byrns149

So ive had my xj for about 8 months now and about 4 months ago i started to hear a clicking noise coming from my front end when going below 30mph and especially when coming to a stop.
I brought it to a local transmission shop and was told both of my differentials are "noisy" and will most likely need my front and rear diffs rebuilt along with a passenger axel u joint.
I decided to do some investigative work and go under the jeep.
My front driveshaft seems to have a ton of play and can almost rotate fully and seems very loose. Would this be U joints on the driveshaft causing this? Is the noise im hearing just u joints
? I put my jeep into 4 wheel drive today on the beach and experienced a loud clicking/grinding noise when turning on the sand. I have no issues switching from 2wd to 4wd but once im in and making turns it doesnt sound too good. I bought this jeep for the purpose of offroading so id like to get it back into working order without spending the $2000 they quoted me for the fix...... Any suggestions?

cerami50

If you just bought a Jeep, you'll learn very quickly to always check the most obvious and cheapest things first. In this case - U-joints. The front driveshaft play is definitely bad, to the point that you should remove it before you do any driving. Rotation is fine, but up/down and left/right play signals a busted U-joint and driving it at highway speeds will result in a shredded transfer case. Ask me how I know. Drive Shaft U-joints are super easy to replace with a 10mm socket.

Your front axle u-joints you can check by jacking up one side of the vehicle and turning the steering wheel to maximum rotation. Try spinning the jacked-up tire, if it stutters or if you can feel it hang up at certain points in the rotation, that points to a bad front axle U-joint. You can also replace these on your own but I've always found pressing the u-joints out to be a huge PITA.

Any other noise I'm at a loss how to help you, I am myself experiencing what I can only describe as a metal splintering noise from my front end that I am hoping to diagnose this weekend. Good luck.

toasterknight

I second it being u joints. If you want to try changing them yourself it you can use a ball joint press to get the old joint out and the new joints in. I have never rebuilt the CV end of the front shaft. Someone else may have more advice on rebuilding that.

madmanmarty

After the test above,Why not replace the u joints & dif fluids and see what u get?

kgm

They are probably all original driveline parts, replacing every U joint in both driveshafts as well as your axle shafts, and new oil in both diff cases would make everything much better.

toasterknight

I accidentally ran my rear axle 1000 miles half full of water a while back the only reason I noticed was the rear u joint ate it as well and were shaking the whole jeep. Ring and pinion don't just go bad.