I was repairing a windshield chip yesterday and thought I would take a look under the front end, I don't know what possesed me to do it but I'm glad I did.
I just turned it to 70,000 this weekend, glad I've got Max Care.

 

Good find... I mean good thing you found it but bad that it happened

 

Help a newb out... What did you find? Looks like some rusty parts but what's the issue?

 

Bad ujoints.

in the 2nd picture, it looks like its been bad for some time.

 

Nice find. Was there any other noticeable indication it was bad?

I had a passenger side joint go out on me around 80 or 90K. I would just get a faint squeak when turning left at times. That's all I could pick up on. Looked underneath and mine looked similar to yours.

 

I am going to check my later today.

 

Front axle U-joints
Attachment 275214

Notice the hole/worn out spot

 

it looks like so far only the retaining ring has worn out. there is no noise or vibration even under snow load (I wouldn't want to Moab crawl with it). that is the same u-joint end both pictures, I just rotated the wheel 180 degres.

I don't want to take it in yet, it's covered under the Max Care and I'm quietly hoping that the other side will go soon so I can get both left and right done at the same time. It's a 100$ deductable for each trip into the dealership and I would hate to have one done now (100$) and then have the other one go in a month or two(again 100$).

 

I would strongly suggest you take that in, if it siezes up it it could cause your wheel to lock up, the axle is probably already toast, looks like the ujoint end has actually worn through the cap and the cap has shifted. I am shocked it hasn't already blow completely up on you.

The longer you let it go the more likely it is to cause more damage and wear out other components, the joint is probably already binding, causing your axle to move around more than it should putting extra stress on your seals, and bearings.

 

Point taken.