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'96 ZJ rear end "clunking" when in gear

818 views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  GOLDWING 
#1 · (Edited)
[First post (I think, at least under this ID) so please redirect me if in wrong location.]

Just finished redoing a lot of exhaust work and took my ZJ out out for a test spin. Sadly, he's not happy. (My kid's said he's male because he has a brush guard.) At first I thought it was the issue I used to have of the exhaust bouncing on the frame cross bar but then I realized it sounded worse than that.

Symptoms:
- sporadic (non-periodic) but consistent "clunking" that sounds like it's behind me and to my right while driving.
- it goes away when I'm in neutral -- only does it with transmission engaged.

First thought, as above, was it was the exhaust bouncing on the frame cross bar (or other) but, after testing with coasting in Neutral and the sound going away, that doesn't make sense. Second thought was u-joints but that doesn't make sense either, given it's doing it with normal driving and not under any stress -- doesn't correlate with acceleration, deceleration, gear changes, etc. -- nor changing from R to D, etc. I'm at a loss.

Just in case it's relevant: While working on the exhaust, I had jacked up the rear of the car by the differential - which I've done on many previous vehicles, so I wondered about that being a possible cause. After some web searching - with many hits on here - I see some differing opinions but nothing about it actually causing issues. But I'd been driving for a while with a leak in front of the cat and an effectively non-existent tailpipe so I suspect it might have started earlier but I just couldn't hear it.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
_R_

P.S. '96 ZJ Ltd, 5.2L, approx 190K miles
 
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#7 ·
d44A



I found a few like this in my neighborhood, which is pretty close to yours Paul. Prices are pretty reasonable. Just check out Car-parts. com used car parts finder.

Rear Axle
Jeep Grand Cherokee 44,3:73,LAREDO 184,918 A 150643 $225 Conrad's Auto Salvage, Inc. USA-WI(Mondovi) Request_Quote 1-800-353-4611 Request_Insurance_Quote

Good luck,

GW
 
#3 ·
The ZJ D44(a) housing is aluminum. It is my understanding that you should not jack it up in this conventional way. You may well have bent the housing. Being that people have always done this method, Jeep really set things up for disaster when they designed that housing. Sorry, it sounds like you'll be in the market for a rear-end. Good luck.
 
#5 ·
Update: The clunking was the exhaust banging against the crossbeam. (I can't find any hanger points near there. :( Will have to jury-rig something.))

Also note: I checked the factory manual and it does not list the differential as one of the verbotten floor jack spots. Among other more obvious locations, it does caution against using an axle tube or a front suspension arm.
 
#6 ·
Sounds like good news. Congrat's. It is always recommended to check out the last thing repaired before going too crazy troubleshooting everything else. I guess since you worked on the exhaust, that was a good place to start. Enjoy.

BTW: While you might be marginally safe to jack under the differential, damage does seem to be caused by collisions with rocks, etc. So, no matter what, the case is not as tough as a cast one, which is why many hard-core off-roaders change them out for a "real" Dana 44 or other type. It is possible that I imagined reading something about jacking under the case not being advisable. All's well that ends well. Cheers.
 
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