2025 AWD Hybrid making thunk or thud noise from the rear at around 13 mph when braking

[Chops]

A “thud” would indicate some type of “abnormal” mechanical movement is occurring somewhere? In the traction control mechanism it seems for some? Is there even a traction control mechanism or is it all electronic?

My traction control automatically disengages & reengages when I turn my Lobo Mode on & off. No thuds so far.

Sponsored

 

[ListedGuru]

Agreed, mine didn’t either when I first went to drive it after they told me it had finally got delivered. I don’t think mine is necessarily getting “worse” but like you said I’m partial to thinking we know it’s there and it’s more of an anticipation thing more than anything. My wife drives it a couple times a week and she’s never mentioned it if that says anything.

OP here with an interesting little update. I had some errands to run yesterday so I jumped in my Maverick and away I went but I immediately noticed that the 13 mph thunk from the rear that I've been getting constantly for months wasn't there. I noticed this during my first couple of stops but figured it was just a fluke. I had three different places to go on my errand run and not once did my truck exhibit the thunk over multiple stops from varying speeds. My truck is garaged and I didn't drive it at all on Sunday which probably happens once every few weeks to not totally out of character. It did turn cold here (20's at night) within the last few days but I park in the garage so not really sure what to make of it.

I'll see what happens the next time I drive it again but I thought it was a pretty interesting data point after it thunking constantly like clockwork for months. It almost makes me wonder if something broke and that the AWD is no longer engaging when slowing down (thus no thunk) I mean it seems strange that it would magically fix itself but stranger things have happened. I have a 25 AWD Hybrid and I don't think there is a way to see if the AWD is actually working is there? I thought on the previous models you could pull up a graphic on the screen that would show what wheels are getting power but it seems that is no longer the case?

Also another interesting tidbit is that an individual on the Ford Maverick Facebook club was having the same clunking issue with his 25 AWD Hybrid and got his dealer to replace that RDU which is what the dealership said was the cause of the issue after they have correspondence with the Ford Hotline back in September. Well fast forward to today and I see that the same poster mentioned that his new RDU is making the thunking noise. You can see the comments here if you wish:

 

[JonnyC]

Thank you for starting this thread. I started noticing this on my 2025 AWD EcoBoost. I didn't seem to notice it within the first thousand miles or so, but now I do. It will consistently re-engage the driveshaft when decelerating at the 13 mph threshold, and I can hear and feel this. A friend of mine even asked me "what is that noise" without me having brought it up.

Just this week, with weather in WI getting below freezing, it started to NOT make this clunk, which confirms that temperature is factored into the logic. However, what I experience now is much worse, a lugging/vibration of the engine/drivetrain when below ~1,600 RPMs, which it seems eager to upshift into when using light throttle around town (30-35 mph). It doesn't seem like the engine is actually "lugging" though, as this same vibration occurs when decelerating and in those same RPMs. Something somewhere isn't happy, either the driveshaft balance or something in the PTU or RDU (the system explained here).

When the weather isn't as cold, like in the 40's today, this lugging/vibration can occur simply by disabling the traction control. This does the opposite of what I think it would do as it seems to keep the driveshaft spinning, which is why the 13 mph clunk doesn't happen when traction control is enabled because it's spinning the whole time (not sure up to what speed though - no clue how the system operates in this mode).

So, I think I'm going to have to take it into the dealer and see what they say. I MUCH prefer the clunk over whatever this lugging/vibration is in low RPMs, even though I can change drive modes to help alleviate it - but I don't want to be in Sport or Tow mode all winter.

 

[retiredmike]

Thank you for starting this thread. I started noticing this on my 2025 AWD EcoBoost. I didn't seem to notice it within the first thousand miles or so, but now I do. It will consistently re-engage the driveshaft when decelerating at the 13 mph threshold, and I can hear and feel this. A friend of mine even asked me "what is that noise" without me having brought it up.

Just this week, with weather in WI getting below freezing, it started to NOT make this clunk, which confirms that temperature is factored into the logic. However, what I experience now is much worse, a lugging/vibration of the engine/drivetrain when below ~1,600 RPMs, which it seems eager to upshift into when using light throttle around town (30-35 mph). It doesn't seem like the engine is actually "lugging" though, as this same vibration occurs when decelerating and in those same RPMs. Something somewhere isn't happy, either the driveshaft balance or something in the PTU or RDU (the system explained here).

When the weather isn't as cold, like in the 40's today, this lugging/vibration can occur simply by disabling the traction control. This does the opposite of what I think it would do as it seems to keep the driveshaft spinning, which is why the 13 mph clunk doesn't happen when traction control is enabled because it's spinning the whole time (not sure up to what speed though - no clue how the system operates in this mode).

So, I think I'm going to have to take it into the dealer and see what they say. I MUCH prefer the clunk over whatever this lugging/vibration is in low RPMs, even though I can change drive modes to help alleviate it - but I don't want to be in Sport or Tow mode all winter.

My 24 awd ecoboost also "seems" to lug in colder weather. I have been using the tow/haul mode and it doesn't seem to lug. About the "thump" noise when slowing down to 13 mph. I talked to a service writer at the dealership and he was going to "look" into it. He said many people have mentioned it to him. According to a video I watched, the system is operating as it should it's just the "thump" that is in question for me.

 

[ListedGuru]

Thank you for starting this thread. I started noticing this on my 2025 AWD EcoBoost. I didn't seem to notice it within the first thousand miles or so, but now I do. It will consistently re-engage the driveshaft when decelerating at the 13 mph threshold, and I can hear and feel this. A friend of mine even asked me "what is that noise" without me having brought it up.

Just this week, with weather in WI getting below freezing, it started to NOT make this clunk, which confirms that temperature is factored into the logic. However, what I experience now is much worse, a lugging/vibration of the engine/drivetrain when below ~1,600 RPMs, which it seems eager to upshift into when using light throttle around town (30-35 mph). It doesn't seem like the engine is actually "lugging" though, as this same vibration occurs when decelerating and in those same RPMs. Something somewhere isn't happy, either the driveshaft balance or something in the PTU or RDU (the system explained here).

When the weather isn't as cold, like in the 40's today, this lugging/vibration can occur simply by disabling the traction control. This does the opposite of what I think it would do as it seems to keep the driveshaft spinning, which is why the 13 mph clunk doesn't happen when traction control is enabled because it's spinning the whole time (not sure up to what speed though - no clue how the system operates in this mode).

So, I think I'm going to have to take it into the dealer and see what they say. I MUCH prefer the clunk over whatever this lugging/vibration is in low RPMs, even though I can change drive modes to help alleviate it - but I don't want to be in Sport or Tow mode all winter.

Welcome the to clunk (or thunk) or whatever you want to call it club, lol. In my post right above yours I mentioned that my truck didn't clunk once when I drove it earlier this week after having it clunk constantly for months. Well I drove it again the next day and the clunk was back so not sure what to make of it. Like I mentioned previously it did turn colder here in Michigan but it was only a handful of degrees warmer the next day I drove it and it clunked again so maybe temperature does have something to do with it like you mentioned.

Not sure what to make of the lugging/vibration that both you and @retiredmike are noticing in your AWD Ecoboosts. My AWD XLT is a Hybrid so it has the ecvt and I haven't noticed any sort of lugging or vibration just the aforementioned clunk/thunk. Please do keep us posted if you do take it into the dealer and get some info as to what's going on. I need to take mine in as well but it's such a pain in the butt doing so especially with the weather getting ready to turn to crap. I don't think the noise is normal as it seems that most folks with AWD Mav's don't have the clunk/thunk and it sure seems to me that this could lead to premature wear on some of the AWD components. We know of one individual of had their RDU replaced and it 'fixed' the issue for all of a couple of months before the noise came back. Like you, I know for sure that my truck (bought brand new) did not make that noise for the first few months of ownership (so 1K miles or so) but has for the last 4K miles or so as I approach 5K miles.

Also not sure if you saw this other thread I started that has a poll that you can vote on for the clunk/thunk. There is some more commentary in the thread so it's a decent read as well:

https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/f...down-braking-at-around-the-13-mph-mark.72957/

 

[ListedGuru]

My 24 awd ecoboost also "seems" to lug in colder weather. I have been using the tow/haul mode and it doesn't seem to lug. About the "thump" noise when slowing down to 13 mph. I talked to a service writer at the dealership and he was going to "look" into it. He said many people have mentioned it to him. According to a video I watched, the system is operating as it should it's just the "thump" that is in question for me.

Please keep us posted if you get any feedback from the dealer about the 13 mph thump/clunk noise. Also interesting that the service writer mentions many people have mentioned it to him which leads me to believe this noise is more common that the polling suggests in the other thread I posted. I think it's about 75% no noise and 25% hear it.

 

[JonnyC]

Welcome the to clunk (or thunk) or whatever you want to call it club, lol. In my post right above yours I mentioned that my truck didn't clunk once when I drove it earlier this week after having it clunk constantly for months. Well I drove it again the next day and the clunk was back so not sure what to make of it. Like I mentioned previously it did turn colder here in Michigan but it was only a handful of degrees warmer the next day I drove it and it clunked again so maybe temperature does have something to do with it like you mentioned.

My guess is that it doesn't use the normal outside temperature that we see on the dash to factor into the AWD logic. When I pulled out of the garage the other day it was showing ~44 degrees on the dash, but the clunk was not happening and the vibration was (in low RPMs), so the driveshaft was not disengaging. It was actually below 36 degrees at the time I think, so maybe another more real-time sensor is involved?

Driving home last night the clunk was back as it was above 40. But as I got towards my house it switched to leaving the driveshaft engaged, because it must of cooled off enough to trigger that logic.

 

[jmacerick]

I have had my 25 AWD Hybrid for 5 or so months now and it's started making a fairly loud thump or thunking noise that sounds like it's coming from the rear when I'm slowing down (braking). Like clockwork the thud (thump) happens when I slow down and hit 13 mph. The noise seems to be louder and more pronounced when I'm slowing down from say 45 or 50 mph as opposed to say 25 -30 mph but the noise happens almost every time. Has anyone else experienced this noise and if so were you able to figure out it's cause?

Also if I turn out traction control after before I start driving the noise magically disappears. This was also the case for the two others users that indicated they have this issue in the thread linked below.

I did find another thread where two members mentioned they have the noise but neither member seems to be active here on Maverick Truck Club so not sure if they were able to figure out the cause and get it fixed. Here is a thread where it's talked about a little bit:

https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/forum/threads/2025-hybrid-awd-thud-noise-when-decelerating.62929/

Members @ScoobyMateo and @Mox4615 both mentioned they had the issue but no follow up.

I also saw these on a facebook maverick thread where this person has the issue with their 25 AWD Hybrid but again not seeing a resolution:

Yes was me, I got my rear em diff changed with a new unit but the issue came back once again

 

[jmacerick]

Yeah I get this, too. I have no idea what it could be, might try to bring it to the dealership but I know it'll be a goose chase.

Call ford and complain and hopefully they make it into a recall.

 

[retiredmike]

Yeah I get this, too. I have no idea what it could be, might try to bring it to the dealership but I know it'll be a goose chase.

Like they told me, I'll look into it. Yea right,

 

[retiredmike]

Thanks for the reply and please let us know if your able to figure out what the issue is. The more I poke around the more folks I find that are having this issue so there is something to it that's for sure. I think your the second 24 Maverick I've come across with the issue at the rest I've seen have been 2025's (mine included).

The noise disappears under 40 degrees f

 

[LSchicago]

I have never had this noise.

 

[Ecorydr]

Do hope some resolution and/or explanation is found on this topic since I'm just a few weeks away from a 2026 Mav Lariat AWD Hybrid delivery...!🫤

On a "maybe" related note..... had a '89 full sized Bronco with an AOD in it. Was replacing the 302 with a 351W FOMO SVO crate long block (which bolted right up BTW). Took my AOD to a former Ford Tranny tech specialist to look it over before reinstaling behind my new motor. Asked about the harsh upshifts on AODS.... he said "if it aint shifting hard, it aint working right". Makes me wonder on these RDU sounds.

 

[ListedGuru]

The noise disappears under 40 degrees f

OP here and now that it's warmed up again in MI (at least for a bit) my truck is clunking like clockwork if I'm going anything above 13 MPH and then slow down. I have noticed that even if I'm coasting and not on the brakes in my AWD Hybrid once I cross that 13 mph mark when slowing down it'll still thunk from a coast. My truck normally doesn't clunk when it's under 40 degrees f outside either.

 

[Finnster]

OP here and now that it's warmed up again in MI (at least for a bit) my truck is clunking like clockwork if I'm going anything above 13 MPH and then slow down. I have noticed that even if I'm coasting and not on the brakes in my AWD Hybrid once I cross that 13 mph mark when slowing down it'll still thunk from a coast. My truck normally doesn't clunk when it's under 40 degrees f outside either.

OP, Have you heard of any Ecoboost or Hybrid Mavericks with 4K tow that have this clunk when slowing?

Sponsored