Hi everyone i just joined the forum. I own a 2000 Jeep cherokee sport. I am from Ireland so it is the 2.5 turbo diesel version.
Im having a problem with a noise from my rear diff. When driving in a straight line there is no noise but when cornering at slow speeds the diff clunks as if it is skipping teeth and on loose surfaces the diff locks and the inside wheel hops as it is turning at the same speed as the opposite wheel.
Also when i jack up the rear i can move both rear wheels in and out about half an inch. It is just like this video i found. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Currently can not watch videos but the best way is to open up the diff and see whats going on in there.

 

Time for some new wheel bearings.

 

Is that all it needs? I thought it was somethin more serious

 

Ok so i can confirm its a dana 35 c clip axle. I took of the cover and everything looks fine. except there is play in the retaining pn that holds the spider gears in. Its exactly the same as this video. If you watch between 2.20 and 2.50 you will see the problem i have. How do i fix this?

 

It's not wheel bearings. The clunking sound you're talking about around corners sounds like there is an autolocker in your rear differential such as an Aussie or Lockright (they produce a loud ratcheting noise). The clunk you get when you shake the rear tire is just the play in the c-clip to carrier engagement. Perfectly normal.

Edit: sorry I didn't read the post about spider gears. That ruins my theory about the locker. Clunking from an open diff doesn't seem very good at all. The spiders on my front axle have a similar amount of slop to them but I never worried too much about it, they seemed to mesh fine and there were no metal shavings/uneven wear.

 

The movement in the spider gears is allowing the sider gears to slip teeth as they move to far apart to engage properly. This is whats casuing the clunking noise whe cornering. Some of the teeth on one of the gears are damaged from this happening. Are there shims on the sider gears? Maybe they're worn and need to be replaced so that the gears tighten up and dont move around? Or is the pin that holds the spie gears in place worn and this is hy the pin moves up and down like in the video?