2014 Cherokee Trail Hawk V6. I've got a rubbing noise that I think is one of the drive shaft carrier bearings. It's most obvious at slow speed taking off. I can hear it right at the bearing when I put the transfer case in neutral and spin the shaft by hand. I don't get the noise if I spin the wheels individually. The noise also spins up and gets worse when I hit throttle on a dirt road, or put in it sport mode when it's sending power to the rear. Then I hear it wind down in rpm after letting up or switching back to auto mode.

So, does the drive shaft free spin when it's not sending power to the rear? Anyone had to replace these bearings yet or have a writeup?

 

The PTU engages the drive shaft at low speeds and during take off, as well as harder acceleration. To make sure its the driveshaft, refer to this thread and pull the 4x4/ptu fuse. If the sound goes away then it is either the driveshaft bearings or the actual PTU itself.

https://jeepcherokeeclub.com/33-engi...omy-gains.html

 

Thanks for that info. I'll try that tomorrow. I hear the sound right at the forward support bearing and not at the PTU or aft bearing when I spin the shaft by hand. It also temporarily got better after I doused it with some penetrating oil. I'm waiting for the dealership to get back to me whether it's covered under the 5/100 powertrain warranty since I'm at 100,717 miles. It looks like the entire driveshaft must be replaced as there is no easy way to separate the sections, nor could I found anyone selling just the rubber mounted bearing piece. Cheapest I've found for the driveshaft assembly it online is $340, with some dealer asking $650 for it. Does the PTU dump it's oil when you pull the shaft out?

 

Yup, pulling the fuse for the PTU (#10 under the hood on 2014) prevents the noise.

 

Following up. The service dept at Findlay Jeep in Post Falls ID has horrible customer service. I'm not sure about the quality of their work either, since the only time I took my Jeep there was for the firmware recall, and they gave me the Jeep back with the check engine light on. The tech went to lunch and didn't finish, but the service mgr thought he was done and didn't notice the light himself when he pulled it out. They don't answer queries on their website at all. I had repeatedly to call them back and finally a week later was told "Oh yeah I forgot to call you - it's not covered under warranty". Chrysler won't cover it despite being just 717 miles past 100k warranty, because "their goodwill policy only applies if you bought it new, or are a repeat customer of the dealership". I'm still waiting for them to call back with an estimate for out-of-warranty repair cost. If it's $500, I'll let them do it since I can't get a new driveshaft for less than $400 shipped.

Anyway, two questions. Am I correct that there is no way to replace just the carrier bearing and I need to replace the whole shaft? Does the PTU lose its oil when you pull the drive shaft out?

 

All fixed. Front support bearing was in fact dry and rusty inside. I gave up on the dealer that wouldn't call me back, and went elsewhere. I emailed Pierce Auto in Sagle, ID for a quote, and they called me back 5 minutes later to discuss and setup an appointment. Night and day difference in customer service! They knocked 20% off the usual price of the shaft, bringing it down to $409 which is about what I could have mailed order it for. An hour of shop labor plus shop fees and taxes, so basically $150 for them to install it instead of me.