Are your Durango’s suspension system and tires configured like it came new from the factory? Or have there been some changes? If the path from the xfer case to the front differential has changed, angle differs etc, that could explain a vibration too.
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Mine is bone stock.
I presume you mean the xfer case front output bearing. Yeah, if that’s loose-fitting, definitely seems like that could cause a vibration. Have you tried testing for an unusual amount of sideways play in the xfer case front output yoke?
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I have not, yet. Actually, I can no longer do these things myself due to physical aging limitations (MY joints are worn out, it happens). But, I am developing a relationship with a seemingly decent mechanic in a shop in town. He’s a bit young, but seems to be willing to listen. So, while I can no longer do the work myself, I can still see some value in knowing what’s going on with my vehicle and working vicariously through him. It will take time, but I hope to pursue the course you’ve described for the bearing(s) and possibly evaluate for an x-fer case refurb. I’ll post updates here as I obtain them, but like I said, it will take some time. I do appreciate your input.
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I know someone who has rebuilt CV joints on a FWD car. It seems like more trouble than it is worth but I guess you can find the parts online and a special type of grease is required when packing these as well.
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Update, as promised.
I learned something today from a youngster in the business. I’ll be calling him “My mechanic” for the foreseeable future. It turns out the NV144 transfer case uses a Viscous Coupling Unit, a thing this 50-odd-year mechanic never heard of, until today. I never did learn transmissions or much about transfer cases. What I learned from him is that running size-mismatched tires on an All-Wheel-Drive vehicle using a Viscous Coupling Unit can cause a vibration in the driveline. I saw him today because I knew it was not a good thing to run size-mismatched tires on a 4-Wheel-Drive and I had acquired tires to correct this problem the vehicle had when I got it. Lo and behold, vibration gone. The driveline now runs as smooth as glass at all speeds.
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Sorry, I said bone stock and failed to recognize the size-mismatched tires on the back axle, my bad. As my final solution shows, this turned out to be a more significant factor than I first thought.
Why not put the size mismatched tires on the right and left side versus front and rear? This will make the differential gears handle the speed mismatch instead of the viscous coupling unit.
As for taking a CV axle apart, I’ve just done it. The inner boot covers a part that just pulls apart. Remove the clamp to take the boot off and it will come apart. Sometimes the clamps can be reused. Now you have a thing with 3 needle bearings in it. It might pound off the end of the shaft, off the splines. There should be a C like snap ring like in my case. Take that off carefully. Modified needle nose pliers with grooves cut in the outside may be needed, along with a screw driver to pry them apart. Push the end part in to expose a retainer clip that prevents it from sliding off. Then you can slide the whole thing off the end. Now you can slide the outer boot off the whole shaft. Many CV axles have bolts on the outer join that lets you diasseble that and get the ball bearings out. Mine didn’t.
New rubber boots come with new clamps and a grease packet.
Leave it to Chrysler to confuse the issue calling it an AWD/4WD.
AWDs have either a center viscous coupling or center differential.
True 4WD (4X4) have a solid front/rear condition when 4WD is engaged, to be engaged only on low traction surfaces.
An option on Durango AWD vehicles as a 4X4 lock switch, this may have caused the OP to think he had conventional 4WD.
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Some transfer cases have both full time and part time 4WD selections. Jeep Quadra-Trac has been around for decades.
Viscous coupling transfer cases have been on the road for over 25 years.
Glad you got your troubles figured out.
Take a look at the image in Tester’s post above. As you can see, it’s not a CV axle. It’s a front propeller shaft and there is no boot. The joint is a machined-steel bell into which the guts of the joint are held by a press-fitted metal cover with a rubber disc that seals out the dirt and weather.
Yes. This is another distinction I failed to make when I started this thread. I never really understood the difference between AWD and 4-WD. Live and learn, even with decades of wrench twisting under your belt.,
True,I think they did start confusing the 4WD drive issue in the 70s when Jeep was owned by AMC. I was reading the Jeep brochure about their various drive systems, confusing even back then. Plus AMC was offering various drive systems on their cars. I just prefer conventional 4WD with a lever to engage the transfer case engagement. I found out my electric “shift on the fly” system was all that “on the fly” as I understood. Blew something in the transfer case, repaired under warranty. On my system the shift sequence is displayed in the odometer window, sequence is: miles driven-shift in progress-4x4 Hi(or low)—then back to miles. Mechanic said for best results wait until miles are displayed. I was pulling stumps as soon as the 4x4 was displayed.
Hence, I prefer the old lever on the floor to engage 4 WD.
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Interesting, but don’t entirely understand the motivation. Do you mean that if full time 4WD is selected there’s a viscous coupling in the xfer case allowing front wheels and rear wheels to slip w/respect to each other, while if part time 4WD is selected there’s no mechanism at all to allow slippage fore to aft other than the tires rubbing on the road/dirt? If so , presumably part time 4WD would be used for rugged duty jobs, like climbing steep dirt/rock-covered mountain roads, pulling stumps, etc.
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Yep,can be very confusing. I blamed Chrysler, then was reminded AMC brought forth the confusing variety of AWD/4WD systems. In the 80s when I desired an AMC Eagle, I read through the various systems. AMC laid out the virtues of each system, still confusing.
As far as the 4WD selection on an AWD system, I think that locks the center coupling.
BTW, never bought an Eagle.
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