jshultz78

I was out playing around in my jeep today, and was climbing a dirt pile we have in the back yard and had the front left tire up on it and was almost at the top and I heard a POP and the jeep shook a little, I backed up a little and tried to do it again a couple of times and nothing, no noises. I'm wondering if the chain skipped a tooth or after the transfer case drop it's not fully engaging the 4x4? It was in 4hi, not really in any kind of super bind or anything. The jeeps got 220k on it, I'm just wondering if I need to go ahead and do a chain to be on the safe side.

I'm going to the shop tomorrow to get on the lift and grease the leaf bushings to shut them up a little and I can pull the case plugs while I'm under it and see if there's any slack.

00t444e

I would try adjusting the linkage first.

jshultz78

I'm hoping that's what it is. I've noticed after the lift/tcase drop when I put it in 4hi the indicator light flickers some, it didn't do that before.

jshultz78

It's been a while since I posted this, but the linkage is adjusted correctly, even put in an aftermarket linkage setup, I've had it in and out of 4hi and full time for the last week due to all the snow, It hasn't been in 2wd since saturday. No popping, rattling or anything, ONLY in 4low when under stress or in a bind. Like if I'm in deep snow in 4low and hit the gas. But it's only one pop/thud, it doesn't sound like the chain skipping. But driving on the roads in 10" of snow in full time it doesn't do it. Could axle u joints cause this? All the other u joints are new (within the last year) Is there any way to check the chain without having to separate the case? I thought it was the control arm bushings wore out letting the axle move around, but I've since replaced the arms with some rubicon express tube arms.

EvanM

Broken ujoint cup on front axle shafts.

00t444e

Several things can cause popping while spinning under load like that, worn engine/transmission mounts, worn out suspension bushings, bad U joints, and the body can pop and creak as well.

jshultz78

New engine/trans mount, and the control arms are new with new bushings. It was doing before and after the arm change. Its a loud pop/bang, It feels like something binds up then releases, It makes me want to point fingers at the axle u-joints. Kind of like if you put in 4wd on dry pavement, cut the wheels and you feel it buck/bite. But there's a pop when it releases. I've got new u-joints to go in, along with ball joints. But I've been lazy and haven't done them yet. lol I'm the poster child of murphy's law. I know ball joints and axle joints are easy, but I know it would take me 3 days to do them because of stuff goes wrong.

jshultz78

I finally got a chance to check stuff, the axle u-joints has a slight bit of play to them, which is probably causing the popping in 4wd, and for some reason my upper driverside jam nut on my RE control arms was loose, that may have been the popping when I hit bumps.