Have a clunk in the rear suspension 97 runner

I own a 97 4 runner 4 wheel drive. It has a 150k miles on it.

My problem is when I come to a stop and then restart. It doesn't seem to matter how long I'm at a stop, but when I release the break pedal, I get a subtle clunk and it feels like the rear end drops about an inch or two.

I called the dealer to see if the springs might be the problem (possible recall item per previous poster here) but he informed me that the springs had been replaced in 2002 (50k miles ago).

Any thoughts on where to start? I'm thinking it may be the shocks or possibly a U joint on the drive train, but I'm no mechanic and there seems to be a more suspension parts back there than I'm used to.

Any thought or experiences you can share would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks. Carsick.

Grease the splines and u-joints with moly grease. Probably a dry spline.

I think that did it, thanks.

I dug this thread up and I am having the same problem. My mechanic said that I don't have splines. Hmmm what should I do?

If you have a 4X4, you have splines in both propellor shafts. Grease all the fittings. In the following drawings, the #2, #3, and #4 fittings grease the splines in each shaft (top to bottom).

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b8/rogersb/PropellorShaft.jpg

Just an FYI to those getting thumped in the rear.
I was on a trip this weekend and thought I would test my original hypothesis.
I held the RPM at about 1800rpm and came to a stop and WHOA! The whole truck lerched and then settled what seemed like "back" I could replicate this every time with the "idle" set too high.
It is a side affect of the transmission shifting down under "acceleration" not a normal scenario.

Check your idle when in park or neutral just after you experience this "phenomenon".
Set it to your engines specifications (~800rpm).
Hope this helps.