chrisser
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Spencer WV
Wanted to share this with you guys in case anyone has this issue in the future - it was a little difficult to find good info.
I bought my 01 about 5 or 6 years ago. First Jeep and I have been very happy with it. Only real problem I had that I couldn't sort out was the rear tires wore much faster than the front and moreso on the insides. Redid axle bearings twice. Put in a lunchbox locker thinking I was getting slip from the open diff (I live on a hilly dirt road and use 4x4 daily). Once the tires wear, I have problems getting out of 4wd before I get to pavement.
Two years ago, I rebuilt the 242 case. Couple weeks ago, I heard a clicking noise that I eventually traced to the case. Took it apart and the chain had stretched so far that it took out the oil pickup which got trashed. Have rebuild parts on the way. I figured this was due to the excess stress from the tires being different sizes due to wear.
So in the meantime, I decided I was going to figure out my tire issue. I dropped the rear axle out, put the tires back on and blocked them. Then I put a tape measure on one tire and taped it down so it wouldn't move. Put a piece of tape on the other tire, stretched the tape measure and marked a round number roughly in the middle of the tire. Then I rotated the axle.
With my 28" tires (235/75r15), that mark moved 1 1/8 inches front to back.
So I pulled the cover and put a straightedge across the flange surface and got down where I could see across both axles. Passenger side is visibly cocked from the pig outwards.
I went to the junkyard over the weekend and got another axle which I'm going to rebuild and put back in. Pretty sure this will solve my problem.
Here's a link to a pic of the bent side.
https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipMmq8U5e7wGufzJrOgnEJTf4HQb5bVZovCkKAg
I had tried measuring while the axle was in the Jeep, but it's not easy. Pulling the axle is a PITA, but 5 minutes after it was out, I knew exactly what the problem was.
I bought my 01 about 5 or 6 years ago. First Jeep and I have been very happy with it. Only real problem I had that I couldn't sort out was the rear tires wore much faster than the front and moreso on the insides. Redid axle bearings twice. Put in a lunchbox locker thinking I was getting slip from the open diff (I live on a hilly dirt road and use 4x4 daily). Once the tires wear, I have problems getting out of 4wd before I get to pavement.
Two years ago, I rebuilt the 242 case. Couple weeks ago, I heard a clicking noise that I eventually traced to the case. Took it apart and the chain had stretched so far that it took out the oil pickup which got trashed. Have rebuild parts on the way. I figured this was due to the excess stress from the tires being different sizes due to wear.
So in the meantime, I decided I was going to figure out my tire issue. I dropped the rear axle out, put the tires back on and blocked them. Then I put a tape measure on one tire and taped it down so it wouldn't move. Put a piece of tape on the other tire, stretched the tape measure and marked a round number roughly in the middle of the tire. Then I rotated the axle.
With my 28" tires (235/75r15), that mark moved 1 1/8 inches front to back.
So I pulled the cover and put a straightedge across the flange surface and got down where I could see across both axles. Passenger side is visibly cocked from the pig outwards.
I went to the junkyard over the weekend and got another axle which I'm going to rebuild and put back in. Pretty sure this will solve my problem.
Here's a link to a pic of the bent side.
https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipMmq8U5e7wGufzJrOgnEJTf4HQb5bVZovCkKAg
I had tried measuring while the axle was in the Jeep, but it's not easy. Pulling the axle is a PITA, but 5 minutes after it was out, I knew exactly what the problem was.