help

1969cj5

Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2006
Location
fayetteville
I need help. I am having a grinding sound from my rear in an 89 wrangler. I think it may be the wheel bearing or the pinion, maybe spiders. I am out of my league with this one. Any one in the hope mills fayetteville area that can help I woud appreciate it.
thanks
Chris
 
If you have basic handtools, you can open the rear diff and determine if it is the spider gears or not.
Does the noise happen under load or while coasting or both?
 
Yeah I have plenty of tool I am just not real confident in this. I do brakes, changed axle shafts cv joints. What am I looking for. Any info would be appreciated
Chris
 
1969cj5 said:
What am I looking for. Any info would be appreciated
Click to expand...

You'll be looking for signs of "disintegration"... like metal particles & shards of the spiders/R&P laying in the bottom of the case and correct amount of lube coming out of the case.

Then if the cause isn't highly evident, put it in neutral (front tires should be chocked & rear on jackstands at this point, but NOT necessary just to pull the cover), and spin the rear axle... looking for interference. You can also check the u-joints in the rear shaft a bit easier at this point (no load on the axle/driveshaft) for dry/missing caps, fragged u-bolts, etc.
 
1969cj5 said:
Yeah I have plenty of tool I am just not real confident in this. I do brakes, changed axle shafts cv joints. What am I looking for. Any info would be appreciated
Chris
Click to expand...
Here is a pic of what my Dana 35 spider gears looked like when they ate themselves. There was also plenty of metal shavings and pieces in the bottom of the diff.
ai303.photobucket.com_albums_nn152_VortecJeep_ZJ_ZJspidergears2.jpg
 
If you hear the noise while driving in a straight line then it's not your diff. If it changes when you are cornering it's most likely a wheel bearing.
 
Back
Top