The Truck - 94xj, 4x4, 231, 8.25

The story - I just helped my cousin install a 2" Rubicon Express BB into his 94. The lift was front spacer and full length add-a-leaf that we added to a pack from a 99 because his pack was so sagged. He netted just about 4" of lift over his blown out old rear packs and about 2.5" over stock height. Also installed the monotube shocks all around.

Overall very happy with the improved ride quality, but we have 1 issue that I can't seem to pinpoint. When braking, and ONLY then there is a grinding, rotational, noise coming from the rear axle. It results in a SLIGHT vibe that I would hardly consider a symptom of death wobble. Highway speeds this issue doesn't occur, JUST when braking.

U-bolts are tightened to spec, u-joints dont have any play. Brakes seem fine but we are both newbee's when it comes to drums so I wouldn't be able to tell you if something looks out of place.

Has anyone else experienced anything similar and what were the fixes.

I wouldn't think that a 94 with only 2" of lift would need a t-case drop but stranger things have happened I guess. My 99 with 3"+ is completely vibe free and the newer cherokees are more suseptable to vibes so I am slightly confused

Cheers,

Brad

 

hmm.

check to see that the exhaust isnt rubbing on anything.

i had a similar sounding noise and I eventually found out my tail pipe was rubbing on my leaf springs.

 

What is the condition of the brakes? Did you adjust the E-brake, after the lift. Could be driveline vibe, but that is ussually felt under acceleration not braking..Death Wobble has to do with the front end. Could be axle bearings...

 

As stated before, I'd have to say this definatly sounds like a brake issue. Was your friends cherokee doing anything similar before the lift was installed? If so, I'd suspect that the brakes are very worn. If the noise did not occur until post lift, my guess would be to take a look at the parking brake.

You may want to get someone more knowledgeable than me to confrim this, but I think that when you lift your rear end, it puts tension on the parking brake cable since you are moving the axle farther away from the parking brake adjuster bracket. This may have partially engaged the parking brake without the dash light coming on. Worse case scenario is its worn your brake shoes down to the brake shoe's metal causing them to grind against the brake drums (you would probably notice this via a burnt smell or poor acceleration), more likely is that braking with the parking brake engaged has caused the brake cylinder inside the drum to seat incorrectly, which is causing the noise.

Final suggestion, readjust the parking brake, and check for the noise. Either way you will want to pull the tires and drums off and look for anything suspicious.