87, AW-4, 3" Rancho lift(1992) Dana 44 with tru-trac and 4.56 gears. 31" 149k miles.

Today when starting from a stop, I heard a metallic type sound as I accelerated. It lasted a couple of seconds, then went away. If I accelerate slowly I don't hear it, but apply throttle at about 5 mph and it appears, then goes away as I accelerate.
The. noise is in the front half of the Jeep. No problems at any other speed, full throttle etc.


On a whim, I shifted into 4 hi from a stop, accelerated mildly and all kinds of AWFUL noise from the transfer case. It went back into 2 drive no problem.

This is my daily driver, no off-road use in the last 10 years. Fluid is full, and pink in color.

I don't have the skill or time to rebuild it if that is what's needed. I'm in metro Atlanta.

Give some opinions and options. THANKS!

 

check the clearances here:

 

All clearances good. Trans mount and bolts ok. Put it in 4wd, worked fine!?

I still have the brief noise, but will search some more. Thanks Cruiser.

 

Maybe drain the fluid into a clean container and check for particles?

Do you still have the original vacuum disconnect on the front axle?

 

Will do. Yes, I still have the vacuum disconnect. Did you write. a tip on how to eliminate the vacuum disconnect?

I found another thread where a guy had a similar noise problem, but never solved it. I sent him a PM for an update.

 

Not written by me, but worth doing. I do it on every CAD axle I work on.

Takes 20 minutes.

Take a peek in there and see if the sliding gear is ground up or the fork is bent. 4 bolts. Super easy.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/fr...ss-91-a-38629/

 

it sounds to me like you may have a bad case of the angry sparrows.

time to rebuild your front drive shaft. particularly the centering ball/yoke.

 

Cool. Thank you. I'll do it next weekend.

 

Excellent idea. at the very least, drop the transfer case end of the front driveshaft and check it out. Perhaps lube it if it's not loose?