Reviving a 2009 JK and experiencing wobble in passenger rear

Azulin

New Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2022
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4
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Albuquerque, NM
I have a vibration, turned to wobble on my daughters Jeep jk.
Bought Jeep n looked like it had water damage. 9 months in, blew engine. I bought new engine block. Put in new engine. Installed OME 2.5 lift. Installed new suspension bushings front and rear. New steering stabilizer. Started driving Jeep around to break in engine. I’m at 200 miles and vibration turned constant mostly on rear passenger. Took the u-joint axle to get tested it is fine. Got new bearings pressed when I found a small leak. Checked engine mounts, transmission mounts, tomorrow I will open pumpkin and see if that is okay.
What else can it be? I read another thread similar to this but no conclusion.
If it is the gears for whatever reason, should I regear? If I do regear… do I do front and back?
Any advise or suggestions is appreciated.
I’m running out of ideas and money. Lol
 
Have you had the tires looked at to make sure they are balanced? Once quick option would be to rotate the tires and see if the vibration changes area.
Yes. Sorry I forgot to add that. Tires were balanced and alignment done. I put axle on jacks and see the wobble… tires were removed and see a bit of wobble on the drum.
 
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Axle shafts were pulled to press new bearings on them. According to shop, they were fine.

The only way to check a axle shaft when it's out is to put in in a lathe between centers to see if it's bent. My wifes Jeep Liberty had one bent and that's how I found out it was for sure.
 
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To bend a rear axle, all it takes is a curb, speed bump, pothole, etc. at just the wrong speed and/or angle.
And, as bad as the wobble may feel, the axle only needs to be out by a fraction of an inch to cause major movement or vibration.
 
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? I
If it is the gears for whatever reason, should I regear? If I do regear… do I do front and back?
Any advise or suggestions is appreciated.
I’m running out of ideas and money. Lol

Just to address this, referring is 100% dependent on your tires and current gear ratio. If you’ve gone big enough to make it drive like a dog, then yes regear, but that’s your call.

If you regear, yes you do front and rear usually same time. The ONLY way to do at different times is if you pull your front Drive Shaft or rear DS. Either way, you cannot have front and rear with different gearing….and connected to the transfer case. They spin different speeds…and the TC will get destroyed quickly!
 
To bend a rear axle, all it takes is a curb, speed bump, pothole, etc. at just the wrong speed and/or angle.
And, as bad as the wobble may feel, the axle only needs to be out by a fraction of an inch to cause major movement or vibration.

Exactly This
Bent axles can happen anywhere given the right speed and approach to a pothole , speed bump , or whatevers on the road or trail . It completely blows my mind when on a rough trail guys want to fly by going Mach 2.
More than once cone across them up ahead on the trail with a deflated tire or busted bearing /hub or worse.
And no , I don’t offer assistance to the douches of the world . Anybody else 100 percent will help . But there is no fixing stupid .
 
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Have you had the tires looked at to make sure they are balanced? Once quick option would be to rotate the tires and see if the vibration changes area.
I had a set oh Hankook 35x12.5x18. Never could get one to balance. Took it to a truck tire shop. Finally replaced them with Nitto A/t. Ran them 50k miles, next set around 40k,caught a sale traded them in on a 3rd set.
No problem s anywhere along the line.
A big chunk of dried clay could throw you off. Check the other suggestions as well but don't overlook simple solutions before shelling out lot of $$.
 
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