as it slips into first gear. This clunk seems to originate from the rear axle area, only happens when the car is warm, and seems especially more pronounced in hot weather and when starting uphill.
I used to have a rattle before the clunk and took the car in. I was given a transmission service which relolved the rattle but not the klunk… anyone have any thoughts?
You may have a worn u-joint or cv-joint whichever you have.
There is always some slop in the differential gears. When you put the transmission in gear, you will be applying torque to the drive train. This can cause some noise. Do you have the 4.0L engine? This engine/auto trans combination can develop a fair amount of torque at low rpm (good for off-road). My Jeep has done this from day 1, and has 70K miles on it with no problems at all.