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Crazy vibration!!!

I have thought about having a friend drive while i kinda stick my head out and under the rear drivers door and see if i cant see or hear anything better...But i would have to be very careful...

That would also be a good way to see how much axle wrap im getting.

Really? Oh Dear! Listen to Josh, he likes to think he knows what he's talking about either that or he has that dealership fooled pretty well! :D
 
Oh, yeah! I gotcha now on that. Sorry for the confusion. You don't remove a sealing surface by removing the driveshaft. I figured my type driveshaft qualified for the "female" description since the shaft slips into the yoke. Giggity. So, yeah. I wouldn't worry about driving it without the rear drive shaft.

I would still exercise caution when driving it without though.

I think you've been talking to me too much with the giggitys! I know its hard....giggity..... not too! :D
 
People just say "THIS IS SPARTA" and actually pretend to kick people into a well... Doesnt help when our highschool mascott was a Spartan haha.

Anyways, I spent about 4 hours under the jeep last night!

I found a couple things that i thought may have been the culprit...But turned out not to be.

I found that my jam nuts for upper control arms, had backed off and that made the arms kinda clunk around.

The rear driveshaft lower u-joint had a little play in it... So i changed it! and i got no change in the Vibe.

The 4x4 shift linkage makes a little noise where its hooked to the bracket in the tunnel. But i cant figure out how to disconect it from the tranny. (little plastic pieces)

The tail shaft bearing in the t-case has some play in it, But its not leaking or anything.

OHHH and i drove it in 4x4 with the rear drive shaft out and the noise was a lot more quite!! And for some reason it pulls to the right... Could mean i have some bad bushings somewhere.
 
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People just say "THIS IS SPARTA" and actually pretend to kick people into a well... Doesnt help when our highschool mascott was a Spartan haha.

Anyways, I spent about 4 hours under the jeep last night!

I found a couple things that i thought may have been the culprit...But turned out not to be.

I found that my jam nuts for upper control arms, had backed off and that made the arms kinda clunk around.

The rear driveshaft lower u-joint had a little play in it... So i changed it! and i got no change in the Vibe.

The 4x4 shift linkage makes a little noise where its hooked to the bracket in the tunnel. But i cant figure out how to disconect it from the tranny. (little plastic pieces)

The tail shaft bearing in the t-case has some play in it, But its not leaking or anything.

OHHH and i drove it in 4x4 with the rear drive shaft out and the noise was a lot more quite!! And for some reason it pulls to the right... Could mean i have some bad bushings somewhere.


Yeah, progress is hard to make when it comes to noise/vibration diag. Not to mention you're doing this on an XJ...Noises and vibrations come standard.
 
Really? Oh Dear! Listen to Josh, he likes to think he knows what he's talking about either that or he has that dealership fooled pretty well! :D


Yeah, I guess I've got the ASE test graders fooled too...
 
Well i didnt get a chance to jack up the tranny and check that mount... because my brother is borrowing my jack.

And i didnt get a chance to put it up to a wall and check for the noise... I was by myself all day!!

But i will do that today, if it doesnt rain.
 
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I would suspect that your exhaust may be hitting something.----"

.

Honestly, I "kinda" skimmed this whole thread, and I don't think I saw anything that would have ruled out engine motor mounts.
My '88 would develop a horrible rattle when climbing something steep and "lumpy"--but not slow climbing rocks. Turns out my engine motor mounts were bad. The sleeve through which the main bolt goes is encapsulated in rubber. The rubber had separated, allowing the engine to move around excessively when under high torque, in 4-wheel drive, allowing the exhaust down pipe to hit the front u-joint. I replaced the mounts twice--same problem, over a period two of years.
 
Yeah, under load is gonna show the world any movement. If you don't have someone to check for you or brake torque it, try setting the e-brake and chocking the wheels. Again, be careful.
 
Alright, I know sarcasm doesn't translate well into text, but that's what my last post was.

When a seal does it's job, it seals off fluid from leaking. In order to do this, it needs a mating surface. In this case, the driveshaft slip yoke. Take away one of those two mating surfaces, a leak will develop. Which is why engineers put the seal there in the first place. If it weren't necessary, they woudn't put it there. I'm not trying to step on any toes here. I just know a little about the workings of vehicles.
Only counts on 95 and previous (you lucky guys also don't need an SYE for a few inches of lift unlike us with the 96 and later!) - as just mentioned, the slip yoke housing + TC tailhousing design was changed in 96.

The gee emoticon is like that because... well in my interpretation it is a drunk redneck after a good wrasslin' and some badly performed truck repairs!

I don't think your vibe issue is due to needing an SYE (i.e. I agree with you) because you say it happens under load even if you aren't actually moving the rear wheels (like with the jeep against the brick wall.) I'd say this is more an exhaust or tranny/engine mount issue, like everyone else, or maybe the flywheel/flexplate/whatever is cracked or some bolts are loose. My personal bet is on exhaust, I had a really loud exhaust vibe from my crossmember mount rusting in half, it would only show up while accelerating, while idling at a stop light with the tranny in gear, or while sitting at certain angles on hills. If I put the tranny in neutral or park it would go away. This probably indicates my motor mounts are getting near needing replacement, but I haven't gotten around to it just yet.

EDIT: if it'll do it idling in gear with the front bumper against the brick wall, I can't really see any way that would run away from you, just be ready to scuttle out and run at any moment. With that much lift you should be able to crouch next to it and look at most of the stuff that'll cause this, in fact.
 
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EDIT: if it'll do it idling in gear with the front bumper against the brick wall, I can't really see any way that would run away from you, just be ready to scuttle out and run at any moment. With that much lift you should be able to crouch next to it and look at most of the stuff that'll cause this, in fact.

One of the reasons I kindof wish I had an automatic from time to time... can debug issues like this on your own.
 
how much play is in that tailshaft bearing? mine went bad on my old tcase, and it got worse and worse, doing the same thing you're having, and i finally swapped cases, and the problem was gone. what it was is that the rear shaft, without the tension of the chain as in 4wd, moves around enough to let gear teeth slip in the planetary of the tcase. if this is it, it'll get worse and worse till you need a new case. $75 at our local pullapart. i'd say this is it. do you wheel much? mud? deep water? these are what messed mine up, but i was at 220k miles, so i chalked it up to normal wear and tear.
 
Mine tail shaft has always felt like that... I remember a couple days after i bought it. It moved a little then too.

I dont know i guess it could be it... But this really feels like metal on metal on the frame. If it was the t-case i would think that the mounts would absorb most of it.
 
are the cross member bolts tight? the tcase thing is what it was on mine, and it sounded like the same sound you described, but REALLY loud. like make you butthole pucker. if yours isn't that loud, then that prolly isn't the problem.
 
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