Whining going up steep hills or when towing uphill

[HANSHOTFIRST]

Hi Folks,

When towing a camper (3,500 lbs) with my 2020 Rubicon. I notice a whining sound (pretty noticeable) especially when going up hill. I also notice on steep inclines that are long when I'm not towing. It doesn't sound normal.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? One other post I could find mentioned the serpentine belt, but to be honest...that doesn't seem related. It sounds more like a transmission thing to me. Does the Gladiator automatic "tow setting" sound different? Is it possible that's all I'm hearing? I was in 6th gear yesterday on a prolonged steep incline in the green mountains VT...and it I heard it. I stepped on the gas to get it to downshift to see if it sounded different....and it just sounded louder and worse after it downshifted.

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[VA6489]

Rear end Pinion Bearing going south

 

[Labswine]

Don't you whine and complain going up hills? Well, your Jeep is no different

Sounds like a trans issue that may only get worse over time. Better get it checked out because you'll probably be hearing it when not towing soon...

I don't have that issue with my Overland (ordered 5/19, delivered 7/19) towing my 27', 5,100 lb (with all we want or need) travel trailer. I do get a very slight whine in reverse backing up the slight incline of my drive way but, I've heard the same noise from other vehicles doing same.

 

[Stan H]

Hi Folks,

When towing a camper (3,500 lbs) with my 2020 Rubicon. I notice a whining sound (pretty noticeable) especially when going up hill. I also notice on steep inclines that are long when I'm not towing. It doesn't sound normal.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? One other post I could find mentioned the serpentine belt, but to be honest...that doesn't seem related. It sounds more like a transmission thing to me. Does the Gladiator automatic "tow setting" sound different? Is it possible that's all I'm hearing? I was in 6th gear yesterday on a prolonged steep incline in the green mountains VT...and it I heard it. I stepped on the gas to get it to downshift to see if it sounded different....and it just sounded louder and worse after it downshifted.

Mine started doing that.. around 60k by 80k was having rough 3-4 shift by 90k reverse intermittently not working with hige clunk. By 120k nearly no reverse threw constant codes. Money saved and by 130k replaced transmission.
Just my experience relayed to you.
I believe it was a Valve body issue coupled with a D-Clutch issue .

 

[Maximus Gladius]

What is your milage on the transmission? Is it the original transmission? Have you had a service/pan drop in all this time and were you watching transmission temps during the pull?

In my 128k km life of my 2021 JTR, I’m on my 4th auto transmission. I’ve experienced “whine” in all of them. I don’t tow.

1st one, heard the whine at highway speeds starting at 20k kms. Lab discovered glycol contamination. Wear numbers were catastrophic and my attempt to flush and change fluid to AMSOIL didn’t help, FCA blamed AMSOIL for the implosion @32k kms.

2nd transmission, whine was heard right away in 1st and 2nd gear, warranty replacement was done @500 kms. Pump failure.

3rd transmission, whine was heard right away in 1st and 2nd gear. Was instructed by service manager to just drive it because FCA just did the warranty replacement so I drove it to see if it would go away. It didn’t after a year or so and brought it back in. FCA replaced it under warranty, pump failure.

4th transmission, slight whine heard right away in 4th gear. Louder on inclines with medium to heavy throttle. No whine in 3rd or 5th when shifts. I drove it a while to see if it would go away, it didn’t, brought it in. Whine confirmed, FCA determines 4th gear whine is “normal”.

Warranty period for 4th transmission was very limited, probably only 10k kms is all there was. (Warranty started at 2nd transmission and expired at 4th transmission). Once warranty ran out, the health of it was all on my dime. I’ve since done 4 pan drops, maintaining that once per year now.

Whine has become negligible now and cooler temps seen, starting at 3rd pan drop and again 3 months after the 4th pan drop is seen.

OP, I would suggest grabbing an oil sample and get it tested. I have experienced and have knowledge of what “good” (normal) wear numbers are and I’ve also seen catastrophic numbers related to pump failure.

 

[HANSHOTFIRST]

@Maximus Gladius...ouch all the way around.

I almost never hear it. I checked temps and they seemed nice and cool. I watched it the rest of the drive and it stayed stable and I can't remember the number...but it was in the first 1/3 of the gauge the entire 4+ hour drive. This just started. I'm going to have the fluid done and see if that helps.

 

[HANSHOTFIRST]

Mine started doing that.. around 60k by 80k was having rough 3-4 shift by 90k reverse intermittently not working with hige clunk. By 120k nearly no reverse threw constant codes. Money saved and by 130k replaced transmission.
Just my experience relayed to you.
I believe it was a Valve body issue coupled with a D-Clutch issue .

Thanks, your feedback has added urgency to this for me so I'm going to start trying to minimize the damage now in hopes of extending its life.

 

[tysongladiator]

Have it properly diagnosed and checked by a shop because they will most likely start with the small things first.. It could be anything from your pinion like @VA6489 stated to the transmission like @Maximus Gladius stated. BLUF: Get it looked at by someone whose dealt with that issue before.

The whine on mine started out small and got louder over time. Turns out it was the pinion bearing which is an issue because of the design. I'll attach the video. Keep in mind that it didn't start out that loud.

 

[Stan H]

Have it properly diagnosed and checked by a shop because they will most likely start with the small things first.. It could be anything from your pinion like @VA6489 stated to the transmission like @Maximus Gladius stated. BLUF: Get it looked at by someone whose dealt with that issue before.

The whine on mine started out small and got louder over time. Turns out it was the pinion bearing which is an issue because of the design. I'll attach the video. Keep in mind that it didn't start out that loud.

I just want to know how you mounted that camera. Good diagnosis.

 

[Stan H]

Have it properly diagnosed and checked by a shop because they will most likely start with the small things first.. It could be anything from your pinion like @VA6489 stated to the transmission like @Maximus Gladius stated. BLUF: Get it looked at by someone whose dealt with that issue before.

The whine on mine started out small and got louder over time. Turns out it was the pinion bearing which is an issue because of the design. I'll attach the video. Keep in mind that it didn't start out that loud.

Can you send me the link for the upgrade bearing kit .

 

[tysongladiator]

Can you send me the link for the upgrade bearing kit .

It's Timken bearings. But you can get the entire kit with shim from trailforged.
https://trailforged.com/product/jl-jt-rear-m220-axle-bearing-upgrade-kit/

 

[tysongladiator]

I just want to know how you mounted that camera. Good diagnosis.

Since I started doing videos, I have all kinds of crap now. But... I think I actually made an "L" bracket that I bolted to an existing hole in the frame for that video.

If I allow myself to sit and think long enough, I'll come up with something. The stuff that starts bouncing around in my head is borderline dangerous! When my wife sees me working on something, she just walks away!

 

[Maximus Gladius]

Thanks, your feedback has added urgency to this for me so I'm going to start trying to minimize the damage now in hopes of extending its life.

Do you have an update on this?

 

[HANSHOTFIRST]

Not really, I was on the big hills yesterday...transmission temp was between 197 and 203 for the entire 8 hours of driving.

I heard the sound and then tried to change things up to see if anything impacts the sound. Turning off my AC seems to have impacted it, but it could be that my perception of the hill led me to believe it was as steep etc, as the previous hill I heard the sound on.

If that was it. I would say turning the AC off resolved the sound. I need to experiment more. I'm honestly just happy it isn't happening all the time.

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