Front end clicking noise mystery

    My first thought was the same as Steve's. I had the passenger side front ujoint go bad a couple months back and it was making a clicking noise that increased with vehicle speed. It was difficult to tell visually at first but once I got it apart it was blatantly obvious. Hopefully it's something simple.

    Your life is made up of 2 dates and a dash... make the most of the dash!

    Just spoke with a rep from PowerTrax. This will come as old news to some of you, but here's what he said:
    There are basically two things that can go wrong. The springs can simply be fatigued and need to be replaced, and/or the gear teeth have been rounded over. In either case, "the driver is not able to stay engaged with the coupler teeth." Replacing the springs is apprently fairly easy to do, but examining the teeth requires the locker to be removed from the differential. That's a little above my pay grade. He said that it wouldn't be unusual if the locker is simply worn out and needs to be replaced. It's four and a half years old (Ed Laurie installed it for me) and the TJ is not my primary vehicle, so I kinda think the locker doesn't have a crazy amount of miles on it. I learned that I can order a spring kit from Q-tec. I got the part number but have not yet called them.

    Would everyone agree that I can safely drive the TJ now? Or is that a bad idea?

    Steve, I'm not ruling out the u-joint theory. In fact, I sort of wish that were the culprit because I'm more comfortable dealing with that.

    When engaged in conversation with a fool, be sure he is not similarly engaged.
    Chief, DEJA Grammar Police

    Hey Chief, I'm, a little late to the thread but I might be able to help pinpoint the noise when you're driving to give you peace of mind. I have a set of "Chassis Ears", basically microphones you hook up to suspected sites and listen for where the noise is the loudest.

    If the noise is just the locker not engaging it would be safe to drive. If it's a you joint or a bearing going, it would be unsafe depending on how bad the wear is. I'm in Dover and will be working in my garage most of the weekend if you want to hop on over for a 'look see'

    If you need wrenching advice feel free to ask! Others experience can be a good way to save time and money!

    Karvor, thanks very much for the offer! Sunday is the only day I have to myself this coming weekend. I'll get with you as we get closer. Chief

    When engaged in conversation with a fool, be sure he is not similarly engaged.
    Chief, DEJA Grammar Police

    I may have missed it, but did you find any problem with your axle u-joints. I have a lock-rite and I have to hold the inner axle with vice grips and the rock (rotate) the wheel back and forth to check the joints due to the play in the locker. Also look for any evidence of rust around the u-joint caps.

    '88 YJ, 4" suspension, 2"body lift, 456 locked F & R, 35-12.50-15 BFG KM2s on Cragar Soft 8's
    &'03 KJ, 2"+ shackle lift, armor, BBs, 245-70-16 BFG A/T TAs

    Quote from shorebird


    I may have missed it, but did you find any problem with your axle u-joints. I have a lock-rite and I have to hold the inner axle with vice grips and the rock (rotate) the wheel back and forth to check the joints due to the play in the locker. Also look for any evidence of rust around the u-joint caps.


    Randy, thanks for that advise. I'm hoping to get with Karvor on Sunday, and together we'll look at that. (Mark please let me know where you live and when you'd like for me to be there.)

    FYI, to everyone, I have noticed one bad thing while inspecting the underside. My passenger side tie rod end has movement. Not sure it's at all related to my issue, but I figured I'd mention it.

    When engaged in conversation with a fool, be sure he is not similarly engaged.
    Chief, DEJA Grammar Police

    Edited once, last by Chief57 ().

    Epilogue: First off, I'd once again like to say thanks to all of you who posted up with your thoughts and suggestions. There's a heck of a lot of knowledge among everyone.

    TheDarkSide (Andy) and I got together yesterday to mull it over. We drained the diff gear oil and carefully looked over all the innerds. Everything seemed right with the lunchbox locker, so we filled it with fresh oil (lucky I had some) and moved on. Andy confirmed that my DS wheel hub seemed to be bad...there was some north-south play when the tire was rocked. I happend to observe how small the clearance was between the zerk fitting on top of the lower ball joint and the rotating u-joint at the end of the axle. We pursued that further and agreed that the zerk fitting seemed to be worn flat on the top, and there seemed to be a tiny nick on the edge of the u-joint. So, we concluded that under weight, the wheel hub leaned in just a smidge and allowed the u-joint to just nick the zerk. Voila! The clicking noise. Ran to the local AutoZone and purchased a Timkin wheel hub. The swap went easy thanks in part to the anti-freeze I had put on before. Took it on a quick test drive....no mystery noise. What apparently made the old wheel hub go bad was that it was not tightened enough when it was installed, which was only a couple of years ago. Then on to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner on me.

    We did notice that my PS tie rod end is very shot. Per Andy's advise, I'm parking the TJ until that gets fixed. Again, thanks to everyone, especially Andy. Jim

    When engaged in conversation with a fool, be sure he is not similarly engaged.
    Chief, DEJA Grammar Police

    One last thought..... Apparently I've been handling my lunchbox locker gear oil incorrectly all this time. I've been adding friction modifier to the gear oil, but I shouldn't be doing that with this type of locker. So, the oil I added yesterday was without the modifier. Maybe that change in itself will be beneficial.

    When engaged in conversation with a fool, be sure he is not similarly engaged.
    Chief, DEJA Grammar Police

    Quote from Chief57


    One last thought..... Apparently I've been handling my lunchbox locker gear oil incorrectly all this time. I've been adding friction modifier to the gear oil, but I shouldn't be doing that with this type of locker. So, the oil I added yesterday was without the modifier. Maybe that change in itself will be beneficial.


    It won't matter.


    There are no clutches in it.

    Quote from shadyluke


    Correct.
    When I did the ball joints on my mom's TJ the zerks on the lowers did the same thing. I greased them up then pulled the zerk off and reinstalled the lil plug. I'll decide later how to grease it.


    I would have done the same thing if only AutoZone had plugs. The clearance is pretty tight, but I'm wondering if there is just enough space to back out the zerk fitting and install a plug. Probably not worth bothering at this point.

    When engaged in conversation with a fool, be sure he is not similarly engaged.
    Chief, DEJA Grammar Police

    Quote from Chief57


    I would have done the same thing if only AutoZone had plugs. The clearance is pretty tight, but I'm wondering if there is just enough space to back out the zerk fitting and install a plug. Probably not worth bothering at this point.


    If you get the joint positioned just right there probably is. Might need to jack the front end up though. The new balljoints came with the plugs if IIRC.

    Quote from Chief57

    What apparently made the old wheel hub go bad was that it was not tightened enough when it was installed, which was only a couple of years ago.


    Are you sure that it was loose? The D30 hubs don't last as long when you've got backspaced wheels and heavy tires on them. Some guys only get a year out of them.

    Jerry / Whatevah

    2020 Gladiator Mojave - 33" Falken mud tires, LoD side steps, Zroadz bed rack, Quadratec QRC winch bumper, Superwinch EPi 9.0, Kleinn on-board air, Kleinn air horns, lots of lights, Yaesu ham radio with GPS tracker.

    Gone- 2012 JK Rubicon with stuff. Long gone- Long-arm 2001 Cherokee with stuff.

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