Grinding noise with RE 3.5" lift

Scurvydog · 02-15-2009, 11:37 PM

Howdy all,

Well my first project on my 99' XJ and I installed a RE 3.5" lift plus front set (Upp/Lwr) of control arms. Running 31" BFG M/T tires.

When I test drove it at street speeds I get a grinding noise from the front driver side only when I decelerate. Pretty sever sounding. I popped it into the alignment shop just up the street and no improvement. I threw in a t-case drop of about an inch. It's quieter and only shows up now say above 30mph. But, hey grinding sounds can't be good

I am guessing it has to something with the front drive shaft? Any thoughts? Is this indicative of needing a SYE? This is my first lift so it's all new to me.

Cheers!
-R

cliffbong732 · 02-16-2009, 03:18 AM

Have someone stand on the side of the road and drive past. Maybe they can help narrow it down. Check for new shinny scrapes on the under body or anything out of the ordinary. Its good possibility its coming from the drive shaft and maybe rubbing against the exhaust.

bssmith1220 · 02-16-2009, 06:12 AM

My jeep and a friends with the same lift do the exact same thing....I have ultimatly decided its from not having a SYE and the driveshaft making some sort of noise. We have both driven like that for several thousand miles and haven't had any adverse effects.

LeeBee · 02-16-2009, 07:39 AM

I have the same issue with my 99 xj, 3.5 RE lift, 31s, sye, new tie rods all around, new steering damper, new steering u joints, new sway bar, tracking bar, new brake pads, and rotors. Havent changed the wheel bearings, but I checked them and they seem fine. I'm running out of ideas as to what this grinding is. I've noticed that the grinding is slowly getting worse over the last few months. I'm about to take it to an exclusive jeep shop that I found when I save some money, to see if they can figure it out.

keep on searching!! Good luck.

Scurvydog · 02-16-2009, 10:09 AM

Well I looked underneath this morning and no obvious scrap spots or rub spots.

When I took it in for alignment the sheet says that my castor is at 4 degrees and it lists 5-8 as the factory spec. Do you think a few degrees off could cause this?

I will add some more lubricant to the front shaft as well.

LeeBee you put in the SYE and still no love huh?

the6nightmares · 02-16-2009, 10:12 AM

ahh the joys of tracking down the demons of aftermarket equipment!

Scurvydog · 02-16-2009, 10:16 AM

Hhhmm. Am I correct in that a SYE only addresses the rear drive shaft angle? So if my grindy noise is coming from in front of the t-case than an SYE won't help?

WHITEXJ7 · 02-16-2009, 11:14 AM

My last Cherokee with a 4.5 inch Rock Krawler lift did the exact same thing and my current cherokee with a 3.5 RC does the same. Its right around 30-40 ish, when you let off the gas. I still havent found out what the problem is.

Scurvydog · 02-16-2009, 11:25 AM

A suggestion on another thread was to put my jeep up on jacks and run it to see I can better isolate where the noise is coming from. Could be the one of my front wheel bearings. Maybe the lift and bigger tires stressed it out.

dirt4900 · 02-16-2009, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scurvydog

A suggestion on another thread was to put my jeep up on jacks and run it to see I can better isolate where the noise is coming from. Could be the one of my front wheel bearings. Maybe the lift and bigger tires stressed it out.

anyone seen Ferris Bueller's day off??

Dew159 · 02-16-2009, 12:53 PM

yeah...LOL def don't do that

Scurvydog · 02-16-2009, 02:36 PM

Yeah as I was eating lunch I was thinking about the wisdom of putting it up on jacks. Maybe lack of. Anyone have some alternative ideas of determining if the sound is coming from drive shaft or not?

Ben824 · 02-16-2009, 02:59 PM

Remove the front driveshaft and see if the noise goes away. If it does then u know where to start from. I did this when the CV joint in my front driveshaft went bad and sure enough as soon as the shaft was out the noise went away.

Does the noise sound like an angry bird by chance? Thats what mine sounded like when my CV joint went bad. Pretty common problem with pretty much the exact same noise across the board.

http://www.stu-offroad.com/axle/driveshaft/driveshaft-5.htm

This is a great write-up on how to change the CV out. Its not very hard. If you can handle changing a U-joint then you should be able to handle this. I knocked mine out in about an hour.

Hope that helps!

skip11and1 · 02-16-2009, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WHITEXJ7

Its right around 30-40 ish, when you let off the gas. I still havent found out what the problem is.

Same thing on mine doesnt happen all the time would like to know what you find out

**Paradise XJ** · 02-16-2009, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scurvydog

Howdy all,

Well my first project on my 99' XJ and I installed a RE 3.5" lift plus front set (Upp/Lwr) of control arms. Running 31" BFG M/T tires.

When I test drove it at street speeds I get a grinding noise from the front driver side only when I decelerate. Pretty sever sounding. I popped it into the alignment shop just up the street and no improvement. I threw in a t-case drop of about an inch. It's quieter and only shows up now say above 30mph. But, hey grinding sounds can't be good

I am guessing it has to something with the front drive shaft? Any thoughts? Is this indicative of needing a SYE? This is my first lift so it's all new to me.

Cheers!
-R

Could it by any chance be your front coils rubbing on your sway bar. Did you put in extended links with that lift. Check the proximity if the coils to the sway bar.