I had an unsettling sound coming from the front of my Rubicon recently so I took it in to find out what the problem was. Turns out there are a number of things that are suspect with my Jeep but most unsettling of all is that apparently the front left wheel doesn't line up properly with the suspension components. It's not immediately obvious to the eye but my mechanic (who I trust) says somethings out of whack and suspects it's the diff housing itself. He's currently getting exact details and dimensions to verify. I don't wheele overly hard and I'm pretty confident this was a pre-existing condition when I bought the Jeep about a year and a half ago.
The car is an '07 JKU Rubicon with a 2.5" lift and MTZ 285/70/17's and I'm not really wanting to upgrade it much more beyond this. So if it turns out the diff housing is bent, which is looking likely to be the case, what options do I have? Is it possible to get diff housings straightened? Are there any Rubicon front diffs available at wreckers? Would there be any left over from upgrades? I should imagine that most who intend to upgrade would start with a Sport rather than a Rubicon but do people upgrade Rubi diffs?
I know upgrading the front diff to something more substantial is an option but I'm sure the stock D44's would be plenty strong enough for the wheeling I do. While I would love to build up my ride with 3.5" and 37's I just don't think it's worth spending that kind of money on an '07 JK (with the old 3.8L donk), so really I'm only wanting to bring it back to stock with as little expense as possible. Current repairs are already costing way too much (in the order of $5000) and that's before factoring the expense of a new diff.
Find a company that does truck alignments.
They'll have the ability to bend beam axles (its a specialised jig set up).
They'll be most likely able to straighten the housing in situ.
Find a company that does truck alignments.
They'll have the ability to bend beam axles (its a specialised jig set up).
They'll be most likely able to straighten the housing in situ.
Oh, interesting. I'd never even thought that would be an option.
The car is currently on a hoist with the diff in pieces but I should be able to have the current workshop replace the locker (which needs to be done) and re-assemble the axle then drive the car to an "alignment" shop and have them straighten the housing? I never knew that was possible.
Bending a beam axle is the only way to correct for camber, which is pretty much built into a beam axle design.
When I owned a GQ Patrol, there were offset bearing setups to compensate for camber issues, but some vehicles needed more adjustment and it was done by slightly bending the axle.
Bending a beam axle is the only way to correct for camber, which is pretty much built into a beam axle design.
When I owned a GQ Patrol, there were offset bearing setups to compensate for camber issues, but some vehicles needed more adjustment and it was done by slightly bending the axle.
Wow, stuff you learn
By the way, if bent I believe my axle would be bent 'back' rather than 'up', as in the left hand wheel is closer to the fire wall than it should be rather than the top of the wheel being more 'in' than than the bottom.
No telling what they can do about it till they have a look, I suppose. I've not run into that problem before, usually its bent up.
You run into something hard?
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Bent Diff Options
2006 Jeep WH Overland CRD
