mitchvhoff

Bare with me as this is long, any help would be appreciated.

Alright, as stated I have a 01 XJ with a 4.5" LA Lift, Running 33x12.5's. I am hearing this noise as best as I can describe is a low pitch squeal, or a whining noise. It is coming from the front, can't pin point driver or passenger side. Now I have had the 'angry sparrow' noise witch is caused by the CV Joint on the driveshaft, I have replaced all u-joints front and rear shaft, with rebuilding the CV with a new centering ball, recently. Also passenger side axle joint and wheel bearing I replaced few months back, the axle joint was bad and when pulling the bearing it was beyond shot. Now, I am not to familiar with a bad wheel bearing noise but I think that the other side (drivers) could be going bad and this is the noise, the driver side axle joint is now starting to clunk.

This whine/squeal happens from 20mph+ up, It will happen for few days, to a week, then won't hear it for a few days, and start back up again.

00jeepXJ

Honestly it sounds like your wheel bearing is going bad. Have you checked to see if there is any abnormal play in the wheel? It also could be a pulley bearing that is going bad. When you start hearing the noise then pop the hood and listen. Check the wheel bearing first though.

Rngr36

Any update on this? Not to hijack but i have the same problem

mitchvhoff

There is no play in the wheel at all. There is no noise of no sort of this whine from the engine, Also only way to check the wheel bearing would be pulling it all apart, correct? When I take the wheel off, I just did the passenger side few months ago, So with the tire off, With my hand on the studs moving the hub around in a circle it is very easy and smooth to move. The drive side is very rough and almost hard to do and some spots its easy? Witch the drive side has no been touched, also where I am starting to hear the clunk from the axle joint.

No problem! Jeeps pain in the ****!

jbossnack

Howdy Fellas,

I have a 99 XJ Classic with a 8.25 rear end

I've been hearing a whine for a while, it would come and go, but now it's louder and it's not going away. Only happens around 30 mph and up. It's not the engine and I don't think it's the brakes, I took the drums off last year and cleaned them and checked the shoes and they were good too. I'm thinking it's the wheel bearing. A local shop said $300 for replacing only one bearing. I didn't ask how much for both. I figured I'm going to do this myself and save some cash.

Does this sound familiar to you guys? Anybody find good writeups on how replace rear axle wheel bearings? What ELSE should we be replacing while doing this? Any seals?

Thanks!

00jeepXJ

Then its the drivers side bearing. Not supposed to be rough when you turn it.
To the other guy... you will need a slide hammer and bearing puller to do it. Also gear oil and something to drive the bearings in with.

jbossnack

here's the video of the sound:
I tore apart the rear axle and added new bearings and seals and also painted everything down there with some good rustoleum paint while I was at it so it's looking pretty now

the sound is driving me nuts, I think it might be the front pinion bearing going out but then again some people say it could be the needle bearings inside the caps of the u-joints in the drive shaft (but which one)

very frustrating, I want to get this beast going on a small trip soon

anybody got some advice for me on how to test further?

I would love to put it on a dyno and listen carefully to where the sound is coming from

brun

I have had the exact same noise for a few months now, its pretty bad now. Any final resolution to it? I saw on the you tube post it might be the idler pully.....

TwoXJS

I had a problem exactly like that. Turned out my driver side axle joint was seized up on two ends. It would be stiff and hard to turn, ease up, then get stiff again. Replaced it and now it's good.

Has yours ever been replaced that you know of? I'm pretty sure mine wasn't and it was a total clusterf**k to get out! Used a press to get it out, but three of the four caps shattered. New one went in fairly easily. Also got rid of most of my vibration at highway speed!

hbracing13

Pull your front driveshaft off and see if noise is still there. If not its that center ball mine was dry lubed it up and no more noise. If yes check the wheel bearings. My ninos truck had a similar noise to that but I found it after I pulled the wheel bearing off and you could actually see the play it had, if not you can lift the jeep up on jack stands and throw in it in 4wd to check the pinion bearings. Usually the 12 and 6 and 3 and 9 on the wheel will tell you a lot but not all the time.

brun

[QUOTE=jbossnack;2313309]here's the video of the sound:
Did you find the cause?

Mine is exactlly the same as the youtube clip.... but much worse now.

I have tried pulling both drive shafts (separately), replaced the idler pully, wheel bearings are less than 6 months old, going through u-joints now.
I really dont want to tear into the transfer case but I am leaning towards the rear output bearing.

I would love to put it on stands and see if I can trace it further but timing is proving difficult.