2020 Gladiator.

[Pipe MD]

Is it normal for there to be a clunk when going in to reverse. 8 speed auto.

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[HorneyBadger]

no!

 

[HorneyBadger]

Are you on a hill? or level ground?

 

[ScottBeach]

2020 sport 8sp. No clunks here.

Can you share more details?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Is it normal for there to be a clunk when going in to reverse. 8 speed auto.

It depends on the clunk and the engine RPM and going into reverse from what?
Yeah, all slack is taken out of the driveline and brake calipers are pressed hard against the brackets. It can make a noise. But there's a lot of "it depends". You gave almost no information to go by.
A "clunk" can describe a lot of things - to some, nothing at all to worry about, to others a clunk is bad.
From D to R, yeah, it's not unlikely.
From P to R, that also depends on other things.
And...... define clunk.

 

[Gren71]

Ive had a distinct clunk from when shifting from park to reverse on flat and incline parked positions. I have 96,000ish miles and ive had it the entire time.

i also get it it when shifting from park to drive in the same positions. I notice I get it less often when i start the truck and let it warm up until the RPMs drop below 1,000.

 

[JS52]

My 2020 has had it since i've owned it, it almost make 2 engagement sounds (similar to a click and clunk) when going from park to reverse when cold. Isn't near as audible when warmed up and happens on leveled ground or inclines. I wouldnt say it sounds normal by any means but the few i've been in and around all do it.

My buddy has a 22 and his does the same thing as well.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Both of mine have the normal ''cold start" (meaning first start of the day even if it's 70 outside) and it idles up about 1400, then drops slowly to about 1,000, then finally settles to normal warm idle. If I put it in gear while it's in that high idle phase, you can tell all slack is being taken up and it's not whisper quiet. you've got clearances and play in everything from transmission output shaft to transfer case output, drive shaft parts, pinion to ring gear clarence, brake movement and so on.
I figure that people aren't paying attention or get in with the HVAC going or the radio cranked and don't realize it.

 

[berb]

This is a long response but may shed some light on what you’re dealing with.
So, this has been on several threads. I started one in the spring because not only did I have the clunk but I had a “skip” in my transmission from 3rd to 4th gear. My local dealership couldn’t recreate the problem but I could get the loud clunk to cover every time on a cold start every time. The clunk got Jeep to send me to a transmission specialist at another dealership. The clunk from Park to Reverse got Jeep to authorize a tear down of my transmission. During the tear down they discovered my D clutch was bad and authorized my transmission to be replaced. When I went to pick up my Gladiator the clunk was gone and everything was good. 2 days later the clunk from Park to Reverse is back. I called the transmission specialist back and they said it is actually normal. Well, I said bullshit. I have a JL and sure enough my JL is as quiet as a mouse when shifting from Park to Reverse. So I go to my local dealership and sure enough a brand new Gladiator didn’t make the clunk either. So, I get it back into service. They tell me it’s perfectly normal and an employee has a 20 Gladiator and it does the same thing. Again I call bullshit and my smartass says let’s see if that used Rubicon does it. They get the keys and sure enough Clunk.
So moral of my long story is that some Gladiators make the clunk and others do not but it is deemed as normal. The good news is the transmission is covered to 60K miles or 5 years. Luckily I have a 100K Mopar warranty. Sometimes I hear the clunk and sometimes I don’t but the transmission works great. I hope this helps.
I suck at searing the forum but I will see if I can find my thread and post it here for you to look at. I have videos of the part that the clunk comes from.

 

[berb]

here is the link to my thread with video.

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/please-help-me-understand.70062/

 

[HorneyBadger]

Well, the person who started this thread has been a member since 2020 with only 3 threads.

I guess its 1 clunk and done!

 

[ShadowsPapa]

This is a long response but may shed some light on what you’re dealing with.
So, this has been on several threads. I started one in the spring because not only did I have the clunk but I had a “skip” in my transmission from 3rd to 4th gear. My local dealership couldn’t recreate the problem but I could get the loud clunk to cover every time on a cold start every time. The clunk got Jeep to send me to a transmission specialist at another dealership. The clunk from Park to Reverse got Jeep to authorize a tear down of my transmission. During the tear down they discovered my D clutch was bad and authorized my transmission to be replaced. When I went to pick up my Gladiator the clunk was gone and everything was good. 2 days later the clunk from Park to Reverse is back. I called the transmission specialist back and they said it is actually normal. Well, I said bullshit. I have a JL and sure enough my JL is as quiet as a mouse when shifting from Park to Reverse. So I go to my local dealership and sure enough a brand new Gladiator didn’t make the clunk either. So, I get it back into service. They tell me it’s perfectly normal and an employee has a 20 Gladiator and it does the same thing. Again I call bullshit and my smartass says let’s see if that used Rubicon does it. They get the keys and sure enough Clunk.
So moral of my long story is that some Gladiators make the clunk and others do not but it is deemed as normal. The good news is the transmission is covered to 60K miles or 5 years. Luckily I have a 100K Mopar warranty. Sometimes I hear the clunk and sometimes I don’t but the transmission works great. I hope this helps.
I suck at searing the forum but I will see if I can find my thread and post it here for you to look at. I have videos of the part that the clunk comes from.

It's going to depend on wear and mileage as far as if there's a clunk and how much. Again, define "clunk".
You get wear, the pinion and ring gear wear in, the lash increases, the slip joint on driveshafts wears, you get lash, brakes wear, you get lash, and on and on and on, including the carrier and side gears, axles and more. All of this can add up to more movement and wind-up of the drivetrain components. Been at this since the 1970s as a troubleshooter (it's why the places I worked in hired me), and I'd have to HEAR IT in person to say if it was a concern or not. Many times it's nothing but normal lash adding up. It can be a problem. But to say "all clunks are bad" is wrong. To say "it's fine" and never having HEARD IT is also not good.

There's simply no way to diagnose all sounds over the internet. Can't be done.
And you can't say if it clunks it's bad because they might be comparing it to some new small car or something else.

Just don't know how it can be claimed to be bad or good and never hear it or even define the type or "loudness".

Miles matter. How it was driven matters, care matters. Will a brand new vehicle on the lot make a sound? Unlikely.
Will a vehicle with 50,000 miles make a sound? Maybe - but it's silly as heck to try to compare to a brand new vehicle where the gears aren't even broken in yet.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Mine made a heck of a clunk today - I put it in reverse from park and apparently there was some tension on the park pawl in the transmission because it was a real big clunk and I could feel it jump a bit. That's what I get for not applying the parking brake before putting in park.

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