backlash reduced by heavy load

[miagui]

hello,
i observed something interesting yesterday.
for the first time, i load my09 110 pickup, stock suspension and all, with a heavy load of wood. while driving i felt something is not as usual, where is that loud clunk or backlash when shifting? i had to lower the radio down to hear the much lower clunk sound.
my thoughts are that the shaft must have been lowered in the back by all the weight, making it more aligned to the transmission and differential
Any other ideas?

[slug_burner]

The station wagons have an A frame in the rear suspension with a ball joint, you get banging when the ball joint is loose. If the pickups have the same arrangement you may need to get the ball joint looked at. That is one thing that I can think of that may respond differently to different load states.

[V8Mitch]

The station wagons have an A frame in the rear suspension with a ball joint, you get banging when the ball joint is loose. If the pickups have the same arrangement you may need to get the ball joint looked at. That is one thing that I can think of that may respond differently to different load states.

That'd be exactly right. A frame balljoint is shot...