Been tracking down a intermittant squeak & dull thumping sound from the rear for the last few weeks. Also some vibration under power (there since I got the car but seemed to be getting more pronounced)

The sound went away after the car gets up to speed, >30mph and some days seemed worse than others.

Took a look at the driveline, checked all the bolts, driveshaft as well, and found a little play in the passenger side half shaft. Pulled it yesterday & discovered alot of play in the inboard u-joint, bearings shot.

Had both joints replaced with Neapco joints at Drivelines NW (did a great job, 2 hr turnaround) and refurbed the rest of the shaft myself.

Got it back in, went for a drive and the problem is Gone!

About and 90% improvement. Very pleased, much smoother & no unusual noises.

Will pull & check the driver side shaft tomorrow for peace of mind.

Drivelines NW ... Recommended

nice glad you figured it out. u-joints are evil. they always cause weird random noises when going out. i had one that was out in a truck i bought but you couldnt tell my moving it around, it didnt make any clunking but squeaked and had a grinding noise sometimes. i got under there tried moving it around and inspecting and couldnt find a thing, a month later it broke completely i got it replaced and i never ever heard those noises again.

Wife had a Pinto (yea, I know) that would bang like hell if you slowly took off from a stop. If you floored it (whoa, the power!), not a peep. Turned out the Ujoints were shot.

Definitely different noises based on different conditions/scenarios.

I had a Pinto in the late 70s but my Pinto had a Racer Brown camshaft, twin sidedraft Delortos, head work, a light flywheel, etc. It screamed! Unfortunately it didn't hande a well as it ran as the guy that bought it from me wrapped it around a telephone pole in the hills above Pomona, Ca. and still walks with a limp to this day.....

Yea, Steven I hear you.

After we replaced EVERYTHING in the car (trans, Ujoints, distributor, etc etc) she ran pretty good and was a VERY reliable, economical car. Station wagon was very versatile since it moved us from apartment to apartment and then some. Actually liked it during the '70's oil 'crisis'.

my mother had a pinto. she still to this day says it was the best car shes ever owned.

my mother had a pinto. she still to this day says it was the best car shes ever owned.

She must have only had Vegas and Yugos, aside from the Pinto.

I had a baby poop yellow pinto in college. Was always reilaible, cheap transportation. I had no complaints, but was never rear-ended...