Rear Differential Howling (Caused by 2.5" lift??)

SweepnChoke · **Posted:** Fri Dec 05, 2008 5:55 pm

I have some howling coming from my rear differential that gets louder when accelerating/decelerating. After twisting the dealerships arm they have agreed to perform the repair under the power train warranty (only because I am a "good" customer having bought 2 jeeps in the last 6 years), but they claim the root cause of the problem is the modifications made to the vehicle, specifically the 2.5" lift.

Has anyone else had any rear diff issues?, or has anyone heard of having rear diff issues as a result of only a 2.5" lift?, personally I am not buying their story.

2002 Jeep Liberty Renegade
2.5" Lift
BF Goodrich AT KO 245/75/R16
1.25" Wheel Spacers

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Fri Dec 05, 2008 6:26 pm

No, a lift will not cause any problems with the differential at all. Getting bigger tires can put more torque on the rear end but the size of tires you have will not harm anything.

A lift can, however, effect the ujoints on the drive shaft but Ive never really heard of any wide spread problems with just a 2.5in lift on a liberty. Its possible that over time the ujoints will wear out quicker with a lift though.

What else did you expect from a dealership?

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Fri Dec 05, 2008 8:30 pm

One of the dealers here sells new KJs with the 2.5 lift (Daystar)

normally 2-2.5 isn't considered enough to affect anything

ohv_kj · **Posted:** Fri Dec 05, 2008 9:47 pm

had a simular sound, it was my pinion bearings...unbolt you rear drive shaft and run in 4x4 high no faster then 30...if the sound goes away it is either a drive shaft u-joint or the pinion bearing

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Fri Dec 05, 2008 10:26 pm

Actually a 2.5" lift can cause your pinion bearing to wear out faster,key word is "can".

Diggerfreek · **Posted:** Fri Dec 05, 2008 10:39 pm

jeep says you can lift it 2.5 with out voiding the warranty

SweepnChoke · **Posted:** Fri Dec 05, 2008 10:47 pm

Where can I get info that shows Jeep saying I can lift it 2.5" with out voiding the warranty???

ohv_kj · **Posted:** Fri Dec 05, 2008 11:08 pm

i would check to see if it is your drive shaft or not first...easy to put in and to much hassle to deal with a warranty item that is so easy to fix

SweepnChoke · **Posted:** Fri Dec 05, 2008 11:41 pm

Definately rear diff, confirmed by the dealership today. And they did finally agree to fix it under warranty after a whole lot of bitching on my part since their position was that the lift had caused the problem. Personally I had a very hard time believing the lift would cause the issue and thus came here looking for confirmation.

raceinfan · **Posted:** Sat Dec 06, 2008 5:01 pm

they found something else & won't tell you they were wrong the first time

Rear Differential Howling (Caused by 2.5" lift??)

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