M4Madness
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Springville, Indiana
I took my '96 XJ to a very reputable differential shop to have 4.56 gears installed. Upon picking it up, I immediately noticed a strange knocking/thumping noise emitting from the front end area as soon as I pulled from their parking lot and took off down the road. The sound was definitely rotational and not caused by random bumps in the road. The sound speeds up or slows down in relation to vehicle speed, and is most noticeable at slow speeds while coasting.
I returned to the shop and the shop's owner and I inspected it. He has complete hearing loss in one ear, and cannot hear it. He had replaced one of the axle u-joints, but aid he felt the other u-joint and hubs were good, but perhaps they were causing the sound. I changed the remaining u-joint and both hubs today, yet the sound still persists. The sound was definitely not present when I dropped it off for the work. I see nothing rubbing as far as brake hardware goes. The sound is the same in both 2WD and 4WD.
He did say that he had a hard time removing and installing the front driveshaft, as though it was too long. It is the factory driveshaft. Could he have damaged something regarding the front driveshaft? I may pull it tomorrow to see if the sound disappears. The only other thing that comes to mind is that he mentioned that the master install kit I bought from Just Differentials for the D30 had the wrong bearings and he had to swap them for correct ones.
Any suggestions before I have a nervous breakdown? LOL!
I returned to the shop and the shop's owner and I inspected it. He has complete hearing loss in one ear, and cannot hear it. He had replaced one of the axle u-joints, but aid he felt the other u-joint and hubs were good, but perhaps they were causing the sound. I changed the remaining u-joint and both hubs today, yet the sound still persists. The sound was definitely not present when I dropped it off for the work. I see nothing rubbing as far as brake hardware goes. The sound is the same in both 2WD and 4WD.
He did say that he had a hard time removing and installing the front driveshaft, as though it was too long. It is the factory driveshaft. Could he have damaged something regarding the front driveshaft? I may pull it tomorrow to see if the sound disappears. The only other thing that comes to mind is that he mentioned that the master install kit I bought from Just Differentials for the D30 had the wrong bearings and he had to swap them for correct ones.
Any suggestions before I have a nervous breakdown? LOL!