tucker973

Hello, all, first-time visitor here. I've got a '98 XJ (4d, command-trac 4WD) that was an previous family car, then my daily driver throughout college, and I've now got it back five years later after turning in my lease (last time I'll ever do that). Anyway, it's in pretty good shape, only 108k miles, recently had brake lines redone.

I'm getting a clunk-clunk-clunk in the rear right when I make medium-to-sharp right turns at speed. I'll also occasionally hear it back there when I hit a decent size bump or pothole. I've done some searching here and elsewhere, and haven't seem to come to any solid conclusions. A few suggestions I've heard:

-bad wheel bearing (though many describe this sound as more of a grinding or 'loose-change' noise - mine is a pronounced CLUNK at a regular interval through the duration of the turn).

-loose track bar (but to my knowledge, these are not stock on XJ and I've never added one)

-differential needs service (not driving in 4WD when this happens, and if it was the differential wouldn't it occur in turns on both directions?)

-various loose/bad joints

Does anyone have any particular insight? I'm hoping it's nothing major and/or expensive; I plan on getting it serviced by a local shop and would rather go in with an idea of what's wrong. I'd even give it a shot myself if I had a garage, but unfortunately don't at the moment. Any help is much appreciated! Great forum you've got here, I will definitely be keeping an eye on it while I've got the XJ back. Thanks!

Cherokee 4.0

Broken Rear Axle or Bad Wheel Bearing

Mike1998XJ

Take it to the shop, have them diagnose it and get back to us. If it's beyond your budget to have the repair done at the shop let us know what they find and we can help you... If you don't have a decent place to work on it I'd strongly think about writing the check!
Just my 2 cents.

tucker973

Thanks for the insight. The shop was busy on my lunch hour, but said to bring it by in the morning and they'll give me an estimate.

I'm sure as hell hoping it's not a broken axle, and I imagine that wouldn't be the case since it's seen pretty light use over the past 5 or so years. I'll keep you updated. Thanks again

Mike1998XJ

I don't see how it could be a broken axel. The axel is held in by a c-clip. If it were broke in half somewhere it would be like removing the c-clip and the axel would fall right out!
You did check the simple things like are all your lug nuts on and tight? Did you happen to look at the rear diff and look for leaks? Did you check to make sure it's full of oil?
Did you pry on the u-joints with a screwdriver to make sure they are not loose?
You don't need a garage to do these things.
Mike

Cherokee 4.0

ive broken an axle and drove ten miles without it falling out and then came to find out i had a broken axle

Mike1998XJ

It sounds like he's been driving for awhile with this. So I don't think it could be broken. Maybe he should jack it up and give it a good pull. Although then he won't be able to drive to the shop!
Mike

Or since it happens when he hits a bump also, maybe it's a loose tailgate, or a loose bushing in the spring!

tucker973

Yeah, I'm about 100% sure now it's not the axle... got down and took a look and it doesn't look broken. Also, I noticed it in Jersey prior to driving back to PA, so I have a feeling the 80 or so miles at 80mph would have shaken loose a busted axle!

Cherokee 4.0

then i would say wheel bearing

Firestorm500

It is probably none of the above.

Your right emergency brake cable housing is rubbing against a wheel weight on the backside of the wheel.

You can tell this by looking at the weight. It will have a worn, shiny spot in it.

Take some bailing wire or a coat hanger and tie back the e-brake cable, pulling it about 1-1.5 inches inboard away from where it is right now; back from the wheel. The muffler/exhaust pipe vertical metal hanger makes a good tie back point.

If you don't want to do this, you can have a tire shop remove the clip-on weight and rebalance using stick on weights in the inner rim drop center area.

I did both on my '87 Pioneer and it worked like a charm. I, too thought it was a bad axle/bearing/rear differential. But it was not.

Good luck and let me know if this solves the problem.

Mike1998XJ

Why don't you have someone drive it while you sit in the back? You should be able to pinpoint the sound. Those tailgates have a rubber bumper on each side that wear out and the tailgate can rattle. Take a look at your 2 rubber bumpers and see what condition they are in. They are adjustable as well. If they are all cracked and mushroomed out replace them or tightly wrap electrical tape around them. Better yet, wrap them and build up the ends towards the tailgate with a few layers of tape. Or tape a piece of cardboard on there to make the tailgate fit tighter.
Worth a shot!
Have a good ride in the back!
Mike

jblackmon421

I have the same problem but on the opposite side. It happens when I turn right and it comes from the left. Is it possible that the emergency break could be on either side? I thought it was a wheel bearing going out. If you find out let me know.

Thanks,

Jay

Mike1998XJ

Well yea! Look under there you will see a cable going to each wheel. That's the only way to engage the breaks on both wheels!
Mike

tucker973

Update: I've got it at the shop now, they're going to jack it up and take a look and give me an estimate. I'll definitely let you know what they say; guy said it should be ready around noon.

It's interesting that you mention the e-brake, though. As I mentioned, I recently had brake lines re-done. This is because the old ones went on me, but to get it to the shop for a fix, I drove it down jiggering the e-brake for necessary stops. Perhaps this could have put additional strain on and caused the issue you're mentioning. I will definitely be interested to see if this is the case - if so, you win the medal for diagnostics!

tucker973

Well I'm back from the "good" shop, and I'm now not so convinced they're quite as "good" as everyone says. Guy hands me an estimate for $460 with the following laundry list:
-front sway bar lock ($37.86x2)
-front shocks ($49.95x2)
-labor ($65)
-rear shocks ($79.95x2) [umm... don't we have leaf springs, not shocks in rear??]
-some unexplained charge ($25.63)
-exhaust u-clamp hanger ($8)

So I'm looking at this list and I ask the guy, "OK, so which specific one of those things is causing the noise I described?"

"Uhh, well, uh, if I had to get one of those things fixed first, I'd go for the front shocks..."

Thanks, buddy, back to square one for me. I will check underneath following Firestorm's suggestion as soon as I get home, then I guess it's back to the drawing board. I'll start asking around about mechanics, or I suppose I could take a trip to the downtown Jeep dealer.