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Clicking when braking

DT|Ac1d

NAXJA Forum User
Location
oregon
Sometimes when braking I get a deep clicking noise, its worse downhill than on flat/uphill and the harder I brake the louder it gets. I also sometimes get a sound when pressing the clutch in, similar to a bad pilot bearing. Just to let you know I did an AX-15 swap and got rid of the pilot bearing for just a pilot bushing. Only thing is, when i get the pilot bearing noise is when the brakes click the most. I put new Wagner Thermoquiet pads on and it still does it. I checked my pad seats on the knuckles and there isn't any grooves wore into them so I know that pad shifting isn't the issue. Any idea's? The only thing I can think of is that its something in the pumpkin. Or an exhaust issue that's being fixed in 2 weeks. Its got a 4" lift and the exhaust pipe after the header is being hit by the yoke on the front differential, which makes a rather nasty noise going over bumps. I'm leaning towards the exhaust being the issue (the exhaust being hit by the rotating yoke) but any insight would be nice.
 
The exhaust may be it. When braking and moving downhill you are torquing things differently, so that may be all it is. For safety I would pull the wheels and inspect the brakes carefully.

Good luck.
 
I'd vote for yoke hitting the driveshaft. WHen you brake you compress the front suspension, and move the driveshaft closer to the motor. You should see fresh rub marks on there if that's the case. Id' also double check the trackbar mount to make sure the axle isn't shifting passenger side when you're braking hard, and that the axle is properly centered.

It could also be axleshaft u joints or DS u joints.
 
Well, I just ran the rig down to the exhaust shop. Ended up getting a really good look at everything. First off the muffler is dead, so is the cat. As for the yoke hitting the exhaust. Its bad, its crunched the pipe in 20-30%, one of hangers is also missing. I had the cash so I had him redo the whole thing (excluding manifold) for a magnaflow high-flow cat, borla muffler and slightly bigger pipe the whole legnth. He also had to remake the bracket at the transmission mount, since I cut mine off to fit the AX-15 in there. Should be done in an hr or so. Hopefully minus the brake and clutch in noise. Also it should be really nice getting rid of a few of the other clanking noises from the one hanger being missing. The exhaust pipe is hitting the skidplate and rear leaf causing a few additional sounds. I'll post a reply to let ya know on how it turns out. Spendy little job though, ran me $575.
 
Well just got the rig out of the shop and got it home. The new exhaust sounds amazing and they did a killer job. They even managed to make several custom mounts, I can damn near do pull-ups from the exhaust now. But Unfortunately the nasty clutch in sound is still present, same with the braking sound. Any ideas? I just put in a high quality aluminum body slave cylinder recently, and still got no clue on the brakes. One thing he pointed out is that I needed to drop my transmission down 1" because the driveline angle is bad. And that my shocks were dead. One of the front ones bushing had been almost completely worn down and there was a ton of play at the bushing. Could this be the cause of the braking noise?
 
Rear drums are bad, I'm not gonna lie. They need completely redone from the ground up. New cylinders, drums, shoes, springs. But the fronts have new rotors and Wagner Thermoquiet pads :D.
 
If it were the drums, you would feel a pulse every time the brake shoe
rides over the crack on the drum. Ask me how I know (been there) :banghead:
 
what do the motor mounts look like?

the clutch noise is probably something in the bellhousing, possibly even the input bearing. I'd check that out ASAP before something major gets damaged.

clicking could be from the rear shaft. Pull the rear shaft and drive it in 4Hi around the block. It will handle strangely. if the noise goes away it's soemthing in the rear shaft, you may need to drop the case, do an SYE or simply replace some old u joints.
 
What kind of track bar are you running? My Re1600 used to clunk until I made a double shear mount for it... The heim ended up walking around and wallowing out the stock mount but not enough to induce death wobble

Is this a single click/clunk or continuous with brake pressure?
 
I had a similar clunking to a stop going downhill....definately thought it was some ugly drum brake issues. It turns out my shocks were shot. Everytime i hit the brakes the nose would dive and the rear shocks would clunk to a stop. New bilstein 5100's fixed my issue.
 
Clunking or clicking?

The bushings on the shocks (and those stupid bar pins) clunk a lot, don't think I have heard them "click".
 
Sorry I haven't been able to post any updates (work). The new exhaust didn't fix anything other than a few clanks:(. But it sounds great :). Tonight it was pretty bad on the way home so I checked the front diff. thinking the fluid may be low. Nope, I was barely able to get any gear oil in there before it started to overflow. I also ordered all of the rear drum parts and they should be here on Saturday. I also got a new set of Procomp ES 3000 shocks ordered that I have to go pick up Friday. I'll let you know Friday if the shocks were the cure. If not, Saturday after the rear brakes to see if that did it.

J-Roc - Its continuous, Its a deep clicking noise. I called it clunking due to the sound/tone of it.
 
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Sounds like you need to pull the diff covers and look inside.

Could be spider gears
ring and pinion (chipped tooth)
bearings

U joints in the driveshafts, the font CV shaft makes deep noises that are rhythmic when the cardan joint wants rebuilt.

I'd pull front driveshaft and see what that affects, then the rear.

at this point you're to eliminating rotating assemblies in the drivetrain to find the cause of your noise.
 
How do you suggest removing the front driveshaft? The bolts at the axle yoke are cake. The ones at the T-case.....not so fun. The new shocks made a HUGE difference, I didn't managed to get the back brakes in. But im starting to think less and less that they're the problem. As for the clutch noise, I talked to a couple of local guys and they told me what the problem probably is. When I swapped the BA 10/0 for the AX15 I removed the old pilot bearing and put a pilot bushing in there from a mid 70's CJ w/ a 304 (dont worry it was new). I'm told that this is what a lot of people do and its wrong. Apparently there is too much play in between the bushing and input shaft. Felt pretty damn snug to me but apparently it has to be custom machined to a thousandth of an inch or less. Otherwise the bushing will get hogged out and make that bad pilot bearing noise.
 
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Hold on! There is a breather hose on the front diff. On braking or front suspension compression the u-joint travels closer to the upper control arm (poss wrong terminology) that mounts at the top of the diff, and can rub on the hose if it droops.

Check it out-you'll see marks on it or the heat shield wrap if that is the culprit.

Wire tie it up to the control arm and you're good.

Thinking about that noise and the possibilities and the posts of others from brake components to bearings to diff ring and pinion to driveshafts and the $$$$ was really messin' with my head. :shiver:
 
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