I made a ~10 second video of some noise my front driveshaft has. Is this normal? I am trying to track down some noises that shouldn't be. Thank you!

 

I can't listen to the video here at work, but I can see you twisting the DS and suspect you are hearing the knocking in the gears which is simply the backlash as the ring and pinion gears meet when you're turning that back and forth. I'm sure someone else will chime in, or I will listen to the video when at home later today.

 

You get significant clicking on the sound. When accelerating, decelerating or shifting gears on the manual trans anything other than super gentle, there is loud clicking. This is when not in 4WD drive as it pertains to me asking about the front driveshaft. Didn't know if that was normal or not in trying to chase this down.

 

Y, your description of "clicking" makes my mind immediately go to a bad U-joint or bad CV joint on the TC side. Typically you're not getting a constant clicking sound from the front diff. Have you tried to put it in 4WD (not on dry pavement) to see if the sound changes at all? That entire front end is spinning in 2WD, but if the noise intensifies under load in 4WD it does help pinpoint things.

There are few folks around daily throughout the day so I suspect someone will be able to listen to the video or I'll circle back round tonight.

 

I just listened to that video. that big clunk is just the pinion gear hitting the coast and drive sides of the ring gear....ie, normal backlash. Do you have an old phone you could tape up or rig up under there to record while driving and trying to reproduce the noise? If you think it is driveshaft related, you could pull the front shaft and go for a drive to see if the noise is gone or changes. It's very hard to tell much about that u-joint or the CV joint on the other end of the shaft while it's installed.

 

Hey thanks. Drove it home in 4WD from work and the noise is actually less noticeable in 4WD. When I think CV I think consistent clicking which this isn't (unless I am wrong). It is based on acceleration/decel. maybe I should try inspecting the ujoints next before rigging an old phone up? Suspension is a weaker area for me.......

 

I just shock a quick snip of my DS and backlash so you could see and have something to compare to. Keep in mind that I have front hubs that were not locked so my DS can spin all the way around....and moves more in this video than what you see on with your DS, but you can hear the gears knocking just the same as I change direction.


I have driven many a manual, but admittedly not solid front axle manual like a JK where everything is rotating regardless due to the hubs. Maybe some other manual owners will chime in. I really didn't think about the fact that in a manual you're seeing a lot more acceleration and deceleration with every push of the clutch and shift. Certainly not something you experience in an auto the same way. Little hard to tell the description of the clicking and how repetitive it is, but certainly not sounding regular like a joint or CV based on your last comment.

 

I replaced the front UJoints (had a hard time getting the old out) and they were toast, very bad shape. I installed some new Moog joints and 75% improvement in noise. I think I have some other failed components I need to further diagnose and replace to get er back to quiet, at least when I hear other JK Wranglers drive by level of quiet.