MigGunslinger
Red Skull Member
I have been trying to track down an annoying noise on my 06 TJ Rubicon that has been getting consistently worse, it happens when I am coasting or lightly accelerating under 20mph. Essentially a very loud rattle. It was quieter when it first started and I could not track down the source but now I am almost positive that it was coming from the rear axle.
Suspecting a pinion bearing I drained the fluid and pulled the rear axles this morning I then used a drill with a socket to spin the pinion producing a vibration or rattle. But when I went to pull the carrier I noticed what look like thick shims on each side of the carrier bearings had escaped the bearing caps and the only thing that kept them in place was the axles. These two thick shims are the only shims present at the carrier bearings one at .130 and the other at .142.
Drivers Side:
Passenger side:
I had 4.88s put in at a reputable local shop a couple of years ago. Is it normal that a gear shop would set up an axle with just 2 thick shims like this?
After removing the carrier and spinning the pinion with a drill again the vibration seemed to be gone.
There are also a couple of odd marks on the ring gear and what seems like a weird wear pattern. I will dump a bunch of pictures if anything jumps out at you guys please let me know. I am wondering if I should just dump new bearings all around and see if it fixes the issue unless my ring and pinion are junk.
Suspecting a pinion bearing I drained the fluid and pulled the rear axles this morning I then used a drill with a socket to spin the pinion producing a vibration or rattle. But when I went to pull the carrier I noticed what look like thick shims on each side of the carrier bearings had escaped the bearing caps and the only thing that kept them in place was the axles. These two thick shims are the only shims present at the carrier bearings one at .130 and the other at .142.
Drivers Side:
Passenger side:
I had 4.88s put in at a reputable local shop a couple of years ago. Is it normal that a gear shop would set up an axle with just 2 thick shims like this?
After removing the carrier and spinning the pinion with a drill again the vibration seemed to be gone.
There are also a couple of odd marks on the ring gear and what seems like a weird wear pattern. I will dump a bunch of pictures if anything jumps out at you guys please let me know. I am wondering if I should just dump new bearings all around and see if it fixes the issue unless my ring and pinion are junk.