LSD on a Gladiator sport making squeaking sounds!

[Parlegrecojoey]

Recently bought a used 2020 Jeep gladiator sport. It came with the max tow package and a track loc limited slip differential. I noticed when I’m in a parking lot and I turned the wheel all the way to the left or right and I start to accelerate. There is a squeaking sound coming from the rear end. I took it to the jeep dealership that I bought it from and it’s been there for a week and a half and they keep telling me that they can’t find anything wrong with it. I’ve read on here that adding the Mopar friction additive has solved this issue. So I mentioned it to them and they said that it has fresh fluid so I made sure that the additive was added to it and they said it was. How True that is I’m not sure…

That being said, have you seen or heard about this issue before? The Jeep has 60,000 miles on it.

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[Wheelin98TJ]

Lack of limited slip additive usually produces a chattering/rubbing/grinding sound. I wouldn't describe it as squeaking. It sounds like you have a different issue.

 

[jebiruph]

The early JL Wranglers seemed to have a high failure rate for the LSD, the symptom was making noise. I was kind of relieved when my early JT Gladiator Max Tow didn't come with an LSD, especially since BLD mitigates the benefit somewhat.

 

[Great Offender]

Change out the fluid in your differential and it will go away.

 

[Parlegrecojoey]

Lack of limited slip additive usually produces a chattering/rubbing/grinding sound. I wouldn't describe it as squeaking. It sounds like you have a different issue.

Awesome thanks man. I’m going to change the fluid and add a bottle of Mopar friction additive and see if that helps. It’s a very very faint chirp sound and only on sharp turns at low speed.

 

[Parlegrecojoey]

Change out the fluid in your differential and it will go away.

I appreciate you man!

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

Awesome thanks man. I’m going to change the fluid and add a bottle of Mopar friction additive and see if that helps. It’s a very very faint chirp sound and only on sharp turns at low speed.

If the fluid was just changed or if it really is fresh as the dealer said, I'd just add friction modifier. Sometimes you have to add a little more.

 

[Parlegrecojoey]

If the fluid was just changed or if it really is fresh as the dealer said, I'd just add friction modifier. Sometimes you have to add a little more.

I was thinking about doing that. I just got off the phone with them and they are doing everything in their power to not pay for it to be fixed. They wont use the lifetime warranty either because it's not "Broken". The sound I'm hearing is "normal". So when I get it home I may add some in there and see if that fixes it.

 

[tysongladiator]

Normally, I'm a person that likes to troubleshoot and diagnose before spending money, but you're kind of limited here. Like a few others have mentioned, I would change the fluid and add the friction modifier and see what happens.

You can do it your easily, you know that you'll have fresh fluid in the diff, it's not expensive, and the main reason is that you can't trust the dealer. Or, if you're not comfortable, have a reputable shop do it. There are so many horror stories where the dealer said they did something and didn't. Been there, done that, and had to fix it myself.

But please make sure that if you do it yourself or have a reputable shop do it, it won't be an issue with your dealer as far as the warranty is concerned.

If that doesn't help, like someone else mentioned, you have another issue. But you can at least clear your head of whether the dealer actually has fresh fluid with the friction modifier added. Like I said, normally I wouldn't go that route first, but I've been burned by the dealer on a serious issue in the past.

 

[cb4017]

I had no problems with the LSD in my JKU or my 21 JT Max Tow. Here was my formula.

Amsoil Sever Gear 75w-140 + 4oz of the Mopar LSD additive.

The Dana 44 in the JKU made it for over 100k miles with the original V6 and later a 5.3L LS V8 conversion. Still going when I sold it.

 

[Parlegrecojoey]

Normally, I'm a person that likes to troubleshoot and diagnose before spending money, but you're kind of limited here. Like a few others have mentioned, I would change the fluid and add the friction modifier and see what happens.

You can do it your easily, you know that you'll have fresh fluid in the diff, it's not expensive, and the main reason is that you can't trust the dealer. Or, if you're not comfortable, have a reputable shop do it. There are so many horror stories where the dealer said they did something and didn't. Been there, done that, and had to fix it myself.

But please make sure that if you do it yourself or have a reputable shop do it, it won't be an issue with your dealer as far as the warranty is concerned.

If that doesn't help, like someone else mentioned, you have another issue. But you can at least clear your head of whether the dealer actually has fresh fluid with the friction modifier added. Like I said, normally I wouldn't go that route first, but I've been burned by the dealer on a serious issue in the past.

Yeah, I'm completely comfortable doing it myself. Worked on cars my whole life. My biggest problem is I don't trust people, especially dealers who just want you out the door. In my case, them saying it's not a problem and they have nothing to fix. Just send me on my way after saying yes we put new fluid in there. I just have a hard time believing that, considering the faint noise is still there. So i'll do the fluid myself and add the friction additive in there and see if that helps.

 

[Great Offender]

I appreciate you man!

Comes from my personal experience on a 21 MT with the same issue.

 

[tysongladiator]

Yeah, I'm completely comfortable doing it myself. Worked on cars my whole life. My biggest problem is I don't trust people, especially dealers who just want you out the door. In my case, them saying it's not a problem and they have nothing to fix. Just send me on my way after saying yes we put new fluid in there. I just have a hard time believing that, considering the faint noise is still there. So i'll do the fluid myself and add the friction additive in there and see if that helps.

Yea. My JT has over 200,000 miles on it. At least 75% of the work has been done by myself. Anything I can't or just don't feel like being bothered with I take it to a shop.

With that being said, I had my steering box replaced about 5yrs ago. TSB allowed me to get it replaced for free. I figured new and different model was better. Well when they replaced the pitman arm nut, they only tightened it finger tight. That nut has to be 184 ft/lbs. It was all over the place. I torqued it myself and problem gone. That could've cost someone their life, including me. When I asked them about it, I got the deer in headlights stare. That was the last time I let the dealer do work and the pretty much the last time I trusted them.

I also had an electrical issue where the negative terminal wouldn't get tight enough around the battery post causing my electrical system to go haywire at random times. They told me it was my fault because I used a battery post brush. I told them that I've never done that. Their advice was to put a screw in the battery post. Hahaha!!!! I went to the auto parts store, bought a set of shims, dropped them in the terminals and I was good to go.

BLUF: Don't trust them!

 

[Parlegrecojoey]

Yea. My JT has over 200,000 miles on it. At least 75% of the work has been done by myself. Anything I can't or just don't feel like being bothered with I take it to a shop.

With that being said, I had my steering box replaced about 5yrs ago. TSB allowed me to get it replaced for free. I figured new and different model was better. Well when they replaced the pitman arm nut, they only tightened it finger tight. That nut has to be 184 ft/lbs. It was all over the place. I torqued it myself and problem gone. That could've cost someone their life, including me. When I asked them about it, I got the deer in headlights stare. That was the last time I let the dealer do work and the pretty much the last time I trusted them.

I also had an electrical issue where the negative terminal wouldn't get tight enough around the battery post causing my electrical system to go haywire at random times. They told me it was my fault because I used a battery post brush. I told them that I've never done that. Their advice was to put a screw in the battery post. Hahaha!!!! I went to the auto parts store, bought a set of shims, dropped them in the terminals and I was good to go.

BLUF: Don't trust them!

Facts!!!

Downside to a lifetime warranty is that most of the work has to be done at a professional shop. Things like Differential fluid, filters, oil, and brakes I can do, but I have to document everything.

 

[tysongladiator]

Facts!!!

Downside to a lifetime warranty is that most of the work has to be done at a professional shop. Things like Differential fluid, filters, oil, and brakes I can do, but I have to document everything.

Yea. I forgot about having a lifetime warranty would limit you to what you can do and not get penalized for it. I guess having a lifetime warranty is a good thing in some aspects, but in other aspects, it's not.

But.... as long as they're good if you document everything, that's good for you. Then you can still make sure that it's actually done.

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