My '97 s10 4wd has been a pretty good truck. But recently I'm getting a clicking/tinging sound from the rear end. It seems worse when the truck is cold-- as I accelerate from a stop the sound increases the harder I get on the gas. Everything else is ok though-- forward, reverse, shifting, etc. I had the rear up on stands tonite to get tension off the wheels and noticed a little play in the driveshaft. Does this sound like bad u-joints or something more serious like torque converter or rear end???

My '97 s10 4wd has been a pretty good truck. But recently I'm getting a clicking/tinging sound from the rear end. It seems worse when the truck is cold-- as I accelerate from a stop the sound increases the harder I get on the gas. Everything else is ok though-- forward, reverse, shifting, etc. I had the rear up on stands tonite to get tension off the wheels and noticed a little play in the driveshaft. Does this sound like bad u-joints or something more serious like torque converter or rear end???
Most likely it's your u-joints that are bad. You can't check the torque converter that way. Put your truck in neautral and then shift it back to drive several times, if you hear a clang, change your u-joints. Check all of them while your at. u-joints are cheaper than the rear end.