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Knock in rear with Dana 44

Needles

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Hello Fellow JLU friends,

Just thought I would update everyone on my post since they last fixed my rear knock issue in Jan 20'.... well as many of you might think the issue did come back as of 2 weeks ago... same thing, same parts,same slow speed rear knock just this time way worse... I went to the dealer begining of May when they reopened post covid and said they wouln't get parts until the end of the summer and they had more important issues to solve and backed up to the bone... so I sadly took the decision to get rid of my 2018 JLU and traded it in for another car brand... after 10 years of only driving wranglers really sucks that it had to end like this with poor quality service and shitty car repair but I just couldn't break my head again for 2 months just to try and get it fixed and risk of being stuck with a 45-50k$$$ car that would break again in 6 months OFF WARRANTY.

Just be very careful to whoever else has this issue and managed to get it fixed....almost guaranteed it will come back.
So good luck to everyone on this major issue and hope you will be luckier than I.

Will definitely miss those topless rides
Peace
Iā€™m on my second axle and third complete internal replacement. If it happens again, I will see about taking to the higher up Jeep administration
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CarbonSteel

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Just be very careful to whoever else has this issue and managed to get it fixed....almost guaranteed it will come back.
This is just sad that in this day and age the root cause of this issue has not been found (if they are doing RCA's at all). I would seriously question the choice of viscosity in these axles as well as the oil capacity of the axle. Additionally, the clutch materials separating from the disks is not normal, so why is that happening? Last, but not least, one cannot help but wonder if the bearings are correct for the application and load.

Too many questions with no answers...
 
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Octocycler

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Mines been in the shop for about a week. Rear end is taken apart, fluid pitch black and nasty but no signs of metal in it. They have not seen anything yet to cause the noise. They said on their "secret" mechanics network forum they've found other mechanics troubleshooting same thing. They've opened a star case, says jeep wants to know my aftermarket tire size, no answers, no proactive communication. Seems like the warranty process is "sit and wait until FCA tells them what to do. " Fortunately I've got a loaner cherokee I'm not paying for and opening the jeepcares case in advance of going in made that part easy - so that was one helpful piece of advice I got here..
 

Valkyrie

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Mines been in the shop for about a week. Rear end is taken apart, fluid pitch black and nasty but no signs of metal in it. They have not seen anything yet to cause the noise. They said on their "secret" mechanics network forum they've found other mechanics troubleshooting same thing. They've opened a star case, says jeep wants to know my aftermarket tire size, no answers, no proactive communication. Seems like the warranty process is "sit and wait until FCA tells them what to do. " Fortunately I've got a loaner cherokee I'm not paying for and opening the jeepcares case in advance of going in made that part easy - so that was one helpful piece of advice I got here..
What is your wheel size? Are they hinting at blaming it on that? Iā€™m running 35ā€™s, which isnā€™t major.
 

Octocycler

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Just 33s! I think it's standard procedure to look for ways out of a warranty coverage so the first thing they ask is what's been modified. The biggest difference is about a 2" net offset on the wheels from stock and the tires are wider, but nothing extreme. No lift - what you see in my profile photo is how it sits. Regardless I only had these wheels on a week when I noticed the problem.

What is your wheel size? Are they hinting at blaming it on that? Iā€™m running 35ā€™s, which isnā€™t major.
 

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Valkyrie

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Just 33s! I think it's standard procedure to look for ways out of a warranty coverage so the first thing they ask is what's been modified. The biggest difference is about a 2" net offset on the wheels from stock and the tires are wider, but nothing extreme. No lift - what you see in my profile photo is how it sits. Regardless I only had these wheels on a week when I noticed the problem.
I did 35ā€™s with a -18 offset and a 3ā€ RK lift. I had the dealership put it on and even paid for all the sales options codes. So, now when they run my vin, it comes up as dealer installed options. Warranty hasnā€™t declined my rear axle. Itā€™s on order, but I donā€™t when it will come in. As they said, ā€œItā€™s on intergalactic back orderā€. Iā€™m looking at spending over 5K paying an off-road shop to beef up my gears and do ARB Lockers to get my Jeep fixed since Jeep is screwing me and not fixing my damn problem. @JeepCares was nice about telling me thereā€™s no fix, since itā€™s on back order, but couldnā€™t get me a loaner. So, Iā€™m just sh!t out of luck. In my family we have 4 Jeeps and 2 Rams. We are all looking to get rid of our FCA products over this fiasco. Iā€™ll end up having to keep my Jeep after dumping so much money in it, but weā€™ll never buy anything FCA again and Iā€™m definitely venting to everyone how FCA screwed is all on this damn rear end issue.
 

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Iā€™m looking at spending over 5K paying an off-road shop to beef up my gears and do ARB Lockers to get my Jeep fixed since Jeep is screwing me and not fixing my damn problem.
@Valkyrie - this is a LSD D44 axle?
 

Valkyrie

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@Valkyrie - this is a LSD D44 axle?
Yes, itā€™s the LSD 44 rear axle. It sounds like a bicycle with a playing card in the spokes when I drive it. The rearend sounds horrible. The dealership told me to just come pick it up and drive it. Itā€™s now sitting in my driveway still broken.
 

CarbonSteel

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Yes, itā€™s the LSD 44 rear axle. It sounds like a bicycle with a playing card in the spokes when I drive it. The rearend sounds horrible. The dealership told me to just come pick it up and drive it. Itā€™s now sitting in my driveway still broken.
Damn...I feel your pain. For me, I do not understand why they have not figured it out. Logically, the root cause can only be a small number of things and it cannot be cheaper to keep replacing axles versus fixing it permanently not to mention the bad press against the brand. I have not heard this being a problem in the JK series--so what changed (rhetorical question here)?
 

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Valkyrie

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Damn...I feel your pain. For me, I do not understand why they have not figured it out. Logically, the root cause can only be a small number of things and it cannot be cheaper to keep replacing axles versus fixing it permanently not to mention the bad press against the brand. I have not heard this being a problem in the JK series--so what changed (rhetorical question here)?
I know this has to be costing the hell out of them. Seems like figuring out what is causing the problem and addressing that issue would be way cheaper and not to mention it would make us Wrangler owners happy. The Dana design for the JL is supposed to be stronger than the JKā€™s and that may be, but the LSD is weak as sh!t. At 10K miles, I definitely shouldnā€™t have to be spending over $5K to get it fixed.
 

007inaJeep

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I have been having pretty much all of these issues since the first day I got it (02/2018). Been to 3 dealers for these issues at different times and I was told it is a jeep thing. Fortunately 2 weeks ago I had a chance to test drive a manual 6 speed Sahara and a Sport and that's when I realized it is not normal. As of now my Jeep is a pure mall crawler. I have probably engaged the 4WD for less than 10 minutes total after much difficulty.

I am not mechanically inclined, which I intend to address by buying a jeep and getting my hands dirty. Luckily, I am still under factory warranty (have about 22K miles on it). How did you folks convince your dealer to look at this issue? None of the dealers I went to were even aware of the welding bulletin and after i pointed out, they still didn't know what to look for. And not one of them recommended the differential oil change you guys are talking about here.

If any of you are in the NJ/PA area, can you please recommend any dealers who are good with servicing Jeeps? I ran out of the Jeep wave program, is it still recommended to open a case with Jeepcare? Apologies for all the newbie questions, I plan on going over this forum whole day today and learn more.

My specs:
Sahara JLU 6 speed with Anti-spine rear differential, 18 inch wheels, front and rear stabilizer bars, 3.45 gearing.
 

Nottfamous

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I've been bringing my 2018 Sahara with LSD to the dealership a few times for this sound (since about 7k miles, it now has 26k miles) and they finally said there was something wring with the rear end. After another day, the tech said they need to order a full replacement. The expectation they've set is a month before that parts come in.
 

JeepCares

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@Valkyrie,

Do you currently have a case open with us? Please send me a PM with your VIN or case number.

Darlene
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mm141

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No updates on my vehicle. Parts are still supposed to get here in July. Jeep cares did contact me but no movement on the parts yet. My jeep is still at the dealership. Been without it for nearly two months now. Definitely missing out on a lot of good weather.
So I finally got my Jeep back a few days ago and so far the knocking appears to have been fixed. Jeep Cares and Jeep Wave were both involved and were able to expedite the rear axle by almost a month. I will have to wait and see if the knocking comes back but so far things are looking good.
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