i have some loud roaring noise when im driving, no its not from tires because they are regular street tread. i am hearing from many that it could be either a wheel berring or a rear end. i can take it out of gear while im rolling and sometimes the nosie quietens and sometimes it stays consistent. any thoughts on what this might be?

 

street tires can still make those noises. do you feel a vibe at all? could be a u joint also. but jack up the jeep, and have a buddy put it in gear and get the wheels turning at a speed the noise is heard at, and listen to the rear axle, you can put a screwdriver up to the cover and put your ear on it. it should not be loud out of the axle, if it is, the rear end needs some new bearings.

 

The one question I have about this issue is this, does your whole rear axle have the same amount of miles on it? The reason I ask is this. If you replace just the outer axle bearings or have the rear end ( gears, carrier and pinion bearings) replaced, how long would it be before the other bearings went. If they do all have the same amount of miles it would be best to replace them all. Noise problem would be solved and you wouldn't be tearing into it again a week or month later.

 

ya, there is no reason not to replace all the bearings in a rear end at once. stupid not to.

 

sounds like a pinion bearing

don't jack it up and crawl under it with the tires spinning. take it to a shop.

 

since when is this forum about take it to a shop? if you wanna know if its in the rear end that will tell you. if you aren't comforatable with doin that then by all means don't. if you secure it properly it isn't a problem, i have to do it all the time in the shop thats how we determine where a noise is at.

if you think you're gonna drop it on yourself then you shouldn't be workin on it, and like i said, please don't do it. i'm just simply tellin you how we determine a noise.

 

My 90 had a lot of rear end noise. We replaced the outer wheel bearings and seals. But now I wish I'd also replaced the carrier bearings too. At least the noise isn't a grinding/grating noise like it was. But it would be good to have it all gone. Of course, the XJ has over 200,000 miles on it.

 

would it be just as easy to buy a used rear end and have put up in there at the same time as my lift? i dont really have much of a garage or tools to start taking things apart.

 

A used good rear end will probably cost less than it would to have your rebuilt by a mechanic. You just usually can't find out the miles on it. Ask questions when shopping. Try to find a low mileage one. Then stick it in when you have it apart doing the lift.

 

might as well upgrade

 

i meant take it to a shop to diagnose the problem. they have a hoist to use.
if you jack it up, weight shifts when it goes into gear and inertia carries when the tires are spinning. besides, it's 4wd, and all wheels should be off the ground for this sort of thing. it's no different than towing.

there are other safer ways to diagnose problems. get under it without the tires spinning and feel the driveshaft joints for play. push up and down on the pinion to feel for any play there also.

check for wheel bearings by grabbing the tires at 3 and 9 and wiggle them. or you can spin each one by hand to feel/hear for any grinding.

play it safe, don't put yourself in harms way mang. always use jackstands.

 

i appreciate it caged. you've been a large ammount of help in my short time on this site.