unless you do the work yourself and get parts from the U Pick Auto Parts. But then you get used parts and don't know how long they will last?

 

I didnt lose any power when accelorating so i dont think its the tranny. I twisted the shaft when it was jacked in N and it turned 3/4 then hung up. There was an ovular shape to the u joint rotation so i think i just need to grab a salvaged rear axle and replace the u joints. I can replace that myself, rebuilding the diff... ha no way