Hello all, I am pretty new to the forum but have been very thankful for all the help I've gotten on here so far but on this issue I am striking out. I am having a loud clunking sound coming from the front of the vehicle ONLY in 4 wheel drive and ONLY when I turn hard right or hard left. My driveway is pretty bad this time of year and have to use 4x4 almost every day to get up it, and have to make a hard right hand turn and then a hard left to get to the house and as long as I'm holding the wheel hard over it is just a constant knocking/clunking sound. I think that what I need is called the CV half shaft assembly but wanted the forums opinion before I buy anything. My buddy had a 96 Grand Cherokee, AWD, doing the same thing a couple weeks ago and this fixed his problem. I found the parts I think I need on rockauto.com and wanted to be sure first. http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php

You'll have to click on "drivetrain" to see the part I'm talking about.

 

sounds like all you need to do is replace your axle shaft u-joint. xj didn't come with a cv axle shaft.
hit up nappa and grab a spicer 5x297 or cross reference that number for a less expensive joint.

 

x2 just had to do this on mine... get a good one and you will be happy.

 

Thanks very much, you think they would have this at autozone right? Only reason I ask is cause I happen to have a gift card that I still haven't used there yet.

 

some very realy xjs did

 

Mine is a 2001 Cherokee Sport. Of course my friend who had this problem was on a 96 Grand Cherokee so not real sure where I stand.

 

if you see a ujoint inside the ears of the front end its not a cv

 

heres a cv axle for xjs

 

heres a regular xj axle

 

Right, I found those on rockauto for a pretty reasonable price. If I did one I'd just go ahead and do both at the same time. But I wanna be sure that's what it is before I spend $120 on those or if I can just spend $40 on replacement U-joints. I'm have my mechanic take a look ASAP so I can get it taken care of.

 

Question from the peanut gallery.

Don't the front half shafts turn all the time? So, if it were those U-joints, why would it only make the noise in 4wd? Does the tension on the system from being in 4wd increase the probability of the joints making noise?

I'm tending to lean toward the ujoints as well, but I wonder if they would make moise all the time since they are always turning.

 

Good point, I'm a huge freak on maintenance but I'm not very mechanically inclined so that is why I always use the forums and have it inspected by my mechanic first. But yes it ONLY makes this clunking sound in 4x4 and ONLY on a full turn right or left. Which is exactly what my buddies 96 Grand was doing which is why I kinda used that as an indicator as to what it might be.

 

yes they turn all the time but the pressure from being in 4x4 could cause them to pop

 

mechanic? buy some tools and a manual the money you save in labor will pay for the tools in no time

 

Sounds like we're getting it narrowed down. I'll do my best to visually inspect it tonight and if I see anything questionable I'll try to post pics.