I have a squeak from the rear passenger side when i lightly brake and when i turn right. been there since a rough day out in the rocks. It's a stock non-rubi dana 44. I just stripped it down to see what's going on and it looks like the rear axle flange is bent. with wheel/calliper/rotor off, as i rotate the axle it shifts about a 1 mm from one side to the other. now i could obviously replace the axle but i'm going to swap the whole axle out at some point (6 months?) for a D60 so don't want to spend the time/money fixing this up. Am I asking for trouble running on an axle with a bent flange or is it just a case of turning up the radio to cover the squeak?
thanks, Alan
oh, it's a 2013 JKU automatic running on 35s if that makes any difference. Sees DD and off road use.

 

6 months? Hmmm I dunno man 6 months for me is a lot of driving. You could screw up your pads and rotors that's for sure. If it was me IDE replace it with a stock shaft and then sell the whole assembly after getting the 60 to offset the cost.

 

thanks. that's a very good point about screwing the rotors. looks like i can get a pair of complete pre-assembled nitro chrome-moly shafts for $450. if i get them and put them in both sides i can then keep the non-bent oem as a spare (non-rubi so they are same left/right). seems like that will be easier than having to remove and press on bearings, tone rings and retainer plate. plus, when 6 months slips to 2 years i'm at least running something a little stronger than stock.
thanks.