I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction here. I have an '80 Volare wagon and am having some clank when shifting it from park. The clank is moderate when on a flat surface but much more severe when I leave my driveway which is elevated. With my car backed in, the rear end is about 1 foot higher than my front end. In that position, not only does it clank but it is very tough to put it in gear on the column shifter. I assume the hard shifting is due to the small amount of forward rolling it does when I take my foot off the brake after parking.

I see no visible problems underneath and the driveshaft appears tight. I can't tell if this is a transmission, U-joint, or rearend problem. Can anyone give me some pointers on where to start?

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It could be a lot of things. My father's '73 auto/6 Dart did that and it turned out to be a bad rear shock, which I wouldn't have expected. It only did it when the car was nose-up in the driveway. To find it that you may have to
remove the rear shocks for a test.

In my experience, universals with >80K miles are often the culprit, but I've seen broken shocks, engine & trans mounts, converter bolts, U-bolts, shackles, bushings, worn differential, misaligned exhaust make a klunk too. Other things I've know can cause klunking are torque converter & its bolts, trans, loose wheel or bearing. I've even seen wheelcovers make obnoxious noises that sounded serious, but weren't.

Good luck; please let us know what you find.