All of you vets have probably come across this before, I hope not! I purchased my 2000 TJ used with 8900 miles on it in Oct 2000. Put 31's on it in Dec 2000. Started hearing this sound like a bad CV coming from rear axle occasionally, not often. Went ahead and lifted it 4" before having axle checked and voiding warranty. Checked diff fluid today and found metal in lube. The rear axle has a rubber plug, assuming this is Dana 44. Any idea whats happened to axle? I am rather disappointed with axle performance considering haven't had anytime to wheel it. Thanks in advance for the help.

2001 TJ Sport, 4" Rough Country lift, 31x10.50's.

You will occasionally find metal particles in the gear lube on a new axle (8900 miles). This happens when the gears are broken in, and is completely normal. Change the gear oil and see if the noise goes away; if not, have it checked by a pro to diagnose before you blow something expensive.

And, BTW, if it has a rubber plug it's the D35. The 44 has a metal plug.

85 CJ-7 258/T176/D300 Scout D44s F&R with Lock-Rites and 4.56 gears. 4" springs with lift shackles 36" SS TSL Radials Hella Rallye 4000s for guiding small planes into the woods

get used to the disappointment from that axle.. its a dana 35. the dana 44's have metal fill plugs.

~~Elusive~~
1 ton tj-7 thingy
http://www.jeepgod.net

No kidding. Pull the cover and check it out, our first one left us at 48K, the second may be on it's way out as well, I found a lot of metal in the oil the last time I changed it. It's under warranty until the end of the month though, so I'm going to open it up and take a look. It's a crappy axle.

JEEPN
Winter Harbor, Maine
'81 CJ-8 Scrambled, It's a Jeep, Chevy, IHC kinda thing!
'88.5 Zuki, 7" Lift, Locked, Swamped, Rolled, and just generally broken in right!

Your probably just hearing the vibration from the drive line angle.
Finding metal in the diff oil is not neccessarily the end of the world for your D35 axle. The D35 is one of the all time POS axles ever installed into what is supposed to be a world class 4x4, but it usually holds together through out the warranty if not abused hard.
There really isnt much an "expert" can check though, that you cant, unless you want to hire someone to tear down your gear set up and re do it.
Open the cover, and visually inspect your ring and pinion gera for marring at the teeth. Check your rear drive shaft U joints, and inspect that it doesnt look like its been whacked hard. Then I would suggest lowering your T case cross member, using some 1" x 2" x 1/8" square tubing and some longer mounting bolts. Drive it around for a while and see if the problem goes away. If it improves then keep the lowering set up on untill you go to a SYE, and CV drive shaft.

Jeff
89 YJ
Adversity is imminent, versatility is mandatory, misery is optional.

Your probably just hearing the vibration from the drive line angle.
Finding metal in the diff oil is not neccessarily the end of the world for your D35 axle. The D35 is one of the all time POS axles ever installed into what is supposed to be a world class 4x4, but it usually holds together through out the warranty if not abused hard.
There really isnt much an "expert" can check though, that you cant, unless you want to hire someone to tear down your gear set up and re do it.
Open the cover, and visually inspect your ring and pinion gera for marring at the teeth. Check your rear drive shaft U joints, and inspect that it doesnt look like its been whacked hard. Then I would suggest lowering your T case cross member, using some 1" x 2" x 1/8" square tubing and some longer mounting bolts. Drive it around for a while and see if the problem goes away. If it improves then keep the lowering set up on untill you go to a SYE, and CV drive shaft.

Jeff
89 YJ
Adversity is imminent, versatility is mandatory, misery is optional.

H8, you must be having problems, I see you often have duplicates in posts...