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My Wagoneer has been sitting for fifteen years. Just finished the mechanical restoration to get it road ready again. The front and rear Dana 44’s were drained and filled with new fluid. The truck only has 100K miles and was never used for off roading so I figure the axles did not need anything but fresh fluid. When I am backing up and turning the rear differential pops like it has a Detroit locker. When I had the cover off to do the fluid I saw no damage. Anyone have any ideas what is causing this? This is my first Wagoneer and was not sure if this is normal or not.

A ujoint would be my go to on that. They will make some strange noises.

Front and rear u-joints are new. Transfer case rebuilt along with the transmission.

Horsman wrote: ↑Wed Jul 05, 2023 7:41 pm Front and rear u-joints are new. Transfer case rebuilt along with the transmission.

What about the front axle joints?

It could also have a lunch box locker in it.

How about the front axle u-joints?

Rear wheel bearings will pop and click before they fail completely. Common failure if the truck has been overloaded.

I'd put it up on jack stands and turn the wheels. Transfer case in neutral. Feel for what's sloppy or not smooth.

Stuka wrote: ↑Wed Jul 05, 2023 9:37 pm

Horsman wrote: ↑Wed Jul 05, 2023 7:41 pm Front and rear u-joints are new. Transfer case rebuilt along with the transmission.

What about the front axle joints?

It could also have a lunch box locker in it.

The noise is from the rear. I did not tackle the front axle u-joints but plan on in the future.

Not sure what a lunch box locker is, please explain. Thanks.

Horsman wrote: ↑Thu Jul 06, 2023 6:31 pm

Stuka wrote: ↑Wed Jul 05, 2023 9:37 pm

Horsman wrote: ↑Wed Jul 05, 2023 7:41 pm Front and rear u-joints are new. Transfer case rebuilt along with the transmission.

What about the front axle joints?

It could also have a lunch box locker in it.

The noise is from the rear. I did not tackle the front axle u-joints but plan on in the future.

Not sure what a lunch box locker is, please explain. Thanks.

Its a locker that replaces the spider gears. They will make click sounds.

As noted above, I would jack up the back end and spin some tires, and check for end play on the bearings.

tgreese wrote: ↑Thu Jul 06, 2023 6:48 am Rear wheel bearings will pop and click before they fail completely. Common failure if the truck has been overloaded.

I'd put it up on jack stands and turn the wheels. Transfer case in neutral. Feel for what's sloppy or not smooth.

I hear nothing when driving down the road, just when turning and moving slowly going forward or backing up. I would think a wheel bearing would be growling when going straight.

Dumb question, can a jack up just the rear end and spin the axle? Or does the front end need to be off the ground as well? Transfer case in neutral, I guess that lever to the left of the front seat will allow that?

Horsman wrote: ↑Thu Jul 06, 2023 7:12 pm

tgreese wrote: ↑Thu Jul 06, 2023 6:48 am Rear wheel bearings will pop and click before they fail completely. Common failure if the truck has been overloaded.

I'd put it up on jack stands and turn the wheels. Transfer case in neutral. Feel for what's sloppy or not smooth.

I hear nothing when driving down the road, just when turning and moving slowly going forward or backing up. I would think a wheel bearing would be growling when going straight.

Dumb question, can a jack up just the rear end and spin the axle? Or does the front end need to be off the ground as well? Transfer case in neutral, I guess that lever to the left of the front seat will allow that?

You can spin with just the rear up. The opposite tire will spin the other direction. And you wont be able to turn the drive shaft. All four will need to be off the ground to get the drive shaft to spin.

Quadratrac? Full-time or converted to part time? A part time Quadratrac (or a Dana 20 with a manual transmission) will disconnect the front from the rear, and you can test each axle separately. A full-time Quadratrac (like from the factory) connects the front and rear through the center limited slip differential. You can't easily turn that, even in neutral.

A Quadratrac will have open differentials F/R from the factory. If you turn a wheel on one side, the opposite side will turn the opposite direction if you have both tires off the ground. That will tell you something, but it won't turn the drive shaft.

Yes, mines a quadratrac that’s full time 4WD. Great advice guy, I raise it up and spin the rear diff and see what I find.

Sounds like a luncher to me.

It could also be the chain in the quadra-trac slipping.

Stuka wrote: ↑Fri Jul 07, 2023 1:02 pm It could also be the chain in the quadra-trac slipping.

That would be very bad since the transfer case was built by BJ’s Off-road vendor and has less than 25 miles on it.

Lifted the truck tonight, found no play in either rear wheel. Spun both sides and feel/hear nothing abnormal.

i would check the rear pinion yolk for play ,2nd is the noise a clicking at low speed going forward and reverse, and going away after abouth 5-15 mph, does the vehicle make a loud klunk when putting it in gear or shifting from fwd/rev. if so it sounds like the pinion bearing going out or already has, ws the fluid you drained silvery in color and not a dirty motor oil color it it was silvery color its because of the metal grinding between the bearing and the ring and pinion gears, if it sat for so long was there any pasty sludge in the bottom of the pumpkin and pumpkin cover? that is my experiance with that type of noise. and without being there to see or hear it in person.

also, where is this vehicle located, if it was in a humid area, or where temps change a lot(winters), the oil on the gears probably drained off the bearings after that amount of time, and were susceptible to rusting and if they were rusted they would destroy themselfs pretty quickly 10-20 miles depending on speed, it happens a lot to 4x4's mostly the front end because most urban owners never lock the front end to circulate the front pumpkin fluids and lube the axle so the half exposed gears rust, im in az and our hot summers accelerate the drain off, i had an xj with only 85000 miles on it like new condition ,locked in front axel and blew up the front end in 50 miles.

Seized up brake drums csn make (poping) rubbing sticking noises.

You wont hear it sticking until you turn.

It can also be limited slip and needs friction modifier

With all the great info provided, my guess is something in the carrier has excessive wear causing the binding/pop noise. Drove the truck forty miles on the freeway hoping the fresh lubricant would help. Sadly pulled in the drive and still hear a the pop noise from the rear. Looks like the diff is being torn down soon. Thanks for all the great responses.

Hmm, could be a worn cross shaft or something. You could put chalk the tires and put it into neutral, and turn the drive shaft and check for play in the diff. There should be very little.

You can also check this by having somebody go back and forth between drive and reverse while looking at the drive shaft.