RubiRedJK

My Question -
What is this noise, where is it coming from, what should I do about it?

Whats Wrong -
I am getting a lot of chatter and noise from the clutch or transmission. In neutral, I only get it when the clutch is engaged (not pressing the pedal), it goes away when the clutch is disengaged (pressing the pedal). It is bad at idle and increases with the engine when revving until a point then it quiets down. It is also louder in reverse and in 4lo. There is a lot of noise and vibration coming from the shifter as well, seems louder in 2nd gear for some reason.

What Changed -
I took my Jeep to a local repair shop to get the clutch replaced. They outsourced the clutch rebuild to a local clutch shop. They (one or both shops I presume) decided that the stock Rubicon clutch did not have enough friction material to support/work well with my Jeep's setup (35" tires on 16"x8" wheels), because I had "supposedly" blown out the friction material from the transmission side of the clutch disc. So they decided it needed a new better clutch with a wider friction band. So they replaced it with one that has Kevlar friction material and a 3" band of material instead of the stock 2".

Backstory -
I had an issue with my clutch, after down shifting while exiting the highway. I did not get the engine breaking I expected. Once at the stop sign when I shifted into 3rd at the end of the exit ramp my jeep did not move. I was unable to go anywhere, my clutch was slipping 100% regardless of the pedal position.

Complications -
I should add that the reason I don't just take it back to the guys that did it is b/c while they were recommended to me they did IMHO a crappy job. They broke the plastic retaining clip on the t-case shifter linkage (was just hanging loose even though they said they tested it in 4x4-so I don't know if they broke it while removing the tranny or he forced it in to 4lo and it failed then), they almost tore off the bank 2/sensor 2 O2 sensor while removing the transmission (throwing error codes-I fixed this last night-pins had been pulled almost all the way out of the quick connector), tore up all the sound dampening material above the trans and t-case, beat the t-case to hell, didn't resecure the fuel line on the passenger side of the trans (something has shifted to the point I can't get a bolt through the bracket to the trans, and broke several of the clips holding down the shifter boot and fascia. I'm sure there is more I haven't found. Not to mention whatever my actual clutch problem is...

owtcast

It's really hard to tell without actually putting eyes/hands on it but, your symptoms almost sound like your throw out bearing or something related was binding. Did your clutch slip at all before the point it went out at the stop sign? If it was truly an issue of actual clutch material worn, it would of let you know long before it quit pulling 100%. I think your clutch shop is full of $%&* on all accounts. The noise, if I had to guess, could be your input shaft bearing. Since it's not making noise unless it's turning, it leads me to believe something "inside" the tranny is causing it. Or that "new" clutch is off balance.

07Rubi2dr

i have the exact same problem with my centerforce clutch. i think it is the throwout bearing...but not sure. been driving it for a couple years with no issues though.

whpony96

Well it's either the throughout bearing or the pilot bearing. Either way your going to need to pull the trans all over again. This is a definate tell tale sign that the company did NOT know what they were doing and it total BS that the stock clutch would not work with 35".

Also your NOT driving a big rig you should never downshift a JK. Ask yourself this, whats cheaper to replace Brakes or a Clutch, Transmission or even a Engine?