Grasshousewater

The growl is most definitely a cry for help from your rear end. My 88 started to moan and growl, and it turned out that my posi-gears had cracks and come apart and then pieces had shot into my pinion. The debris settles in the bottom of the differential housing. I had the rear re-built. Don't be skimpy on replacing anything. Some mjs have different sealing systems in the rear some have O-rings and then some have normal seals in them. If you pull your axles and you find that you have a big rubber O-ring, pull the bearing thats behind it off and replace the O-ring along with the bearing. Pulling the bearing off the axle is the only way you can replace the O-ring seal. Once a bearing is pulled off you can usually reuse it, but there is a lot of stress that is put on a "Pressed on bearing" when you remove it. All the techs that i know who have repaired rear ends always replace the axle bearings, but if the customer asks to have the bearings re-seated the car is back pretty soon after to have the bearings replaced. And talk to people about gear lube and gear lube additives for your rear -end. After I had finished reinstalling my rear end and refilling it, i had just about $600 into it. But if you are having a garage do all the work and you're not just outsourcing the re-build, then expect to pay A LOT MORE. i hope this helps.

My rear totally blew out like a month ago. The posi clutch dicks broke apart and luckily only destroyed my pinion and ring gears. My 44 axles were still in "like new condition"(thats what my tech at the rear end shop told me) In the end i replaced everything but the outer housing and my two axles. $582, but now i have a totally new rear end with new seals and good fluid. If you have an older Mj, don't use a synthetic gear lube unless you have a professional say otherwise. the seals and gears in most mj's can't handle synthetic lubes. You will also most defiantly need a Rear end additive to mix with your lube; these additives are very important and not using any will really cause some problems.