Yesterday a friend was following me on the freeway. He called me on the radio saying my left rear tire was wobbling. We pulled over and though I was already sure I re-checked the lug nuts. They were tight. So today I pulled the wheel off and with the JK on jackstands I strarted it up and put it in gear. Sure enough there is a good 1/2" of wobble. The rotor appears warped but I'm assuming that is just reactionary to the bent axle? Am I right to assume the axle is bent? I have a RE 4-1/2" long Arm with 2"spacers on top. I'm running 35"KM2's. With only 19,000 miles on it would the dealer warranty this or with lift and 35's will they tell me to pound sand? I hate to take it into them if it would not be warranty as I really don't want any negative comments in my file in case of something else going wrong and also I would need to "de-program" my FlashPac. Any help would surely be appreciated.

 

Return the tune to stock and try and see if the dealership will cover it. Not likely, but at least you have a shot. Sounds like a bent axle to me..

How would you have "negative comments"? You've done the mods to you Jeep more than likely knowing it's not covered under warranty, and something happened. So you're either covered or not. They can't just "void your warranty", but they can not warranty your axle if they wanted to. Only one way to find out...

 

Bent axle flange, most likely.

 

Thanks for the input! I've never wheeled this one very hard so did not give much thought to chromoly shafts. Any sugestions on which brand is better?

 

Have it checked first. If it is a bent axle you may just be stuck with the bill, if it is just the flange that is bent it is repairable rather cheaply!!

 

Could be a bent rim?

 

I just took my JK in today to diagnose a high pitched noise coming from what sounded like the rear brakes. When the dealership called me at the end of the day, they informed me i had a bent axle (I'm not sure what the total runout was)... It's been making the noise since i bought the jeep with only 26 miles on it and this was the third trip to the dealership to diagnose. I did not notice whether or not the rear wheel appeared to wobble... The dealership will be swapping out the axle tomorrow under warranty. My jeep is currently bone stock so there was never a question of whether or not this would be covered...

 

mine is bent, but how do u tell if it is the flange or shaft? and how can flange be repaired?

 

You can pull the axle shaft first. The simple test is to lay it on a flat table with the flange hanging off and roll it. If it rises and falls along the shaft its toast, if just the flange wobles its time to break out the bench vise.

If you unsure just pull the axle and take it to a reputable axle/rearend shop and have them check it, if its just the axle they will usually diagnose it for you for free. If it can be repaired it is much less expensive if it is just the shaft and not having them do all the disassembly/re assembly labor.

 

cool, appreciate that. i might just pull it and check, but im saving for chromollys anyways