thrumming vibration

[zprovo]

What lead to the axle replacement?

Seal leak that led to the rear locker light coming on even when the rear axle wasn't locked.

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[zprovo]

Thought I would close the loop on this.
I traded my 2020 Rubicon for a 2022 Mojave and the thrumming WENT AWAY COMPLETELY!
All kidding aside, my Rubicon had 41,000 miles on it and the thrumming never really got worse after 10k or so. It may just be "a jeep thing".

 

[Whiskerbiscuit]

I'm having the same issue but at 60 to 68 mph.

Tried tires, rims, balancing, transfer case, and now drive shaft. Still there.

 

[notoriousms33]

continued aggregation here as well.

to contribute to this thread, like many of you stated with this subtle vibration, I have also got my Mojave’s front diff and axle replaced at 10k miles and that’s when this issue started.

when I first bought mojave new off lot, I noticed whenever engaging into 4hi and or lo, I heard grinding noises with combination of locker. Luckily I was with another jeeper who leaked out the diff fluid finding shards of metal.
Dealer replaced front diff (can get specifics on served tendered if any of you inquire).

Ever since they did this service, mine too has the vibration, and I too then got the response from dealer like many of you have gotten aggravated about - it’s a jeep thing.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

continued aggregation here as well.

to contribute to this thread, like many of you stated with this subtle vibration, I have also got my Mojave’s front diff and axle replaced at 10k miles and that’s when this issue started.

when I first bought mojave new off lot, I noticed whenever engaging into 4hi and or lo, I heard grinding noises with combination of locker. Luckily I was with another jeeper who leaked out the diff fluid finding shards of metal.
Dealer replaced front diff (can get specifics on served tendered if any of you inquire).

Ever since they did this service, mine too has the vibration, and I too then got the response from dealer like many of you have gotten aggravated about - it’s a jeep thing.

Sad because it's not a Jeep thing at all. Some dealers know that. Mine is smooth as silk, vibration-free clean up to 95. If there were sounds or vibrations, my wife would have told me about it. Years ago there was a mystery noise in my little SX4 and my wife kept saying "don't you here that? It's like a mouse running in a wheel that squeaks every 3 or 4 seconds" and for months, no, never heard it. Then one day I remembered to ask her - still hear it? Nope, the noise was gone.
I don't know that I did anything to fix it but I went over the car with a fine tooth comb. I even asked other Eagle owners if they'd heard of such a thing with their cars. Nope. I checked any ideas they came up with - wasn't the HVAC blower, I totally unplugged it and blocked it from turning. I wired the front drive shaft so it could not be dragged around by the spinning front differential gears, I checked everything. Never found a thing and it finally disappeared by itself - at least I don't think I fixed it.
There's always a source - it's a matter of the time to find it and sometimes it can literally take hours or more.

 

[chorky]

Sad because it's not a Jeep thing at all. Some dealers know that. Mine is smooth as silk, vibration-free clean up to 95. If there were sounds or vibrations, my wife would have told me about it. Years ago there was a mystery noise in my little SX4 and my wife kept saying "don't you here that? It's like a mouse running in a wheel that squeaks every 3 or 4 seconds" and for months, no, never heard it. Then one day I remembered to ask her - still hear it? Nope, the noise was gone.
I don't know that I did anything to fix it but I went over the car with a fine tooth comb. I even asked other Eagle owners if they'd heard of such a thing with their cars. Nope. I checked any ideas they came up with - wasn't the HVAC blower, I totally unplugged it and blocked it from turning. I wired the front drive shaft so it could not be dragged around by the spinning front differential gears, I checked everything. Never found a thing and it finally disappeared by itself - at least I don't think I fixed it.
There's always a source - it's a matter of the time to find it and sometimes it can literally take hours or more.

before I sold my OBS 350 I had a weird clunk type noise from the front suspension. I checked EVERYTHING. Probably spent over a months time over a course of 3 years. Still never found the source. Never saw signs of movement. Nothing. In the end I figured it must have been the bumper touching the front shackle at just the right time with body mounts getting old. But like you said it can take for ever


i also have a drone/vibration 55-65 in my 22 JT since day 1. 6500 miles now its still there. But knowing the dealer likely will never find the source I just try and ignore it. Likely it is something that is just a millimeter or less out of balance or out of alignment and probably will never be found unless something brakes. Its irritating. But, no sense in giving it up for months to the dealer for that being so minuscule compared to other issues folks seem to have. (Mine must have been built on a friday….)

 

[notoriousms33]

Sad because it's not a Jeep thing at all. Some dealers know that. Mine is smooth as silk, vibration-free clean up to 95. If there were sounds or vibrations, my wife would have told me about it. Years ago there was a mystery noise in my little SX4 and my wife kept saying "don't you here that? It's like a mouse running in a wheel that squeaks every 3 or 4 seconds" and for months, no, never heard it. Then one day I remembered to ask her - still hear it? Nope, the noise was gone.
I don't know that I did anything to fix it but I went over the car with a fine tooth comb. I even asked other Eagle owners if they'd heard of such a thing with their cars. Nope. I checked any ideas they came up with - wasn't the HVAC blower, I totally unplugged it and blocked it from turning. I wired the front drive shaft so it could not be dragged around by the spinning front differential gears, I checked everything. Never found a thing and it finally disappeared by itself - at least I don't think I fixed it.
There's always a source - it's a matter of the time to find it and sometimes it can literally take hours or more.

Mine was a stone inside the dust shield. Anybody hearing this noise on theirs check dust shield just by brake rotar

 

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[GA D90]

i also have a drone/vibration 55-65 in my 22 JT since day 1. 6500 miles now its still there. But knowing the dealer likely will never find the source I just try and ignore it. Likely it is something that is just a millimeter or less out of balance or out of alignment and probably will never be found unless something brakes. Its irritating. But, no sense in giving it up for months to the dealer for that being so minuscule compared to other issues folks seem to have. (Mine must have been built on a friday….)

I'm with you!
I've given up, if I don't think about it... it isn't there ;-)
Otherwise, the jeep's been great 32K on it. If it does prove to be "something" , I hope it does it before the warranty wears out!

 

[notoriousms33]

I have 4500 miles on my all stock rubicon automatic and have noticed a thrumming vibration that has been getting progressively more noticeable over the last couple thousand miles. I thought it might be the tires, so I have rotated them and varied the pressure but the vibration doesn't seem to change. It starts around 35 mph is worse right around 57 mph and them seems to taper down some. Anyone else experiencing this?

I believe you bought a Mojave to replace this older issue. However I have a Mojave 21 built after June 21 and I have replicated this issue with mine. Anybody who finds out relative information on solution, share.
Been to every dealer in 40 mile radius

 

[zprovo]

I believe you bought a Mojave to replace this older issue. However I have a Mojave 21 built after June 21 and I have replicated this issue with mine. Anybody who finds out relative information on solution, share.
Been to every dealer in 40 mile radius

For what it's worth, my '22 Mojave does it now too. It's right between 50 and 60, so a slightly more narrow range. My wife now (semi-mockingly) says anything bad, that happens anywhere on earth is "a jeep thing"

 

[AnmiP]

I am also haunted by the thrumming / reverberation / noise between 55-65mph, regardless of gear, and a touch worse under light load. It is a family road trip nightmare! 2022 JT Mojave, problem existed since new. Service advisor rode with me on third repair attempt, confirmed he could hear it also. Conclusion was "operating as designed," which I interpret to mean they have no intent of trying to remedy the problem.

In my own annoyed diagnosis, I found that it is consistently and repeatably worst at 57mph exactly. Seems to go away under 55mph and above 65-70mph. Then stumbled upon some sites explaining how to use math to help diagnose sounds/vibrations in a vehicle. Some examples:

https://www.tirereview.com/drivesha...ifying-and-calculating-vibration-frequencies/

https://www.brakeandfrontend.com/good-good-vibrations/

After reading these informative sites, I used an Phone app to monitor noise, and math to help suggest where the problem lies. Using 57mph as the strongest intensity of the issue, and a frequency of approx 40hz from the app, the math suggests that the reverberation is between the transfer case (transmission output shaft technically) and the rear pinion due to rotational speeds / harmonics. The app also confirmed my perception that the thrumming is strongest around 57mph and dissipates below 55 or above 65. (See attached screenshots of 45, 70, & 57mph)

The app I used is "sound analyser app" on Android, though there appears to be other suitable ones on multiple platforms.

I have not brought this to the dealer's attention yet, since after 118 days (out of 280 days of "ownership") of my JT sitting at the service department, I can't afford or spare the time to drop it off again.
Hopefully this can help some of you in your diagnosis of the irritation.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I am also haunted by the thrumming / reverberation / noise between 55-65mph, regardless of gear, and a touch worse under light load. It is a family road trip nightmare! 2022 JT Mojave, problem existed since new. Service advisor rode with me on third repair attempt, confirmed he could hear it also. Conclusion was "operating as designed," which I interpret to mean they have no intent of trying to remedy the problem.

In my own annoyed diagnosis, I found that it is consistently and repeatably worst at 57mph exactly. Seems to go away under 55mph and above 65-70mph. Then stumbled upon some sites explaining how to use math to help diagnose sounds/vibrations in a vehicle. Some examples:

https://www.tirereview.com/drivesha...ifying-and-calculating-vibration-frequencies/

https://www.brakeandfrontend.com/good-good-vibrations/

After reading these informative sites, I used an Phone app to monitor noise, and math to help suggest where the problem lies. Using 57mph as the strongest intensity of the issue, and a frequency of approx 40hz from the app, the math suggests that the reverberation is between the transfer case (transmission output shaft technically) and the rear pinion due to rotational speeds / harmonics. The app also confirmed my perception that the thrumming is strongest around 57mph and dissipates below 55 or above 65. (See attached screenshots of 45, 70, & 57mph)

The app I used is "sound analyser app" on Android, though there appears to be other suitable ones on multiple platforms.

I have not brought this to the dealer's attention yet, since after 118 days (out of 280 days of "ownership") of my JT sitting at the service department, I can't afford or spare the time to drop it off again.
Hopefully this can help some of you in your diagnosis of the irritation.

Be VERY careful with such apps and sites. Why? Because they can be so wrong.
The problem with trying to use harmonics and speeds and so on is that they must often generalize. Unless they have you plug in your exact tire size and differential gear ratio, they have no idea how fast that shaft is spinning or how long that shaft is.
I've found some of them sadly contradict what the TSMs (technical service manuals) from the manufacturers of cars and trucks say.
And the sites and apps were so far wrong with my little car (I started to question my own experience and training as a tech) it wasn't even funny - they caused me a lot more work than was needed.
They may be helpful, but don't take it to a shop and say "see, you need to fix this". Just don't.

In my case, after chasing the vibration for over 2 years, 3 tire balances (sadly, no road force balancing here or the issue would have bee caught fast), 2 alignments and even a tire swap, the issue was found - a wheel. Yet the apps and sites said "driveshaft". Hmmmm, there's a huge difference between driveshaft speed and wheel speed.

There's really not a lot that can be wrong with the driveshafts on our Gladiators - they have a carrier bearing that can be bad - loose, letting flop happen, or they could be out of balance.
But do the apps let you plug in tire diameter (actual measured diameter) and differential/axle gear ratio? If not, how do they know how fast that shaft is spinning. If they do, that's great, but I'd still only use them as a general guide, not proof of anything.

Oh, the wheel on my car - runout was fine, within specs. Tire balance was fine, yet it shook the crap out of the car - the entire car, to the point the dash shook and the mirrors vibrated and the speeds matched yours! Mine started around 60 and I could "Drive through it" and hit 75 and up and it was ok, 55 and below it was fine. The wheel was out of round by a bit. I took in the wheels from my car plus one extra I had to be CNC refinished -remachined. The guy said he knew something was off the moment he ran their machine around the wheel to set things up. They fixed it for use as a spare and I ended up putting the 5th wheel I took in on the car. No more vibration. All "expert web sites" and even apps said the driveshaft was running the wrong angle and the u-joints weren't matched angle-wise. Wrong - it's perfect. And it's perfectly balanced by a shop that does racing drive shafts and axles.
In the end, the TSMs were more correct.
And I've stopped doubting my own work so much.

You can check your own carrier bearing (in the middle of the rear drive shaft, hangs the shaft from the frame) and you can even check that drive shaft for balance. Put a couple of hose clamps on the driveshaft. It takes some time and test drives, but if it's out of balance, you'll make it worse or better depending on where you put the hose clamps and how they are oriented (the screw part of the clamp being the weight or heavy part.

but if you go in with some app and are wrong.......................... wrong like they were on my car, saying it was rear drive shaft.
Vibrations due to a drive shaft issue will vary in the speeds driven based on tire size and gear ratio There's a huge difference in rotational speed between a car running 2.72:1 ratio vs. one running 4.10s
The app is only any good at all if you must input tire size and gear ratio.

 

[AnmiP]

Be VERY careful with such apps and sites. Why? Because they can be so wrong.
The problem with trying to use harmonics and speeds and so on is that they must often generalize. Unless they have you plug in your exact tire size and differential gear ratio, they have no idea how fast that shaft is spinning or how long that shaft is.
I've found some of them sadly contradict what the TSMs (technical service manuals) from the manufacturers of cars and trucks say.
And the sites and apps were so far wrong with my little car (I started to question my own experience and training as a tech) it wasn't even funny - they caused me a lot more work than was needed.
They may be helpful, but don't take it to a shop and say "see, you need to fix this". Just don't.

In my case, after chasing the vibration for over 2 years, 3 tire balances (sadly, no road force balancing here or the issue would have bee caught fast), 2 alignments and even a tire swap, the issue was found - a wheel. Yet the apps and sites said "driveshaft". Hmmmm, there's a huge difference between driveshaft speed and wheel speed.

There's really not a lot that can be wrong with the driveshafts on our Gladiators - they have a carrier bearing that can be bad - loose, letting flop happen, or they could be out of balance.
But do the apps let you plug in tire diameter (actual measured diameter) and differential/axle gear ratio? If not, how do they know how fast that shaft is spinning. If they do, that's great, but I'd still only use them as a general guide, not proof of anything.

Oh, the wheel on my car - runout was fine, within specs. Tire balance was fine, yet it shook the crap out of the car - the entire car, to the point the dash shook and the mirrors vibrated and the speeds matched yours! Mine started around 60 and I could "Drive through it" and hit 75 and up and it was ok, 55 and below it was fine. The wheel was out of round by a bit. I took in the wheels from my car plus one extra I had to be CNC refinished -remachined. The guy said he knew something was off the moment he ran their machine around the wheel to set things up. They fixed it for use as a spare and I ended up putting the 5th wheel I took in on the car. No more vibration. All "expert web sites" and even apps said the driveshaft was running the wrong angle and the u-joints weren't matched angle-wise. Wrong - it's perfect. And it's perfectly balanced by a shop that does racing drive shafts and axles.
In the end, the TSMs were more correct.
And I've stopped doubting my own work so much.

You can check your own carrier bearing (in the middle of the rear drive shaft, hangs the shaft from the frame) and you can even check that drive shaft for balance. Put a couple of hose clamps on the driveshaft. It takes some time and test drives, but if it's out of balance, you'll make it worse or better depending on where you put the hose clamps and how they are oriented (the screw part of the clamp being the weight or heavy part.

but if you go in with some app and are wrong.......................... wrong like they were on my car, saying it was rear drive shaft.
Vibrations due to a drive shaft issue will vary in the speeds driven based on tire size and gear ratio There's a huge difference in rotational speed between a car running 2.72:1 ratio vs. one running 4.10s
The app is only any good at all if you must input tire size and gear ratio.

Excellent wisdom and warnings for caution. Thank you.

I normally repair / diagnose these items myself, but since it is brand new & under warranty, it has been going to the dealer (ugh). I relay my experience here primarily to encourage others to explore, learn, and think for themselves, as opposed to only listening to others tell them what is the solution/problem.

As to the apps and links I shared, they are only tools to assist with diagnosis. One must do the thinking on their own. The sound app I used only shows sound frequency and magnitude/pressure. All the math (i.e. tire diameter, revolutions per mile, rpm, gear/ differential reductions, etc) I did myself using good ol' pen and paper (no app). The results I ended up with were for a 40hz resonance at 57mph with something resonating at an identical rate the driveshaft is spinning.

Now could this be wrong? Absolutely! That's is why I only use it a potential indicator of where to start looking. Like an obd code, it may tell you where the problem is, or might only detect a ancillary problem secondary to the actual issue. But they make good starting points.

Normally I don't give service departments anything more than a suggestion of what my "best guess" would be. I go out of my way to avoid telling them how to do their job if I can. (Although, one of the service departments I frequent lately, needs additional guidance in some instances. For example, if there is a knocking from the bottom of an engine block, and from under a valve cover, you probably shouldn't tell the customer that it's just the purge valve opening and closing and a normal Jeep sound... They ended up replacing the engine at 266 miles on the gladiator.)

Thank you for your recommendation of caution in certainty when performing a laymen's diagnosis.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Excellent wisdom and warnings for caution. Thank you.

I normally repair / diagnose these items myself, but since it is brand new & under warranty, it has been going to the dealer (ugh). I relay my experience here primarily to encourage others to explore, learn, and think for themselves, as opposed to only listening to others tell them what is the solution/problem.

As to the apps and links I shared, they are only tools to assist with diagnosis. One must do the thinking on their own. The sound app I used only shows sound frequency and magnitude/pressure. All the math (i.e. tire diameter, revolutions per mile, rpm, gear/ differential reductions, etc) I did myself using good ol' pen and paper (no app). The results I ended up with were for a 40hz resonance at 57mph with something resonating at an identical rate the driveshaft is spinning.

Now could this be wrong? Absolutely! That's is why I only use it a potential indicator of where to start looking. Like an obd code, it may tell you where the problem is, or might only detect a ancillary problem secondary to the actual issue. But they make good starting points.

Normally I don't give service departments anything more than a suggestion of what my "best guess" would be. I go out of my way to avoid telling them how to do their job if I can. (Although, one of the service departments I frequent lately, needs additional guidance in some instances. For example, if there is a knocking from the bottom of an engine block, and from under a valve cover, you probably shouldn't tell the customer that it's just the purge valve opening and closing and a normal Jeep sound... They ended up replacing the engine at 266 miles on the gladiator.)

Thank you for your recommendation of caution in certainty when performing a laymen's diagnosis.

Nice thing is that the sales guy and the service advisors where I've been going know I'm a former mechanic/tech myself and still have a shop doing restorations.
So they actually look at the diagnostics I give them, the freeze frames of engine misfires, and the details of a misfire on a different Jeep that let them right to a STAR case that matched my symptoms exactly (and thus it was fixed before a TSB was released).
Otherwise, some will think "just another customer telling us how to do our jobs".
Building a relationship with the people there has really mattered. It's also gotten some freebies and work done they'd normally never do.
A lot depends on the people and their attitudes - some will resist, others will say "let me look at that".
My next visits will be a bit more tricky - JLU with transmission leak for the 2nd time - suggesting "I don't believe it's the pan gasket, please check higher" (based on dozens of others with the same leak in the same place and the fix was a new transmission) and my JT - shocks and a weird clunk only under very specific conditions - oddly, I've not found that one myself and it's a really new one I've never heard before. I will keep trying to find it but.......

I guess, and this is just me - I'd put hose clamps on the driveshaft to see if it changed the vibration in any way at all - ANY change, in frequency, volume or intensity, any change at all. No change, barking up wrong tree. ANY change, it's a suggestion that it may be the right direction.

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