So after having my liberty inspected i was told that the noise coming from the rear of my jeep seemed to be outer wheel bearings ( said tires showed play) so last saturday I replaced them but still have a whining/singing sound from the rear axle.

this seems to narrow it down to inner wheel bearings or the ring and pinion. When i replaced the outer wheel bearings i did not notice anything wrong in the differential, no metal shavings beyond the normal powder collected in the bottom.

from what i hear messing with the actual differential is something i should probably not try myself because it can be a pain to get the ring and pinion clocked right so im thinking of actually taking it in to someone for once. I called a local transmission place and they said they would diagnose for free but gave me ballpark figures of 700 dollars to 1500 dollars to fix the rear end depending on what exactly was making the noise... does this sound about right or can i find a better deal? or is it easier than i think to just try and do it myself...

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2003 Jeep Liberty Renegade (silver)

How did the axles look? More the area that the bearing ride on. Did you measure them to make sure they are in spec? I have seen bad axle bearings and new bearings did not fix the issue as the axles themselfs were worn and eating axle bearings.


Then again the 8.25/9.25 are kinda known for bad pinion bearings and carrier bearings.

well i did not notice any wear on the inner part of the axles, but the outer part where the outer bearings rode were worn a little, shiny surface and very slightly grooved, just enough i could barely feel it with my fingers.

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2003 Jeep Liberty Renegade (silver)

Well it may still be the outer bearings and axles are the issue.Sadly you will need to install new bearings and seals again with the new axles.

A easy test is to jack the rear axle up and try to lift one tire at a time,any up/down play(any noticeable) and the axles are the issue if you just installed new bearings.

i can check that again, i can take it back to the place who diagnosed the bad outer bearings the first time and have them lift it up and see if it has any play still.

so the Inner bearings should not affect this right? i wouldnt think so but want to make sure.

if it turns out just being that the axles are worn that will be a big relief, kinda stressing out about my ring and pinion being bad or something, just worse case scenarios.


PS. just remembered i had co workers riding with me at lunch yesterday, rolled the windows down and they figured out that the noise seemed to be coming primarily from the left side of the vehicle. where when im driving i could not tell really.

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2003 Jeep Liberty Renegade (silver)