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Humming front end

FallibleXJ

FallibleXJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Rochester, NY
Hey folks, I have another noise I'm trying to diagnose.

Just got my jeep back from getting gearing done and a rear detroit softlocker.

There is now a humming noise that is coming from the front end, seems to be coming from the front drivers side. It was never there before and is definitely related to speed (pitch changes with speed).

97', 4.56 gears, 31's, 3.5" RE SR lift
 
I only just got it back last night, so not long at all. What is properly broken in?
 
Just being on one side like that makes me think unit bearing?

My old 88 had a similar noise coming from the drivers side. More like a growl/hum. Took the wheel and brake rotor off and could hardly turn the unit bearing by hand.


Just sayin...
 
i have heard that some gear sets will hum until broken in, but proper break in (per my yukon instructions) is drive 10-15 miles of light driving (no full throttle accel, towing, high loads, etc) to warm up the gears then stop until they have fully cooled. do the same a few more times. this helps temper the gears and lets them "meet" to each other so to say
 
JJacobs said:
I see you're in New York, where everything is rusty. Maybe the front wheel bearings were removed with sledgehammers and are now fubar?
Click to expand...

though a sledgehammer is still a possibility, I kind of doubt it. My heep lived in socal from 98'-2008. It's pretty rust free.

What kind of diagnostics can i easily do to try and figure out what the noise is?
 
Well just check the diff fluid, its full. It occurs to me, because the dif is also on the drivers side it could be either the wheel or the diff that's making the noise. Any suggested tests?
 
If the noise is still there after the gears are broken in then it could be the pinion bearings have excessive pre-load. If it is a high frequency (most likely for a hum noise) then that would be my first guess.
 
Could be gear whine. Does it subside when you take your foot off the gas? My new gears are extremely noisy - at least I think it's the gears. They drown out the Swampers! The sound gets better when I take my foot off the gas, higher pitched the faster I go, lower pitched with deceleration. I am no longer in denial that it will make me deaf.
 
JJacobs said:
Sounds like you might want to pay the gear install shop a visit, unless you brought them used gears to install.
Click to expand...

X2, sounds like someone f-ed up installing the gears. Gears SHOULD NOT whine, whether being broken in or not. Ever owned a brand new car, or taken one for a test drive? Would you still think about buying it if it made loud whining noises every time you drove, and the sales man said "oh don't worry about it, it just needs to break itself in."
 
humming? definitely forgot the lyrics.


thanks, I'll be here all night
 
Begster said:
X2, sounds like someone f-ed up installing the gears. Gears SHOULD NOT whine, whether being broken in or not. Ever owned a brand new car, or taken one for a test drive? Would you still think about buying it if it made loud whining noises every time you drove, and the sales man said "oh don't worry about it, it just needs to break itself in."
Click to expand...

Yup called the guy up, he's happy to take a look at it and redo it.
 
The original installer & I are on the "outs" - I'll never let him touch my Jeep again. I did have the gears checked out by different installers & I was told that they're installed fine and everything meshes okay.

I read somewhere that cheaper aftermarket gears will whine. Since my gears look & work fine, I'm inclined to believe that. The gears I bought were not one of those well known names, so the statement could very well have some merit. I'm no expert so I can't argue with any authority; I'll just rely on my experience.
Ever owned a brand new car, or taken one for a test drive? Would you still think about buying it if it made loud whining noises every time you drove ...
Click to expand...
Well, OE stuff is usually better than aftermarket, so that could account for that. I just had the 02 sensors done twice on my Dodge from aftermarket to Dodge sensors. The truck refused to quit the CEL with the new A.M. sensors. Go figure.
 
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