Wubba wubba - is it a "hubba" "hubba"?

[spideyrdr]

Hi all,

I am about to venture into a complete suspension upgrade, and while I'm in there, want to see if I can fix this noise issue I've had for quite some time.

I would describe it as a "wubba wubba" noise that seems to be consistent with wheel speed rather than the drive shaft. To me it sounds like it's coming from the passenger side. If I'm doing about 20 MPH and turn the wheels back and forth it gets worse while turning left and better (less noisy) when turning right and seems to be more noticeable every time I go off road and then get back on pavement. Would that be symptomatic of a bad bearing in the hub (hence "hubba" in the title)?

Note that I've had this noise a long time and have replaced all rotors, all brake pads, and have changed tires during that time, so I don't think it's any of those types of sources.

I tried searching for a definitive answer and it SEEMS like others who have this sort of noise that changes while turning are looking at replacing the hub, but I wanted to double check with the group. "Hub" it too short of a search term to return any decent results too. But ptsb5a's how-to is making me think that's my problem. The other side of this question is would that likely be something ELSE too?

Cheers,
Jamie

 

[tommudd]

Wheel bearing
or
CV/Intermediate shaft

First two places I would be looking at

 

[yellocoyote]

I would say wheel bearing (hub)... and also, it bears asking... how long since you've had an alignment?

 

[spideyrdr]

Alignment was last done in 2010 right before a front-end accident (irony) but it was present before AND after. Actually the reason I HAD the alignment done was as a part of the investigation into the "wubba wubba" and the dealer had said there was nothing wrong, probably just the brake pads making noise on the rusty rotors. Like I said, new rotors, pads, and tires all around since then and still "wubba wubba".

Decided I am going to replace the hub assemblies while doing the suspension as a course of measure. If it still 'wub's' after that I'll keep looking. I'll also obviously be intimately seeing what is going on down there while doing the suspension, so any other problems will be noted.

Wub on wubbers!

 

[spideyrdr]

btw, thanks for the input guys! Appreciate it.

 

[spideyrdr]

Back from the alignment following the OME / JBA UCA / hub replacement and it's wubba'ing worse than ever. So it wasn't the hub. And it ain't the alignment.

Since it's worse now that I am back up to ~23" hub-to-flare, would that likely mean it's a CV axle or possibly the intermediate? If so it doesn't look terribly hard to replace both CV axles and the intermediate but I have two questions:
1) Would I need to remove the shock towers to do the replacement? The Chilton manual makes no mention of that but I saw a thread where someone mentioned that being something you need to do if it's lifted.

2) Is a slide hammer + axleshaft puller needed to get the intermediate out or am I mixing up my parts?

Cheers,
Jamie

 

[Luke]

You should remove everything basically ... towers, UBJ, LBJ, tie rod end... if not mandatory, it will make it easier to protect your axle seal from damage when R&R'ing.

Usually the Int shaft is fused to the CV axle and they come out in one piece. If not a good tug will dislodge it.

I had similar problems at 23" ...


EDIT .... If you remove the C clip on the end of the Int. shaft you can use that groove and a pry bar to pop it out. Huge thanks to YC (Jayme) for that tip!

 

[spideyrdr]

You should remove everything basically ... towers, UBJ, LBJ, tie rod end... if not mandatory, it will make it easier to protect your axle seal from damage when R&R'ing.

Usually the Int shaft is fused to the CV axle and they come out in one piece. If not a good tug will dislodge it. Vice grips?

I had similar problems at 23" ...

Thanks, found the how-to after posting and it looks manageable.

 

[WickedBruce]

I'm at 22 and just had this issue start over the weekend. Let me know how it turns out

 

[spideyrdr]

Did the driver side today and it really wasn't horrible. It took a little over 90 minutes and I've never done one before so there was some extra wrestling. Note the how-to skips over removing the caliper and hanging it securely - I recommend doing this since the brake line could get yanked during the replacement, and removing / replacing the caliper takes all of 2 minutes.

Another note: I left the shock in and it didn't give me too much trouble, one just has to be careful not to tear the boot on the new axle. On the passenger side I will probably remove it since it's easier to get out (rather, the airbox is easier to get out and therefore the shock mount bolts are easier to get at) and I don't know if it would cause interference issues on that side due to the intermediate shaft.

 

[spideyrdr]

Did the passenger side today in under 90 minutes and the wubba wubba seems to finally be gone! Old intermediate shaft and right side cv axle came out with no problems and the new ones went in with no problems. I have only done a quick test but my Liberty seems much happier now!

The entire first phase of the project, which was a Daystar-like spacer lift replacement, consisted of:
- new OME shocks and springs with the front 'towers' being built from all new isolators and mounts
- JBA 4.5 UCA's
- JBA top plates
- clevis spacers from Home Depot
- new front hub assemblies
- Teraflex bumpstops in front, hockey pucks in the rear

This set me back right around $1650 including the alignment, a couple of crazy-expensive replacement bolts, and 2 extra rear iso's that I haven't put on yet. About $75 of that was shipping costs alone.

Phase two was the left and right CV axle and intermediate shaft replacement, which set me back about another $250.

So the grand total was about $1900 to replace my entire crapped-out spacer lift, put in tasty new JBA UCA's, new hubs, axles, and intermediate shaft. Not the cheapest project I have undertaken, but probably one of the most satisfying and one I'll enjoy for years and years. I literally did everything but one shock tower assembly and the alignment by myself.

Thanks to all here who helped with tips, how-to's, and advice!