Angry sparrows?

[AdventurePig]

Last night, pulling into a parking space started hearing a rotational squeak noise. My first instinct was that it was a belt squeak or pulley squeak, but when I hopped out and popped the hood with it parked, even with the engine revved up and down, the noise was gone.

This noise is only present while moving so it definitely seems to be in the drivetrain. I’m in the process of pulling the front driveshaft to rule that out. That driveshaft definitely looks old, if not original, whereas the rear shaft has obviously been replaced/refreshed at some point.

Simple overall question: if it is the driveshaft, am I good to drive without it until I can get the driveshaft refreshed? My thought is that, yes, i’m good, but wanted to ask the guru’s.

This is a TJ Rubicon with 4:1 transfer case, and double-carden joint on both front and rear.

 

[JKP]

You can drive it as long as you want without the front shaft.

The double cardan is probably shot.

If you don't want to have to drop it to grease it, be sure to specify a sealed centering yoke.

 

[KennethS]

Yeah, likely the double cardan joint. Mine was noisy as flock of sparrows. You can get the parts from many sources, including your local auto parts store, and fix it yourself.

Here’s a post with how-to:

Thread 'How to rebuild double cardan joint'

Jun 21, 2024

I didn't see any other write ups on this topic so I figured I'd put in what I do. Lmk if there's any other tips or tricks when doing this that'll help. This is just how I've done it.

Just a note, I used unsealed spicer ujoints for this and used a new centering ball yoke assembly instead of just replacing the ball

First and foremost is remove the driveshaft. In this case I'm doing the front driveshaft so it'll be 2 ujoint straps on the yoke of the front axle and 4 bolts for the yoke on the transfer case

It helps to have a vice to hold everything in place, just be careful not to crush the...

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[AdventurePig]

@Shawn at Tom Wood's

What would i be looking at for a full rebuild if needed? Using a sealed centering yoke and the most durable/strongest ujoints?

Feel free to PM me.

 

[Link]

My front shaft wasn't making noise but I wanted to rebuild everything before a long trip. It wasn't hard to rebuild and I used all Spicer parts. I went with sealed bearings. Don't forget the dust cover as well. The new parts won't come with it.

 

[AdventurePig]

Well, it’s NOT the front driveshaft. Though, i think this one is due for a rebuild.

 

[AdventurePig]

Sound is still there and we think we isolated it to the rear area. Spun all four tires and it’s not happening there. (Definitely not a brake squealer or anything like that)

Thinking maybe rear driveshaft might need refreshing? Hoping it’s not in the tcase/diff’s

 

[JKP]

Put the front shaft back in, remove rear shaft and drive it around.

 

[AdventurePig]

Update: front shaft out, needs refreshing and after a shop confirmed the noise from the rear likely a ujoint, or three, rear shaft gonna get pulled and both will be rebuilt.

While at the shop, we also talked about some tcase whine heard on the test drive that needs to be addressed too, so gonna get the tcase/serviced inspected at the same time.

(Tcase audibly sounds a bit like a dana18/t90 with straight cut gears. i’ve heard it, but didn’t realize it was a problem and two shops have now red flagged it as abnormal, so gonna get it checked out before it becomes something bigger)

Hopefully, all three assemblies just need some preventative maintenance.

 

[AdventurePig]

Btw, just an update on this. Had the shop rebuild the front and rear driveshafts. The rear one was the one that was chirping, but both front and rear were definitely due for a rebuild.

Noise ended up not being the transfer case, which was given an all-clear.

Instead, the rear diff was simply explained as having a loud gear set up. Not optimal, but also not really a problem.

They told us to let them know if it got any louder, but that if it stayed the same, just to run it.

Good news also was that neither the fluid in the T case, nor the rear diff had metal in it. I think both benefited from having fresh oil/fluid, tho. Worth it for peace of mind.



Edited my goofy talk to text grammar to make it clearer (sorry!), and to add some pics.