Knocking while in 4x4

[ltd02]

I have gotten a bad brand new half shaft before on a Subaru so not impossible here too. I'd check the grease status like @KJowner said.

 

[KJBart]

I pulled back the boots and there was lots of grease in and around the bearings. I also pulled the boots on the old shaft that was replaced and it was full of grease as well. Still can't rule out the chance of a bad replacement shaft. Was curious though, what are the odds that it might be in the wheel hub itself, where the spline goes into. The reason I ask is the outer splines on the old shaft were rounded and wore down to half of what I replaced it with so thinking maybe the hub itself has more wear than normal and the spline slips in there to some degree. I can get a hub for ~$100 so I may give it a go.

 

[KJowner]

Looks like you may have found it.

 

[KJBart]

Final Update:

Been a while since my last post, life got in the way there for a while. I tried a new hub on the right side and it made little to no difference. So I recently headed back to the salvage yard and got the left side CV axle off the same low mileage 05 KJ I got the right side from. Then....Yippee Ki‐Yay, the noise is finally 100% gone!

Kudos to ltd02 & lfhoward who suggested from the get-go that some aftermarket front half shafts can run a bit shorter than OE and be a bad fit for lifted KJ’s.

Thank you to all those who commented, you all make this forum the great resource that it is.

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[lfhoward]

Glad you got it working again and thanks for posting up how you did it!