I have a 2003 KJ with the 2.4 engine and manual transmission. I removed the front drive shaft with a bad rear cv joint hoping that was the cause of the noise but it is not. The noise comes and goes and is usually not present. Maybe once a week or so. There is a clicking clanking aspect to the noise as well as a grumbly bearing type noise that seems to follow the cadence of wheel rotation. At highway speeds it is a loud horrifying I might die kind of sound and as you slow down or come to a stop it sounds kind of like you have a flat tire except for the clicking sound. Turning does not seem to effect the noise and it goes away soon after it starts. Removing the front drive shaft has isolated the sound to the front as with the drive shaft in, I was having a hard time pin pointing the location. I checked the front wheels for play and the hubs seem solid. I am thinking it is the front differential. Is it possible to gut the front differential without fixing it? How hard is it to rebuild the front differential? Or what else could it be?