toorough

people are saying it might be the vacum disconnect on my axle housing thats getting jamed up, it didnt appear to have anything wrong with it that i could see. when i put it in 4 wheel drive and give it gas it just sounds like grindin gears
i just had my pinion bearing replaced and u joints and axles on both sides
what the hell is wrong with my truck????

mike37

were is the grinding sound coming from

BuckB91XJ

What sounds like grinding gears??? More information, please!!! Does the jeep move at all? Is the grinding noise coming from the front axle? If, when you put the jeep in 4WD and gas it, it just sits and sounds like grinding gears. You probably have a transfer case problem.

toorough

when i got the truck the in nov it worked great , then it started to grind a bit then engage
then it got so bad that it would work have the night climbing god damn mountains and then an hour later after i took it out of 4 wheel, i put in back in 4 wheel and all i got was grinding
i had my buddy get out and look underneith the truck in the snow and i gave it gas and the front driveshaft did spin
what do you think it could be
apj aound my house said it was the vacum disconnect
how could it work in such an extreme and then not work at all
the noise is coming from the front somewhere

mike37

vacuum problem

BuckB91XJ

The vacuum diaphram in your front axle disconnect moves a fork and toothed ring from the outer half of the axle over to the inner half, thus linking them together. The vacuum diaphram is probably wearing out so you are getting intermittent operation. Before long, it will just quit working all together.

toorough

really??
god i took it off and looked at it
i mean the black tips were in excellent condition on the fork
i hooked it up and tryed to hold the fork from moving with both hands and couldnt do it
all the vacume lines must be working then
it didnt seem to have any play on the shaft the fork sits on
maybe a slight bit but how could it work and then not work
even if i was driving it would work and then slip out too
i just cant make any sense out of it

toorough

its funny you say that buck because now its not grinding at all anymore
so do i really have to go spend 400 dollars at dodge to get a new one
i mean i couldnt hold the fork back from moving into 4 wheel position with both hands
and i could move the collar with my little finger

toorough

i just need to get it fixed soon
i would like o put a nice set of tires on er soon but theres no point unless i get 4 wheel drive

xer0

do you even move?

mike37

1 did it have this problem before you did the work
2 is it the same sound in 2wd 4H 4L
3 can you drive it at all when this sound happens

toorough

it was there before i did the work on it
it does move when its engaged and the front drive shaft does move

i took the vacum disconect off today when the truck was in 4 wheel drive
and the fork was all he way over as far as it would go , but the collar wasnt over the other axle

do you think the black tips are worn or maybe my fork is bent

toorough

is not the same in 2 wheel drive

mike37

if the shift fork wont stay in the grove on the caller its the tips or bent shift fork

caged

the shift fork could be just worn a bit. sloppy on the shaft. you can replace it with an upgraded cast fork, or....

for a quick and easy, very cheap fix that works is to remove the vac disconnect, slide the collar over the 2 shafts, then wrap a hose clamp/gear clamp over the stub shaft up against the collar and tighten it down so it will keep the collar engaged in 4wd.
place the clamp so the excess band turns with the shaft, just so it doesn't hit the housing every rotation. or just simply cut off the excess.

then you'll have to remove the vacuum hoses so it won't try to shift it in/out whenever you select 4wd.

then save up a couple hundred bux and get yourself a posi-lock cable with the upgraded cast fork setup to replace the vacuum system.