Does it sound like it’s from the frame/can you feel it in the body, or does it sound like it’s coming from the axle?

 

I don't think it's from the body...but not sure.

 

I had an issue with the bushings on my shocks and rear control arm endlinks squeaking when it gets cold. Especially if they are polyurethane. Try spraying something like WD-40 up in those bushings and see if that gets rid of the squeak. Is everything back there OEM? Any lift? Mileage?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I had an issue with the bushings on my shocks and rear control arm endlinks squeaking when it gets cold. Especially if they are polyurethane. Try spraying something like WD-40 up in those bushings and see if that gets rid of the squeak. Is everything back there OEM? Any lift? Mileage?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks. My WJ has 187,000 miles, 4.0L 2003. No lift. I installed Bilsteins about 7 years ago. There is probably about 75K miles on the Bilsteins. All the rest of the suspension is original OEM stock. I've owned the WJ since new. Had it 18 years now.

 

My guess is sway bar axle mount bushings. Mine did that for a while before I tried to clean/grease them. Didn't work out so well for me, I suggest you be very careful if you try to loosen the sway bolts...may just want to spray wd-40 in any gaps you can find around the bushings and hope it seeps in

 

Could also be the ball joint in the Rear upper control arm......

 

Double check that rear upper control arm ASAP. I have had several of these Jeeps in my possession over the last year or two, and none of the rear upper control arms made it past 150K miles. There is a ball joint that can go bad, as well as the rubber bushings where the arm attaches to the frame.

 

The bushings are easily visible, easy to check. But how does one check the ball joint? How do you know if it needs to be replaced?

 

I noticed the bump stops inside the rear springs are toast. Could that cause these noises? Or is it more likely the rear control arm bushing and ball joint?

 

The bump stop won't be causing that noise unless you are in the habit of regularly bottoming out your suspension. Otherwise they won't be touching anything.

The rear of my WJ has recently taken to making squeaky noises going over speed bumps too, and the control arms, shocks, and sway bar links are all new. My prime suspect is the sway bar bushings on the axle. I'm going to hit them with silicone spray and see where it goes from there.

 

Everything mentioned here so far could be the cause, but I traced a passenger rear squeak on my current WJ to a bushing in the top shock mount. Shock still works fine, and the bushing isn't dry rotted, so I am not sure why. I know silicone bushings can squeak if not properly lubed when assembled, but I've not had rubber ones squeak. Or at least rubber ones that were still intact. I shot it up with silicone spray and it shut up. About every 3wks, it comes back and I shoot it again. No plan to replace it. I am in the habit of rebuilding the entire suspension at the same time - and for the most part, everything else is still fairly tight and it rides as good as a stock WJ suspension can...

Side note: I have to spray the leaf spring bushings on my boat trailer several times a season or it sounds awful going down the road. Silicone shuts it up every time. WD-40 penetrates quicker, but it will wash out after 1 boat launch. Silicone takes a few more miles to shut up, but lasts longer. I tried a Teflon spray, but it wouldn't penetrate at all...

 

Mine does the same thing, a good squeak-creak on the speed bump about a half mile from the house. Only does it under about 40 degrees and goes away after a few miles, I just live with it. Part of the quirks of the WJ.

 

I was able to get under the Jeep over the weekend and figure out my creaking noise. Turns out it was my IRO rear sway bar links. I took them apart and greased them and they're quiet for now. We'll see how long that lasts.

Mine was creaking all the time though, temperature independent.

 

Ahh, different creaking, lol. My IRO links and Addco bar also creak, I modified the sway bar mounts to greasable and shoot silicone spray on the link ends. I remember the poly bushings in my car needed silicone about every 2 months to keep quiet.

 

I tried silicone spray on the end links, but I guess I just couldn't get it in there enough. That was my first attempt to quiet everything down and I figured when the noise persisted that it was the control arms or something else. When I finally took the links apart there was all kinds of dirt inside and they were quite dry. I liberally greased them with this stuff called Aqua Shield. It's meant for underwater marine applications, so I think it will work well.

 

The knocking noise is now getting more frequent and louder. The control arm bushings appeared to look ok. I'm suspecting the ball joint in the control arm.

What's the average cost for a mechanic to replace the rear ball joint? Can the original control arm be reused?

 

Yes, rear ball joint can be replaced without changing the whole control arm. However, by the time a mechanic takes the whole thing out to just replace the ball joint, you might as well replace the whole thing. You spend more on parts and save on labor. comes out near the same and you get a whole new control arm with new bushings as well...

 

No clue what cost for mechanic is, I haven't taken mine to one other than for regearing in quite a long time.

May want to check with Kolak on pricing for the ball joint, he knows his way around the parts counter. RockAuto has a Proforged for $32, IRO has factory replacement for $55.

The arm and the ball joint are separate pieces - the ball joint has a stud coming out the top which goes through a hole in the upper boomerang. If you aren't in the rust belt it's not a particularly hard job, just tedious lining everything back up. Lots of ways to do it, several write ups on here. I've seen folks remove the top nut, whack on the back of the boomerang with a BFH or pickle fork, then remove the pumpkin bolts. I'll see if I can find a video. I wish I had done it that way last time, I removed the whole doggone arm.

EDIT: found one

 

Riddle me this: could the clunking noise also be a U Joint? If so, how do I distinguish between U Joint and ball joint?

 

Clunks are cause by weak/worn mechanical joints...so really your clunk could be any number of things...we've given you some of the common ones, there's no harm in rebuilding your rear driveshaft though. Destroyed rear a arm ball joints are extremely common, most barely make to or past 100k. U-joints might last basically forever or a few thousand miles. Laws of probability point more toward your ball joint but u-joints are pretty cheap and easy to install so might as well do both if you think it might be driveline related. I prefer replacing what's most likely the culprit but there's nothing wrong with replacing several things at once.

Tldr; there's not a great way to distinguish - mechanical slop is mechanical slop, sometimes things sound the same