so on my last long drive, indiana to south carolina i noticed a new whining sound about half way coming from the rear of the vehicle. i drive a 5 speed renegade and have different tires in the rear. at low speeds it sounds like normal tread noise one might expect. as i speed up is goes to a more higher pitched whining, almost like gears... anyone have any thoughts on whether this sounds like just tire noise or possible a problem in the rear axle? the only variant in the pitch of the sound is in vehicle speed.

i plan on getting my tires rotated as soon as i can find a decent place to do it,hopefully this will answer my question. my jack and stands are up in Indiana still

111000+ miles on it, and i changed the dif fluids <10k miles ago if that helps any.

thanks in advance for any help/thoughts/suggestions

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2003 Jeep Liberty Renegade (silver)

Just a thought.... may want to give your rear dif a check.

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*Love and Rockets*

Just a Jeeper Girl hangin out with the Xterra Boys

I agree just go pull the rear plug stick your finger in there and see if you are low on fluid. If so see if you can find the leak and refill hopefully you haven't done any damage to your gears.

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My CRD Build Thread
Soon to Come:more lights

If you feel no fluid.. then your best bet is to take off the cover and drain whatever is left in there. Spray with some brake cleaner to insure its clean... reseal with some RTV and then refil.

After you drain the fluid (or in my case it was pine barren mud) out of the dif. throw on some rubber gloves and feel around (or look) for any pieces of metal in the pan. Slivers are somewhat expected.. however bigger pieces are not.

In my case, my bearings are shot in both the dif and axles. Shes going into the shop in a few weeks to get new bearings and a possible new pinon (depending on the wear). Total costing anywhere between $500-800.00. Mind you i have also been driving with it this way for about 2 months..

Im doing the worst thing possible for a car-head.. turning up the radio to drown out the whine.

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*Love and Rockets*

Just a Jeeper Girl hangin out with the Xterra Boys

Take it for a drive, get the whine going real good, maybe drive it 15-20 minutes. Pull over and get under the jeep and feel the universal joints on your driveshaft, front and rear. They shouldn't be hot. If they are, change them. For 30 bucks and an hour or two you can eliminate a possible problem. If you don't feel comfortable doing them, get a shop quote for labor (your parts) and buy good u joints at napa or oreilly. Get their better set, still only 30. If you'd rather drive to muncie than pay a shop, I'll help ya.

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2005 KJ Renegade
Fabrications for sale: Aluminum Roof Rack (See Page 9)
Aluminum Gas Tank Skid -- Radiator Skid -- Front Strut Shims
Coming Soon: Rear Bumpers with lots of options