It was less than 2 months and 2,000 miles on my lift and 35 BFG KM2's and the rear axle is bent. Felt a 'buzzing' thru the gear shifter at freeway speeds was the only indication.
The 'great' guys at my local 4Wheel Drive Parts knew exactly what it was, from my discription, and verified it up on the stands with wheels rotating you could see a wobble - they said they have seen it on non-mod Jeeps as early as 15,000 miles and some with more than 70,000 miles and hard wheeling no sign?
Just wondering how many on here have experienced this???

 

That's rough, sorry to hear that.

Hopefully it all gets fixed up and back on the trail in no time

 

You could see the wheel wobble? Is it a busted axle shaft or housing? D30/44? Seems weird.

 

first off, was it at 21,000 miles or 2,100 miles that you first seeing this problem and, are you saying this is on your front or rear axle? are your guys sure that it's the axle and not something like a badly unbalanced wheel? did they try removing the wheel and checking the axle with a dial indicator? if you're feeling a "buzzing", i would think that you have a problem with your drive shaft but, without examining things in person, it would be hard to say for sure on anything.

 

It was at 21,000 miles and a rear axle, you could see the caliper moving in and out, so not a bent wheel (alloy). 2009 JK 'X' model so dana 35 rear and 30 up front. I wheel it pretty tough, but not extreme - they knew of the problem, so figured someone on here had it happen?

 

actually, you have a dana 44 rear and, just because you can see the caliper moving doesn't mean you have a bent axle - maybe you just have a warped rotor. the best way to tell for sure is to pull off the wheel and rotor and check the flange with a dial indicator.

 

A buddy of mine owns a 4x4 shop and they started working on a brand new JK with a couple hundred km's on it and found that one of the front axle tubes was bent. This was on a brand new unwheeled Jeep. A local Jeep dealer came in to verify it and provided them a replacement under warranty. Makes you wonder though

 

Sorry to hear of your rig's troubles man.. I wheel mine hard and no problems yet.. Knock on wood.. But I also have 32" tires.. Every vehicle is different.

 

Looks like the railroad might be up to its old tricks again, they would chain them down so tight the chains would bend the axle, just something to ponder. The stealership today don't inspect new vechicle like they use to.

 

Did you not have any vibration? I would think that if you could "see" a wheel wobble while up on the lift, at Hwy speeds you'd be shaking some fillings loose.

As far as troubleshooting, i would X2 what wayoflife has recommended. get a cheap dial indicator from harbor frieght (or other) and remove rear wheels. (remove both sides) start from the axle flange and work out on both sides. (axle, rotor, wheel).

I'd be suprised if you bent your housing....so an axle replacement is an easy fix and there are plenty of guys on here selling OEM axles for cheap$$$$. pick up spares for the future

Keep us informed