"Thump" / "Clunk" Coming From Rear Axle Area

[LongDogRanch]

Thanks Jerry. We did look in the storage area under the bed to make sure there was nothing there. I almost wish there had been something there but, no, it was totally empty. In fact we have also not only looked in all the drawers and storage areas, we have actually removed the drawers to look inside the cabinets. If it's accessible I believe we have looked at it. We'll post the answer once it is known.

[Sthwindrider]

It's been a while since I read this thread so I apologize if this was mentioned before but I've heard the sway bar can actually hit the differential housing on some commercial chassis under load, could this be happening to you?
You could always rent or buy a couple of gopro cameras and mount them various places under the rv so you can see what's moving while you are driving

[Waiter21]

Agree with everything said so far. Also take a careful look at u-joints. Bad u-joint can do an occasional clunk.

[LongDogRanch]

Thank you. We'll take another look at that.

[LongDogRanch]

FINALLY. Well, it is somewhat embarrassing that it wasn't discovered sooner, but, for those of you who mentioned that this noise was originating from the sway bar or something close to it....pat yourself on the back. Numerous others, including the big local Ford dealer (with large truck mechanics) tried to find it but obviously overlooked the somewhat obvious.
Yesterday I left at 5:15 am to drive the 115 miles to North Trail RV in Ft. Myers to arrive by 8:00 .....to have their techs find the source of the problem within 5 minutes and resolve it as well as a few other minor minor minor sources of noise, all within 15 minutes. These guys used their experience to start with the most likely areas and were successful. Kind of makes me wonder whether or not the Ford dealer's guys actually touched the chassis with a wrench at all? In fact, while I was at the Ford dealer a while back it took almost four hours for them the take the coach in and come back telling me that it appeared to be the tail pipe hitting the driveshaft and that since Newmar extends the chassis on my model coach Ford couldn't do anything about the exhaust and I had to go back to Newmar. Glad I didn't let them touch the exhaust! That wasn't anything close to the source of the problem. Well, yesterday after the sway bar was merely torqued down, it became clear that the source was indeed a chassis component and the dealer's tech was perhaps to inexperienced or in a hurry to have found it. (By the way, the bushings are fine. Remember, this is only a 2013 coach with virtually no harsh weather driving etc.) The NorthTrail guys also found the top of the front shocks to be loose and tightened those as well. The result? No more thump, clunk, click, tick, tock or bang (just kidding about the tick, tock or bang).
So, another irv2 chapter closed. Guess it just goes to show that sometimes a fresh set of eyes can see things others miss.
All of your comments have been sincerely appreciated and it also goes to show the value of this forum.
Thanks to all from those of us at the Long Dog Ranch.

[Sthwindrider]

Glad you were able to find the problem! I'm Also glad it was something simple to remedy and you can enjoy your rv now.

[LongDogRanch]

Thanks Sthwindrider. Happy RVing to you!