• NAXJA is having its 18th annual March Membership Drive!!!
    Everyone who joins or renews during March will be entered into a drawing!
    More Information - Join/Renew
  • Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

Another front end noise thread

Chero-King

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Up here eh?
I searched but half got hijacked or were solved by changing something that I dont need to change.
I just put the engine back in my jeep after a few months and took it out for a testdrive today and theres a fairly deep humming noise in the front end.
At first I though it was a brake was seized but I jacked it up and had someone spin the driver side wheel and it sounds like its coming from my T-case or the driveshaft, or possibly even the diff. its really hard to tell. It didnt do this before I rebuilt the engine so my question is...
What the hell could've happened while it was sitting in my driveway for a few months?

Oh and its an '88 auto with around a 4" home-made lift on 33's.
 
did u lengthen the drive shafts?
hows your pinon angles?
 
jeepdude10000 said:
did u lengthen the drive shafts?
hows your pinon angles?

Nope, and angles are fine.
The reason I cant figure out why it's doing this is because it never did this before I rebuilt the engine, all it did is sit in the driveway and not move for a few months and all of a sudden this noise comes up. I didnt do anything to the suspension while it was sitting either.
 
Last edited:
ok guessing u checked your u joints, and dif fluid, case fluid, simple stuff like that.
 
jeepdude10000 said:
ok guessing u checked your u joints, and dif fluid, case fluid, simple stuff like that.


Replaced all the fluids. Havent checked the U joints yet but U-joints make more of a clunking sound when they go bad I thought? oh well, I'll check 'em tomorow anyway.
 
Does it repeat the noise when the wheels are off the ground? My first thought after hearing that you've got a new vibration after your Jeep sat for a few months was that you had an out-of-round tire.
 
Chero-King said:
Well I had the driver side wheel completely off the ground and it still made the noise when I spun it.
Did you check the wheel for play when you had it off the ground? Grab the top and bottom (12 and 6 o'clock) and try to rock the wheel back and forth. If there's play, the hub is probably bad. I don't think that a hub would make noise if you spun it by hand though.

Can you narrow down where the sound is coming from at all? Are you sure that it's not coming from the engine?
 
No, I forgot to do that. Definitely one more thing to check tomorrow.
Yeah Im sure its not from the engine because it happens when the engines off too. i'd say its coming from the front driveshaft the most, but I didnt really listen too long.
 
Chero-King said:
Replaced all the fluids. Havent checked the U joints yet but U-joints make more of a clunking sound when they go bad I thought? oh well, I'll check 'em tomorow anyway.

Yeah.. a clunk when you shake them or a squeak when they are just getting under power.
 
I have a sound like that coming from under my 99 it seems to be either from the slip yoke on the front drive shaft (a problem friends have had in the past you can check by shaking- there should be no play side to side) or from the front gears.. almost like the pinion spacers compressed. I haven't gotten too far into it yet for a complete diagnosis.
Good luck
 
I had a noise close to that with my 97 and all I did was remove the front driveshaft and it went away. So now its a 10 minute fix before I do any 4X4ing. I dont need a front drive shaft anyways when i am around town.
 
Yeah I think I'm just going to remove the front driveshaft for now, because I can do any wheeling for a while anyway, gotta break in the engine first.
 
Back
Top