360 drivetrain noises - diagnose?

Whenever I am on the "edge" between having a load on the drivetrain and not having a load on the drivetrain, I get some clanking and clunking noises. For example, when you are driving maybe 35 MPH and barely have your foot on the gas, the car will start to oscillate until you either get off the gas or get on it. When this oscillation happens, I get the clunking sound as the drivetrain loads and when it unloads. I've replaced the motor mounts, front end ball joints, transmission mount and the exhaust mounting blocks. What else could it be? I've read about some people replacing their half shafts in the back - could that be a contributor? Could it be the brake pads?
Thanks in advance.

 

Thanks for your ramblings. What would be great would be a procedure so I could test my axles/half shafts. I'm wondering if it could be as easy as just getting under there (with the wheel off of the ground), gently turning it clockwise/counter clockwise, and looking for some play?

 

This forum is so great! Thanks everyone for the helpful information. )
Well, I did put the rear on jacks, took off the wheels, removed the shields covering where the axles enter the transmission, then had someone gently rotate the rotors back and forth (clockwise/counter clockwise) and there is absolutely no play in the CV joints. There does seem to be a lot of play in the transmission (??) because you can rotate the rotor almost an inch before it stops. I do not know whether this is normal or not.
I drive the car extremely hard. I never abuse it, but I always drive hard. Also, the car now has 50,000 miles on it. When I rotate the rotors to the point where they run out of free play, the "clanking" sound is similar to what I hear when the drivetrain oscillates.
This is a three pedal car. I "baby" the clutch (it now has 33K miles on it and is still wonderful), but I do enjoy shifting very fast.
I also did a cursory shakedown of the suspension components and nothing seemed loose.

There is one other thing that may or may not have something to do with this.
About a year ago, a warning light started showing up on my dash about once a month and continues to do so. The light looks like my car, but up on four jack stands. I looked in the owners manual for a definition, and this light indicates a fault in the suspension system. That's all it says. Having said that, I think it might be a good idea for me to take it to Brian Crall for a diagnosis and possible repair.

 

I can't speak for Brian, but I think that he's not nearly so disappointed in the people who give him a hard time on here as he is about the fact that it's allowed to happen. I can certainly empathize with him.

 

Thank you, this is helpful.
Also, I think I may have some insight on my clanking problem. I checked my car against a newer 360, and I'm thinking the culprit here is the backlash on the ring and pinion gears. With the amount of miles on my car and the manner in which I drive, it makes perfect sense. I made an appointment to have both checked out.

 

Well, I was close. The problem is in the differential, but it is not the ring and pinion backlash. It's the differential positraction clutch packs chattering. Some additive was added to correct this problem, and I'll report back after a couple hundred miles.

 

Okay, here is my report as promised: Problem Solved! All of the drivetrain noises are completely gone. The car feels tight. When I go around a corner and lightly press on the gas pedal, instead of clunking, I get a little chirp from the rear tires. Hard to believe that two little bottles of friction modifier solved this!
:-D

 

Brian Crall took care of this. I'm sure he would be more than happy to help you.