I have a 2000 Cherokee, and for a while now when going down hill and decelerating, a clunk and rattling/vibration comes from the front end and is felt in the floor boards close to the transfer case...

And, adding to the those sounds, now when backing up there's a slow intermittent squeak.... Along with accelerating forward at a low constant speed there's a high pitched rattling squeak that seems to come from underneath the vehicle too...

I have had these problems since i first bought the jeep and have oiled, greased and lubed every u-joint, bearing, bushing and drive shaft on the jeep but the vibrations and noises continue...

Im not sure exactly what the problem is (And would appreciate any feedback) but some have mentioned that i might have a bad u-joint that causes the sounds, but i have no idea how to determine which one is bad or not (if any at all), all of them seem to be attached firmly and have no play in them.. So i am stumped... Any information on how to check them for flaws or anything else would be extremely helpful!

Thanks

 

Does anyone have a clue??

 

Jack your front end up. Grab your wheels and see if you have any play in them when you try to wobble them back and forth. If you have play it is either your wheel bearings or u-joints.

Greg

 

Alright I will check that, ive done that in the past when redoing the brakes but its worth another try.... I also wanted to mention that it occurs when accelerating from 10-40mph and when you let off the accelerator the noise stops. I have no clue what that means, and have checked to see if anything is dangling on either of the driveshafts causing the tinking sound, but everything is clear.... I'm stumpted.

 

Update: I was under the Jeep today checking out what others had posted and grabbed, knocked, moved, beat and evreything else to check to see if my front and rear drive shaft u-joints were bad... Nothing...

Until i looked a little closer at each of them and noticed the rubber seal that surrounds each bearing housing was completely gone, and were completely rusted...

So in conclusion i went to the Auto Parts Store and picked up two rear Heavy Duty Precision U-Joints with the grease fittings....

So i guess i will install them tomorrow and see how they do...

 

I finally found the problem, after finding what i found yesterday (read above post) i got to replace both U-Joints in the rear drive shaft, and the noises quit...

So to anyone else out there, that may be your solution...

 

i have the same problem... did the same thing checked/. greased all my u joints and what not. im planning on taking a closer look tomorrow.