I have a 97 GC Laredo with the V8 and AWD with 4L Option. It makes a weird rubbing noise going down the road as if a brake were rubbing or something. Someone told me it was a wheel bearing, pinion gear, emergency brake or some other bearing. I changed the brakes and unstuck the emergency brake but its still doing it.. Usually when a rear-end is going out doesn't it make a "whurrrr" noise and not a rub?

 

Before you blame the rear axle, did you pull the rear rotors and check the parking brake shoes? My '97 ZJ w/V8 & AWD was making a similar noise, and when I pulled the rear rotors the linings had came loose from the shoes on the e-brakes, and were dragging on the inside of the rotor. Might not be your problem but it's possible.

 

I did not do that.. I will try that this week.

 

Mine also had bad pinion and wheel bearings when I bought it, and that was a howling type of noise that changed under accel/decel, and didn't start until about 35 MPH and got louder with speed. Nothing like the dragging brake noise that started as soon as the Jeep was in motion.

 

yeah this starts as soon as you take off

 

You might get lucky then, and it be the parking brakes. It took a bit of work to get the rotors off though, as the linings had wedged themselves in there pretty good. I pulled the calipers off, and using a small sledge hammer I'd hit it a few times then turn the rotor and repeat until it came off. Then repeat for the other side. I installed new hardware with the new shoes. Cheap insurance.
*Note: After removing the rotors, Don't blow it out with compressed air because of the asbestos/brake dust. Use brake-kleen or a similar product to get rid of the brake dust before dis-assembly of the brake parts inside the rotor.

 

If its a more metallic like squeek it could also be a U-joint, it would be best to try to get the axles off the ground and see if the noise is still there, that might help finding the culprit/

 

yeah the noise is still there with the axles off the ground. I am going to try what ol'blue recommended this weekend. Hopefully that will get rid of it.