BlackHammer

2000 Jeep Cherokee AW4 231 TC 4.0L

So I thought I just finished working on my jeep yesterday...apparently not. I just installed a RC 4.5 X Lift and an AA SYE w/6* shims 231 TC. There is a clicking/thumping noise that sounds like its rotating and it increases with speed.


So wrap your mind around this. I removed the front and rear drive shafts put it in drive hit the gas...no noises without shafts connected. Put it in 4WD, no noises. Removed the front drive shaft and drove with just the rear...heard the noise. Switched drive shafts (front to rear) and the noise continues. Oddly, when no shafts are connected it make no noises even when I hit the gas. Also, now it grinds when I shift from 2wd to 4 high when moving at low speeds. I would also like to add, that with the rear drive shaft connected and with the rear wheels off the ground, the truck made no noises when I hit the gas and let the tires spin (pinion angle change??).

Any ideas would be appreciated. Maybe all my ujoints are shot, but why would the noise not be there when I jacked up the rear and put it in drive?

XJ Stryker

Change your tranny mount.

BlackHammer

Tranny mount?? Why?

gpXJ

This. With no drive shafts there is no stress on the drive line so what is there to make noise? If you cannot isolate it to front or rear then it has to be something related to both....most likely tranny mount. The grinding in the tcase gear change is probably because you need to adjust your linkage....its not making a full positive shife since you lifted the vehicle.

BlackHammer

hmmm...interesting.

I'm going to try to drive it in FWD and see if I hear the noise again, but tranny mount is now on my list.

If I botched the SYE install wouldn't my TC make noise with or without stress on the driveline? I don't think I messed up the SYE install but I would like to know that I didn't haha.

gpXJ

Depending on how badly you messed it up, it might make noise even without driveshafts, and just spinning it while they were disco'd. But if was only a minor thing, it might not without the stress of the drivetrain engaged. You should be able to tell if they transmission mount is really toast, by getting underneath and trying to lift up on the tcase. If it moves up or around, it is time to replace that mount.

Northwoods Snowman

Couldn't follow all of what you were saying. Did you pull the rear drive shaft and run in FWD or just put the front in the back and the back in the front? I would try running with only the front shaft in (like you said you would do) to be sure if it's the shaft or not. I would also check the u-joints. If one is sticking it may not be apparent unless it's under load. I would not have thought of the tranny mount, but I think that would make sense too. If it lifts under load that will change the u-joint angles and could be binding.

BlackHammer

Took care of the clicking, it was the ujoints on one of the drive shafts. The clunking noise is there only in reverse at low speeds with the rear shaft installed, tranny mount to be replaced.

How do you adjust the 4WD linkage so it doesnt grind when shifting from 2H to 4H while at slow speeds?

BlackHammer

Alright so after my long vacation here's a little update:

Slip joint in one drive shaft is shot and when this shaft is in the rear it makes the clunking noise.

With just the front drive shaft installed (in the front) there is no clunking noise.

U joints in the other drive shaft are bad and will be replaced shortly.

Grinding into 4H does not occur anymore, I'm an idiot and it grinds into 4H when I had no front shaft installed.

My rear pinion is a littler over 13 degrees, and my rear drive shaft is at 16 degrees.

Hope this helps someone