Noise from driver side when brake is applied?

OK, been a while since I have been on here. Anyway, I have a '94 JGC Limited 5.2L, my problem is when I apply the brake I get a real bad noise on the driver side front. It only happens when I hit the brake and I have checked out the brakes, all is good, nothing hitting or rubbing anywhere that I can see. So.... Any ideas? I thought it may have been the fact it sat for about almost 2 months and the rotors must have rusted some but I only drove it about 1/4 mile and the noise started real bad, I took it home and checked the brakes and they are looking good, that short distance rubbed the rust off the rotors. I did not get it above 20 MPH during that drive either. My next thought was that it is the hub assembly, I had a strange noise and vibration at highway speeds(about 65 and higher) before I had parked it. think that could be the issue, I parked it and rust got into the hub assembly? Or last idea was the front axle shaft is broke.
Reason why the Jeep was parked was no time to fix the rear main oil leak until recently which I did.
Like to have some thoughts and ideas of what can be wrong.

EDIT:
I gave a bad desciption. It is not only when I hit the brakes but also when making turns and hitting bumps in the road when this noise appears. The turns are not real sharp ones either but do notice it when making a sharp turn WHILE turning down a steep hill at the same time. It will happen at low speeds or high speeds.

pull the tires off and check the pads visually and the condition of the rotors.
do the same with the rears.
rust could be your culpret as I have had this happen with my gmc.
check the bearings as well.
I have jacked up all fours before and put it on stands, fired it up and put it in gear.
Have (Mr. helper) apply the breaks and see if you can identify the location.
Once you isolate the location pull the tires and start to check things from there.

I did pull the tire off and checked and even removed the caliper and pads to check the rotor. As far as the brakes go they look good. would almost put a bet on it that it lies in the hub assembly or axle shaft but wanted to get any other ideas before wasting money buying these items before i start ripping it apart. Guess I could always take them back if they are not needed though.
Is there any possibilty that something culd be wrong internally in the axle tube itself? Bearing or something like that besides the hub assembly?

I did pull the tire off and checked and even removed the caliper and pads to check the rotor. As far as the brakes go they look good. would almost put a bet on it that it lies in the hub assembly or axle shaft but wanted to get any other ideas before wasting money buying these items before i start ripping it apart. Guess I could always take them back if they are not needed though.
Is there any possibilty that something culd be wrong internally in the axle tube itself? Bearing or something like that besides the hub assembly?


If the noise only comes to light with the brakes applied, chances are that it isn't in the hub unless you have the noise while driving without the brakes applied also. Take the caliper back off and check the slides on the caliper assem. Make sure they slide freely...they may need greased. Move glide bolts in and out to check. If these are free, check where the backing plates of the pads are resting on the calipers and make sure you have no buildup there. May try a "disc quiet" silicone and apply to the backside of the pads and reinstall. DO NOT get this on the face of the pads that touch the rotors. This should eliminate any noises coming from the brake assem. Good luck.

Alright, it has been a long time since I updated this. Anyway, the noise I have was partly in the hub. I did replace it and the drivers side axle BUT the actual noise coming from there apparently. Replacing the hub assembly and axle took care of a small whine like noise. the noise I am hearing sounds a little bit like gears just barely slipping or rubbing across the top of one another.The sound can be heard almost directly underneath the Jeep like where the front drive shaft is or differential. It seems it depends on the bumps I hit on whether it sounds like it is on the passenger side of the dif or how the brakes are applied.
So, I was thinking that maybe I should take the front drive shaft out completely and give that a whirl. Maybe the universal joints are bad? or maybe the splines in the drive shaft ends are stripped for some strange reason. I have not done nothing to have caused them to get stripped. I also had thought that it may be something inside the differential to make the noise? I am really at a toss up. I had planned on replacing thre hub and axle on the passengers side but fear that would still not solve my problem.

The noise pops up when I hit a bump in the road, make a sharp turn either direction that also involves a hill in the turn, and sometimes when I apply the brakes really hard. Hitting the bump in the road is what made me think that it may be the splines wore out in the drive shaft, that it causes resistance on the drive shaft? Also making the turn puts the drive shaft in a bind with the angle of the turn and hill I am making? As far as the brakes I have no idea why the noise would even pop up at all when applying them. This definitely has me stomped. Some ideas of what the problem(s) may be would be nice.
As I said when the weather is permenting I plan on taking the front drive shaft out and driving it for a while to see if the noise is still there. I will post an update on that when I do it.

EDIT:
Just wondering, is it typical for a person to need to use a 8 lb. sledge hammer to remove the hub assembly? I had tried everything under the sun and finally broke down and grabbed that and it still took a lot of hitting to loosen it up to get the bearing to come off. Somebody told me to use a 3 jawed gear puller and when I did it came apart, so had nothing else I coulsd get a hold to with the gear puller and tried hammers, starting with a 22 oz. framing hammer and worked up to the 4 lb. shop hammer then the 8 lb. sledge. Is this something I can expect on the passenger side as well?

No ideas people?

Just asking a question. The noise I am hearing sounds more like in the center at times but switches depending on the bumps in the road I am hitting or whatever. Switches from Driver side to Passenger side, or so it sounds. I know it must be in the axle somewhere and now what I was wondering about isit possible that the differential may need some of the special slip lube in it? I made a sharp turn the other day to the right and it sounded a lot like my tire on the drivers side was squealing on the pavement like it was being dragged along. I thought maybe the differential was locking up and causing this noise. Does this sound possible and how would I correct it if it is? Ready to just set it on fire and say I hell with it or trade it off to the next fool I can find. I have never been so stumped on something like this with a vehicle.

my jeep had this too and at times when i stopped at lights or stop signs my vehicle wouldnt stop it just skipped. i think it was the hub but i had to get the entire wheel system replaced because i didnt catch it early enough and it grinded right through the wall.:runaround:

Thing is I replaced the CV axle and hub assembly on the drivers side. Why would this still be making noises that alternate from side to side? Surely somebody here would have the answer to what is going on. I could understand the noise being on the passenger side of the vehicle now but it isn't, it comes from both sides, or sounds like it anyway. At times it is hard to tell exactly where it is, from the driver side, passenger side or directly below my feet. Also at highway speeds I have a vibration which gets really bad after about thirty minutes of driving. Afraid to trust it for my wife to drive farther than a few miles from home the way it is. Whatever is causing it I am afraid it could possibly come completely out causing her to have an accident.

if it shakes really bad you should check to see if you have snow, mud, grass or anything behind your rims. you said this nose only comes about when you press your brakes? then it has something to do with the brakes and wheel. i dont know how else to help you im not a mechanic.

I should have said I notice it when I first applied the brakes after installing front driver side CV axle and hub assmebly and driving for a short distance around the block. After checking everything over and not finding any obvious problems I drove it farther, the noise comes from either side of the vehicle, passenger or driver side when hitting a bump in the road, making a sharp turn while angling down a hill, or SOMETIMES when I hit the brakes hard.
I checked out everything I can possibly see without tearing down the front of the Jeep and nothing can be seen that may be wrong. Some ideas are coming into my head but I hate to tear it down and spend money and find out that was not the case and it was something completely different.

First idea that comes to my head is that the differential in the front has a bad bearing(s) or shims that wore out. Cause depending on the turn I am going around or the bump it makes me think the whole internals of the differential is shifting from side to side and the ring gear for the ABS senors are then rubbing against the spindles. As long as I am driving down a smooth and straight road I have no noise at all. Only around some turns and some bumps. I was considering on buying a differential bearing replacement kit for the front diff and see if that takes care of the problem.
Now I have the 4WD switch coming on in the VIC claiming it is bad. So, that makes me think something is going on in the transfer case causing that to come up showing it is bad. My manual does not show any information about the transfer case or location of this 4WD switch to get an idea of the movements(parts) around it that could possibly cause this switch to go bad. Thoughts are if this switch is now showing up as bad the transfer case may have something in there that is lose or bad that needs replacing that would damage the switch and causing the noise I am hearing?!?!
My manual I also have does not give any detail of the front differential on how to replace any of the parts. So a link to a web site about tearing the guts out of the front axle would be nice so I can see what I may be getting into before I start. I had worked on older vehicles and tore down and replaced parts and even rebuilt transfer cases and axles but thiis Jeep is newer and may be different from what I am use to, I want to read up and see if it is still the same principals. Any help on a how-to and links of these would be really appreciated.
Really starting to annoy me to the point I wish I never set eyes on this Jeep. I know for a fact it is no foriegn objects that are causing this noise, the brakes are good and all working as they should be, I did check the front diff for gear oil and that is good as well. So, only thing is left as far as I can think is in the diff itself, the driveshaft, or lastly the transfer case. Ideas and information on what others are thinking?

Check the fluids levels in the transfer case and front differential, might be just low, hopefully.

I did check the front differential but not the transfer case. I will do that tomorrow if it is nice out. If fluid is low I would have no idea where it could have gone, the fluid theif?? It is not leaking anywhere I can see.
I would still like a link to help me out with redoing the front axle if possible. Been a long time since I had done anything like that and just afraid of messing up. Should be realitively easy though.

This site should help.
http://www.stu-offroad.com/axle.asp

What kind of fluid are you using in the differential and transfer case? Have heard of people using wrong lubricants and tearing the sh*t out of everything.

I checked the fluid but have not added any to it. Still the same fluid as when I bought it. When I checked the frotn I just had a little tiny bit touching my little finger and thought it was good enough and left it alone. I was looking at buying a new bearing kit and thought that was when I would go ahead and put the correct fluids back in.
I am just wondering though, if I replace the bearings in the differential has the grinding I been hearing caused damage to the transfer case since the 4WD switch is showing up as bad in the VIC? I imagine it goes in the transfer case. I can't find anything on where it is located at.

OK, as far as fluid I have not put any in yet. The differential looked good when I had checked it so never added any.
Seems like I am starting to have all kinds of bad luck with this Jeep all at once after a year of having it. In that year the only problem I had that I knew about when I bought the Jeep was the VIC showing the RLF and I tried chasing that problem down with no successs but anyway the transmission started slipping on me today. Checked the fluid in it and it was only half a quart low, that should not have been enough to make a tranny slip!! Never rebuilt a tranny before and I am not spending $1,000 or more on a rebuilt one or getting it rebuilt. It will go to a crusher first. I wouldn't even give it to somebody with all the crap happening to it now. Tranny, noise from the front end area, what can be happening to this Jeep??? Oh, the fluid that is in the tranny looked and smelled really good, no burnt smell or brown coloration at all.
I feel like if it wasn't for bad luck I would have no luck at all right now when it is coming to my vehicles. Never had a good vehicle since I got rid of my Chevy truck. I WANT IT BACK NOW, lol.

OK, after doing much searching and reading on the internet I came across a few articles that described my problem to a "T". It is apparently the viscous coupler that has gone bad in the transfer case and the whole transfer case would need replacing. This can also have effects on the transmission cause it makes it harder for the tranny and even the engine(gas consumption) for it makes the front end harder to push. Or at least this is what I had read and seems like it makes sense to me the way the person described it.
So, I guess I will be trying to get rid of the Jeep or maybe check to see how much a rebuild kit is. I have rebuilt transfer cases in the past on older model vehicles but I really have no idea if this would be about the same or not. I may try rebuilding and then get rid of it if I fail to do a good job, I am sure I can find some poor sap to buy/trade for it, lol.
Any hints or web site links that may help me research rebuilding of the transfer case before I get into deep?