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Rearend or rear suspension clunk/creak

128K views 404 replies 76 participants last post by  Mongo53 
#1 ·
Hi everyone, new owner here. Bought my wife a '11 JGC Overland on 7/30 and we are experiencing a clunk/creak coming from the rear end. When driving the vehicle we can hear a distinct creaking/clunk over uneven roads or bumps. I know it's definitely coming from the rear since I had my wife drive while I sat in the back cargo area. I even went so far as to pop the back glass during one of the drives when back there and it was that much more apparent when I hung my head out the back. It seems more like a clunk when driving but a little more like a creak when backing out of the driveway. I believe it's a suspension related issue since it happens when there is some type of articulation of the suspension. It could be something loose but I got under the back end tonight and could not find a visible culprit. The only other thing I can think of is something with the e-brake since we do use it daily as our driveway is on a medium grade hill. I make sure when she parks it that she puts it in Neutral with her foot on the brake, put the e-brake on then let it take up the slack, then put it in park (that way not letting the transmission do the work). Those are my thoughts, any others?

Here are two possible TSBs but our build date was 05 - 2011 so I don't know if these apply...
http://www.wk2jeeps.com/tsb/tsb_wk2_1700211.pdf
http://wk2jeeps.com/tsb/tsb_wk2_1700310.pdf

Thanks
 
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#249 ·
Contacted my local CJD service centre here in Brisbane, Australia. He acted as if he had no knowledge of it. But got him to book the vehicle in on the 7th. Told him I need a technician to drive with me so I can point out what is happening.

I am not very keen on pumping grease in there, dealers get very funny and start talking about voiding the warranty.

What about having a shorter jounce bumper? Maybe the shock is not getting the full range of travel and is bottoming out on the jounce.

I remember I had the same noise when I replaced the shocks on my Nissan Skyline. Had put Bilsteins on it, did not follow the instructions and left the jounce bumper long, its rattled and clunked like crazy. Adjusted the jounce bumper the clunk and rattle was gone.

I just do not want to touch the JGC sighting warranty.
 
#250 ·
Jeep Garage - Jeep Forum - anaraya9's Album: Rear shock jounce clearance - Picture

Jeep Garage - Jeep Forum - anaraya9's Album: Rear shock jounce clearance - Picture

Jeep Garage - Jeep Forum - anaraya9's Album: Rear shock jounce clearance - Picture

Jeep Garage - Jeep Forum - anaraya9's Album: Rear shock jounce clearance - Picture

That jounce is probably the cause of all the evil that is happening. In aero mode the jounce is squeezed so far that it is impossible for me to actually move the jounce.

There is only half an inch of shaft exposed in normal ride height. None of my other cars had jounce covering the shaft like this. That is why i assume these clunks happen over small high frequency bumps. Instead of the shocks absorbing the bumps, its transmitting to the car via the jounce. The jounce even though its needed, i think it is going against its purpose here. Just my theory.
 
#251 ·
Jeep Garage - Jeep Forum - anaraya9's Album: Rear shock jounce clearance - Picture

Jeep Garage - Jeep Forum - anaraya9's Album: Rear shock jounce clearance - Picture

Jeep Garage - Jeep Forum - anaraya9's Album: Rear shock jounce clearance - Picture

Jeep Garage - Jeep Forum - anaraya9's Album: Rear shock jounce clearance - Picture

That jounce is probably the cause of all the evil that is happening. In aero mode the jounce is squeezed so far that it is impossible for me to actually move the jounce.

There is only half an inch of shaft exposed in normal ride height. None of my other cars had jounce covering the shaft like this. That is why i assume these clunks happen over small high frequency bumps. Instead of the shocks absorbing the bumps, its transmitting to the car via the jounce. The jounce even though its needed, i think it is going against its purpose here. Just my theory.
would it be possible to shorten it, an see if it solve the issue? I don't mean a lot, just enough so it is not squeezed as much
 
#254 ·
Tell him to cut the crap, he knows perfectly well what's wrong.

I got told They aren't replacing mine or others that have been replaced more then once before anymore because they end up doing the exact same thing, sometimes within mere minutes. I've had 5 sets so far and the best I got out of them were 13 kms. So theoretically if its your first time complaining they will
Probably try a new set of 'ae' (or is it 'af'?) shocks. If that doesn't work, sqwark and Get a case with Chrysler started.

There is a new design which is due to hit Australia within a month which will fix the problem. About time, This really should of been rectified years ago
 
#259 ·
BTW, a few months ago when it was -29 degrees here in MT, I experienced an even stranger phenomen. I'm leaving working and as I drive out the parking lot the front end goes up. It does not repond to the height control. Why wasn't I shocked that this had been reported as well. I disconnected the battery as apparrently the suspension system will not throw a code you can pick up wit a regular OBD II meter. Anyway, after I reset it, I have had no problems. I gave it a pass on that one as my rear end was sagging when I hit the cold too! so just in case this happens to you--just go under the passenger seat and disconnect the terminals, wait a few minutes and reattach.
 
#262 ·
#263 ·
I too am waiting on back ordered shocks here in Ontario Canada, I am having trouble keeping this thing on the highway with frost heaves and dips.....it just keeps bouncing after I hit them. Anyone else gone from the clunking to this state where the shocks/struts or whatever may be back there are not working properly?.
 
#265 ·
I shoved a bunch of grease on top of the mounts and it quieted them down but it still bounces like a mother. It is absolutely unbelievable that we've put a man on the moon and built an international space station and freaking Chrysler can't make a shock absorber! Do engineers there have to boast a double digit IQ's or what. There's something that happens on top of that mount under load--don't know what it is but if grease quiets it down something is moving in that area. Do you have a picture of the mount?
 
#267 · (Edited)
Have a 2014 Altitude without load leveling suspension and still have the rear clunk. No TSB to address non LLS vehicles. Will my dealer try to tell me this is normal?
 
#269 ·
Finally got my rear shocks changed after a month on backorder. Signed the bill and changed under warranty thank goodness. The service manager told me they were $650.00 per shock!!!! Imagine paying that kind of money and having to change them every year!! Cherokee rides and sounds like new again :)
 
#271 ·
Clunk is now gone. They replaced the rear coil spring and viola. I figured the clunk would remain as most people have had their shocks replaced. Anyway, glad the clunk is gone. Now fighting the other grinding noises and rattles.
 
#272 ·
Wll Ladies and Gents--Set #5 of rear shocks--yes that was 5 as in between 4 and 6-have now been installed on my Overland. Quiet so far. I don't bounce down the road--both were completely shot--maybe 8K on the last set. I have a set of Monroes waiting in my garage if these croak. At least my dog doesn't look like he's going to throw up from riding in the back seat-for the moment.
 
#276 ·
Well. The clunk is back. Great...
 
#277 ·
After having my rear shocks replaced a few months ago, my clunk is also back.
The last time I took it to the dealer, they kept it a week, and said there is no fix for this. My next step is to try and find aftermarket shocks to install.
If I can't get this fixed, I am trading it in for a new Tahoe without any clunks!
 
#278 ·
For what its worth, if I had the knowledge in front of me that you have I would have been crunching numbers big time. After a few times with this crap I would have traded in a heart beat. Here it is-3 years SOS. I have new shocks from the dealer-again-but they've only been on 2 weeks out of which 11 days were sitting in an airport parking lot. I'm way too tired mentally to keep trying to figure this same old crap out which Chrysler obviously doesn't care about. I do not believe for one minute that they do not know what this is or don't have the resources to figure it out. What you have is some accountant and statistician who have figured out that X number of incidents have occurred within a base amount of GC's produced and that the cheapest fix is to ignore it and take the heat from a small group of people who have the discernment to hear it and care enough to even pursue it. Being that it has been perpetuated through 4 model years, it would be logical to assume that the flaw is in a design feature which would cause retooling of the assembly line area involved (if major) and/or redesign of a part(s) resulting in the cost of major bucks to correct even the present models being produced--not to mention the risk of the discovery of this entire nightmare (and Chrysler knowlingy ignoring it which they obviously are) being revealed on a large scale.
Compare that to the cost of ordering a thousand or so made in Mexico shocks and screwing the dealers on warranty labor. Granted it is an admittedly paranoid and imaginative scenario....or is it??? The fact that I can even think this $h!^ up speaks volumes to the frustration and anger compounded by the amount of time and money I have spent trying to get my 48K vehicle fixed. Yeah--I would buy a Hoe! As the emoticon shows the whole thing has been a :nutkick:
 
#280 ·
I have a 2012 $40k plus Grand Cherokee with this same problem. In two years I have driven this thing less than 7,000 miles and it needs a fourth set of shocks put in. This is insane. This car is junk and I am guessing that they all are. I will never ever buy another Jeep or Dodge product. I can't even describe how angry I am about this. If you are a potential Jeep buyer I would advise very strongly against it.
 
#282 ·
As much as i loved my jeep grand cherokee summit, I could no longer live with the constant clunking/rattle sound coming from the rear end.

It has been in the service dept. 6 times, and still no fix.

I have traded it in on a new Tahoe. The Tahoe is totally quiet inside, no rattles or noises at all!

I really hope that Jeep gets it together and comes up with a solution to this problem before they face a class action lawsuit. My Attorney wanted to sue under the lemon law, but I just wanted to get out of the Jeep.
 

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