Rumbling noise and severe vibrations

[KCJeep]

When it coasts from 50mph down it starts to get a rumble and as speed gets down to 10mph it gets more severe and more severe yet when you put the brake on. What is feels and sounds like? On the highway if you go off the road you hit the rumble strip on the side of the road? That's what is feels and sounds like when the wife hits the brakes at 15mph and slows down. If you put the transmission in neural you can then hear a click sound with each rumble as you get to about 5mph. It is all coming from the front drive axle. What the hell just happened? It will stop rumbling at any speed if you gas it and does not do it in reverse at all. Got the warranty but cannot get it into the dealer till I get off the road April 15th. Front axle has been slowly leaking gear oil and just had both differentials refilled last week from a year ago. Any real thoughts on it?

 

[ptsb5a]

The rumbling while decelerating may be caused by worn pinion bearing(s) or a lack of pinion preload, again the worn bearing(s).

 

[jnaut]

x2 on a possible differential issue. Time to get her on jackstands or a lift and spin the tires without a load on them and see if the noise is still there, and see if you can locate it. Or spend $100 at a mechanic who'll do the same with a mechanical stethoscope.

Let us know what you find.

 

[ThunderbirdJunkie]

This is why Dana axles suck. D30s always need frickin pinion seals.

The seal wore out/started seeping, dirt got in there, and the bearing is done.

 

[KCJeep]

It is getting a lot worse now vibrating at 50mph while cruising on a flat surface. As you come to a stop the clicking is getting prominent unless you put it in 4x4 then it just rumbles a bit. Chrysler cannot take it in for the warranty yet and it is the only vehicle my wife has to drive while I am on the road. I did not notice any leaking from anywhere at the yoke area or where the front shaft bolts on, it is not even wet; only the passenger side of the axle has been leaking. The differential is full of 90/145 gear oil. I told Chrysler it has to be driven and all they could say was if it seems like it is getting too dangerous to drive to bring it in.

If I remove the front drive-shaft will that help alleviate the rumble strip effect?

There is no up/down or side-side play just some lash, which is a good half inch of turn before catching in either direction. So with the bad bearings the pinion gear is riding the ring gear too hard? I just hope it can wait till the 15th.

 

[KCJeep]

I was able to stop home before going back on the road and wow guys the vibrations are horrendous, headache causing even. I looked under and there is no wetness from the front yoke but there is from the top of the back yoke. Also there is no lash or whatever you call it in the rear end man - meaning, I cannot get any spin movement from the rear driveshaft at all while in park. The front shaft has about that 1/4" of turn/movement in either direction but the rear one has none at all it is tight. Jacking up and spinning the wheels are also tighter than I remember. I guess it is not the front differential it is the rear one. Wife takes in in Thursday so I will let you all know what was wrong with it but I suppose some of you already know since you have had them for a while. Gotta go catch some ZZzzzzzzzz federal regulations and all.

 

[Boiler]

I had quite a bit of roaring that was taken care of by replacing the U-joints on the rear driveshaft. I just replaced them both. If you've got an hour or two, a vise, and a variety of sockets to use to push the u-joints in and out, it is a pretty cheap thing to try. Mine were like $34 for the pair.

You could unbolt the flange at the rear and see if it moves around freely with respect to the shaft. I figured it couldn't hurt to change them out so I just did mine and it helped a lot. My rumbling happened pretty fast too.

 

[JeepJeepster]

Check the cv joint where it slides onto the intermediate shaft on the passenger side. Those spines could be worn out allowing the cv to flop around. Mine is currently worn out causing some slight vibrations and noises at low speeds. It also gets worse when I let off the gas which has me confused. Sometimes Ill find a nice sized speed bump and hit it hard, makes the vibration go away for a little while. Shifting into 4wd of any kind does not change the noise or make it worse.

Either way, push upwards on the cv right by the cv boot where it goes into the diff to check it. Mine has around a 1/2in of play in it.

 

[autoboy454]

Check the cv joint where it slides onto the intermediate shaft on the passenger side. Those spines could be worn out allowing the cv to flop around. Mine is currently worn out causing some slight vibrations and noises at low speeds. It also gets worse when I let off the gas which has me confused. Sometimes Ill find a nice sized speed bump and hit it hard, makes the vibration go away for a little while. Shifting into 4wd of any kind does not change the noise or make it worse.

Either way, push upwards on the cv right by the cv boot where it goes into the diff to check it. Mine has around a 1/2in of play in it.

Your vibes are the direct opposite of mine. Vibes at 45-50MPH only when ON the gas... Wierdest thing. I know I have play in my intermediate shaft (possibly also a wheel bearing issue... UGH)

 

[yellocoyote]

Edited to keep on topic...

 

[BjBnet]

oh good I'm not the only one with weird rumbling at 60mph.
On that note, my left UCA is shot and has alot of play in it, I wonder if the wheel was bouncing around at that speed or something....
On that note, the UPS lady dropped off some nice red JBA UCAs today which I attempted to install but ran into a few problems....gonna finish tomorrow.
I'll let you know if the rumbling is gone

 

[ThunderbirdJunkie]

The rumbling may be because of irregular tire wear caused by the balljoints.
When you replace your UCA's go ahead and rotate the tires and see if the noise follows the tires.

 

[BjBnet]

I rotated the tires 2 weeks ago and still the same thing.
You should have seen my neighbor's face when I showed him my UCA ball joint...priceless, actually, that was my reaction too when I checked it last week. Just glad I don't now drive a 3 wheeler aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

 

[KCJeep]

Front axle seals replaced and the pinion gear seal and no that was not the problem. The rear tires wore square and the rear lower control arm bushings are shot at the axle bolt-up part. Are there any bushing kits available or do you need the whole arm like the dealer said. I have pressed in bushings before after digging out the old ones but finding ones that fit this a possibility? There were no differential issues at all according to the dealer so I got some time to replace the bushing issue and if it persists they will take it again and see what the problem is and not charge me a deductible again. They just said do nto wait too long, like two months or they can't roll the deductible.

 

[ptsb5a]

The bushings on my '05 are available seperately from the control arm. Have the dealer parts wanks check again. In my .pdf parts book, the control arm is listed as item 20 which includes items 18 and 21, the bushings. The bushings themselves have idividual part numbers.

 

[LibertyTC]

The new bushings are available at Morris 4x4: #26-27 (also Spicer makes them)
Just easier to order the whole arms that has bushings already in.
http://www.jeep4x4center.com/jeep-steering-parts/liberty-kj.htm
The new bushings can be pressed in but you need to burn the old ones out if you intend to keep the stock arms, with new bushings, that is what I did. I used SPICER BUSHINGS. It does require a 15-20 ton press though.
Note that the problem is that at the axle side bushings has cut away slots, and they should be filled in with windshield urethane and allowed to dry for 3 days before installing. I would pull one of your stock control arms and look for cracks in the stock bushings or just fill them in and let them dry the re-install. You may not need new bushings inspect them first.
http://s779.photobucket.com/albums/yy75/LibertyTC/Jeep%20Liberty%202004/?action=view&current=JeepLowerControlArmBushings2.jpg
Hope this helps. In my situation it was not a shudder but the jeep jumping to one side at highway speed when u took off the gas and pushed the other direction when gas applied . It was causing the diff to have a slight shift in the diff.

Front axle seals replaced and the pinion gear seal and no that was not the problem. The rear tires wore square and the rear lower control arm bushings are shot at the axle bolt-up part. Are there any bushing kits available or do you need the whole arm like the dealer said. I have pressed in bushings before after digging out the old ones but finding ones that fit this a possibility? There were no differential issues at all according to the dealer so I got some time to replace the bushing issue and if it persists they will take it again and see what the problem is and not charge me a deductible again. They just said do nto wait too long, like two months or they can't roll the deductible.

 

[JeepJeepster]

Bad bushings on the rear control arms shouldnt cause vibrations like that. Typically they will cause the Jeep to wonder but thats it.

Did you ever check the cv joint like I mentioned?

 

[ThunderbirdJunkie]

Bad bushings (IN THEORY) could change the pinion angle enough to cause severe vibrations.
Just sayin

 

[ptsb5a]

X2 on TBJ's post. Driveline angles seem critical on our wee KJs. I know that mine eats u-joints every 40Kmiles due to the lift.

 

[BjBnet]

X2 on TBJ's post. Driveline angles seem critical on our wee KJs. I know that mine eats u-joints every 40Kmiles due to the lift.

That's good to know