Rear end howl/whine at 60mph....NO MORE HOWL!! issue solved.....ITS BACK!!!!! :(

bad bearings do sound like an exhaust leak when they go really bad
I caught my howl early I suspect, so it never got that bad
I dont like strange sounds from my taco & addressed the howl right away

running sooooo good now
back to driving the crap out of this beast

thanks for your read & feedback
hopefully other howlers can get this info to resolve their diff issue

 

Yeah mine was pretty much just had grey tooth paste but still rather not have that in the diff

 

feel ya....I always lean towards over maintenance myself

 

Glad to see you've figured yours out... I think i found my sound.... Passenger side rear wheel bearing... The sound deminishes when making a right turn...

 

current update 5/5/19.....
rebuilt ECGS rear carrier assembly is working well
no issues with 2500 miles since swap out
well worth the $750...thanks to the folks at ECGS....you rock!

taco is trucking real goooood

 

Sorry for the late update guys. After putting the 2014 rear diff into my truck, my howling noise is also gone! Also congrats @Chiloquin_Car_Care for your replacement working as well. Looks like there’s a couple solutions to it now.

 

thanks bud
I am really enjoying the lack of howl on my end

 

thats a lot cheaper & less invasive then the whole 3rd...lucky you & happy trucking

 

I spoke too soon. My 3rd is howling again. Looks like I’m Going to go with the EGCS unit. On a 2012 TRD sport it’s the 8.4 correct?

 

bummer
call ECGS, they will know best on correct replacement, just have your VIN & door tag gearing info on hand
(best to take a pic of the door tag & email the pic them while you order your rebuilt unit)

 

Im howling again
sucks
guess this a normal sound for the rear end
I spoke ECGS yesterday on the matter & they agree

so here's the update
swapped the rear end diff at 295k & howl went away,
at 305k I started hearing light howl again at 60mph on decel but I could not make it sing
at 315k howl is more noticable/audible at 60 on decel & I CAN make it sing with repeated light accel feathering at 60mph

I guess I wasted $725, & a bunch of time
but I learned how to rip the whole rear end apart on a gen2 taco & how to work on drum (dumb) brakes in the process
so I will chalk it up to a great lesson in automania

I guess this is why toyota installs sound deadening material as part of the resolve on this complaint per their 2008 TSB on
rear end howl/whine at highway speed between 50-70mph

 

Hey guys! This is a 2 year old thread now but I really enjoyed reading through it. I bought a 2009 grand cherokee 3.7l a month ago and it's been howling on Decelaration since since the day I brought it home. It didn't howl on the test drive because there was traffic and street lights but it howled when I took the highway home... It's pretty freakin annoying. At first I heard it above 40mph but now I can subtlety hear it at 30. I have no idea how long the last owner was riding with it howling. I bought it with 77k miles and now it's at 78k. The carfax said the dif fluid was changed in 2013 at the dealer and my money bets that was the only time it was changed. After doing research I came to the conclusion that it is a rear dif pinion bearing. I took it to a dealership for a diagnosis to be sure. Bad mistake. They told me I need a new transfer case which made absolutely no sense at all given their reasons. The mechanic is either dumb or trying to take advantage of me. So I took it to a transmission and 4x4 mechanic yesterday for a 2nd opinion. He said the operation of my xcase is perfect and he confirmed that my rear pinion bearing is the culprit of the noise. He was extremely friendly and knowledgeable and didn't even charge me to too look it over via a test drive and on the lift. He didn't hear how bad it howls on the highway but based on the local test drive he said it's not that bad and common with older vehicles. He said I'm safe to drive to south dakota from PA next month for my internship. He said that if this was his wife or daughter's jeep he would tell them the same thing. He definitely eased my worrying but I still feel a little nervous driving so far because I will be driving both on and off the pavement. The mechanic thinks that I should save my money the internship instead of trying to perfect the noise I'm hearing. But man, it's annoying to hear!

I'm changing the dif fluid tomorrow and I'm curious if I'll find metal shavings and burnt oil

 

A friend of mine had a older cherokee that had the same problem. he replaced the read diff and made it go away but it came back after a year or so. he sold it

 

Interesting that you’re looking for Jeep advice on a Tacoma forum, but I’ll throw out a little bit of info. Jeep in their infinite wisdom decided to make a rear axle housing with an aluminum center section. I don’t know what years they did that, but it sounds like maybe that’s what you have. They were plagued with problems. If it’s possible to replace it with a complete axle assembly with one with an iron center section, that’s the route I would go. As far as your long distance trip, it might make it or it might blow up on the way. No one can accurately predict that. That’s all I’ve got.

 

That sucks!! Its good to hear from you that it's not worth changing the pinion bearing or even the whole rear because it's probably going to come right back.

I travel cross country frequently and drive at LEAST 20k miles per year so my fingers are crossed that this pinion bearing won't leave me stuck in the middle of nowhere. I drove my chevy Impala to 212k miles. I drove 100k in the last 4 years of owning it and it was running STONG when I traded it. I regret trading it I'm having more anxiety with this far newer Jeep than I ever did with the Impala.

Thanks for the reply.

 

Hey mud Muddinfun thanks for the reply. Haha I know this is a Tacoma Forum but Chiloquin_Car_Care experienced the same problem as me with his Taco so it was a good read nonetheless. I'll look into whether my assembly is aluminum or iron and think about switching it. My parents and sister both owned Grand Cherokees in the past so you'd think I'd have learned by now that they constantly have problems. Nope.

BTW I don't know how to reply to a direct quote yet because I'm a total noob at forums I'm sorry

 

Before you make any decision, take a magnet and see if it sticks to the cast center section of the housing. (Not the rear cover) As I mentioned, I don’t know what years Jeep did that. What I can tell you though is that heading cross country with any vehicle with a howling rear axle is a risky gamble.

 

Hit the quote in the lower right corner of the post you want to refer to. That will put their text in the post box.

 

My 1998 Grand Cherokee had it.
It was a Dana 44. But not “THE” Dana 44.
I didn’t have any problems. But I didn’t own it more than a year.
All I was ever told was, “Axle Truss it, or stay off the trails.”

I don’t know anything about the new Jeep’s.
I bought mine for towing a boat. I found out owning a boat, wasn’t what I thought it would be.
Sold the boat and the Jeep.