Busted Rig Offroading…

[Bing]

First time taking my 2022 Bronco off roading…. Northern MIchigan, 30 mins in - I had to back out of some mud and snow, stopped, put in reverse …”click click click …”. Had a recovery - pulled me out.

When I put it in gear there’s a cyclical, banging on the drivers side. Loud. The more power…the more intense the banging. CV joint? Or CV splines to the hub? Confused and a busted rig, now.
My Jeep buddies are having a ball btw. &€$&er’s!

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[orion]

First time taking my 2022 Bronco off roading…. Northern MIchigan, 30 mins in - I had to back out of some mud and snow, stopped, put in reverse …”click click click …”. Had a recovery - pulled me out.

When I put it in gear there’s a cyclical, banging on the drivers side. Loud. The more power…the more intense the banging. CV joint? Or CV splines to the hub? Confused and a busted rig, now.
My Jeep buddies are having a ball btw. &€$&er’s!

Why not stop and investigate before something simple becomes something major. Why would you drive it before knowing what was making the noise. I personally don't get that.

But to answer your question, you say more power, more intense. Is this "more intense" under acceleration only or is it the faster you go, the more intense it is? Because there is, in my world, under load noises and coasting noises. If it's only under load, and let's say you were in 2wd, you could most likely rule out anything up front. Coasting or all the time noise could be any part of the drivetrain since our Bronco's don't have hubs to disconnect the front tires. Therfore the front CV's, diff and driveshaft are always turning, but not under load.

Do you still have 4 wheel drive? From your post, all your Bronco is doing is making a clicking noise. That could be anything from a stick caught and hitting a rotating drivetrain part to diff issues or engine related.

To be definitive on a CV, jack up one front tire at a time, spin tire and see what's going on with the CV on that side. That will tell ya real quick if you have an issue with a CV. It will also spin the diff and driveshaft too, if the CV is good. Listen for any weird noises there too. If you see the CV spin but the driveshaft isnt spinning, your inner CV axle snapped or you have internal diff issues. If all good there, go to the back and do the same...

Or, take it to the dealer... I hate dealers and useless mechanics that could careless so I do my own stuff.

 

[MadMan4BamaNATL]

First time taking my 2022 Bronco off roading…. Northern MIchigan, 30 mins in - I had to back out of some mud and snow, stopped, put in reverse …”click click click …”. Had a recovery - pulled me out.

When I put it in gear there’s a cyclical, banging on the drivers side. Loud. The more power…the more intense the banging. CV joint? Or CV splines to the hub? Confused and a busted rig, now.
My Jeep buddies are having a ball btw. &€$&er’s!

I know you said first time out wheeling the Bronco, but are you implying first time wheeling at all?

So sorry about what happened, but breaks do happen, so don’t beat yourself up and most important, don’t let it turn you away from the fun of wheeling.

But….. a few things. I do applaud you for using your Bronco as intended. You’ll inspire many over the next few years to get off of their sorry asses and get out there.

A few things need to happen before you go out, some of this you likely did, but I’ll write this also for others who may be new and either not ask or not know what to ask or research and understand that’s ok.

Rule #1. Know your rig, so even beyond the homework before it comes or the manual, research the tendencies and known break points. Why? Well, this tells you where you can go in a way and what to try to avoid. Don’t go out at all until you’ve broken in your new Bronco. Within the first 500-800 miles, there are kinks to work out of any rig.

Rule #2. Understand your limits. If you’re in a new rig, you don’t know it yet and it’ll take some time to get there, so take it easy and only on easy trails. This also helps you to learn what the rig will and won’t do well. A Bronco is highly capable, but it isn’t Superman even if built up and modded out. Knowing when to give throttle or when to go slow are critical.

Rule #3. Check your ego. This means a lot, such as don’t take your stock rig out with modded trucks unless those guys have good temperaments and understand and are willing to go slow and do a teaching session. Your friends who may be cool, but have attitudes that you’ve seen at times, will be absolute dicks sometimes while out wheeling. I have no idea why this is, but I’ve seen it, many times, from a number of people. Most guys don’t act like this, but many will do so and kid you in ways that feels like peer pressure.

Rule #4. If something feels bad, or off, or sounds, smells, etc, stop; get out of the rig and inspect. This is true even if you know nothing about cars or whatever. If you pay attention, you’ll be amazed at the shit you’ll notice; use a light. Also, do this step before you ever go wheeling and use the phone to take pics of what shit should look like, where things are, what’s protected, what’s not, try to think about where under the rig these places are, then pay close attention to the trial ahead and navigate obstacles. When unsure, get your ass out and walk to have a look. Those behind you can fuck off for a bit. You’re protecting $50K in a rig!

Rule #5. Walk the trail. As above, get out, walk up, have a look and believe your feet more than your eyes. If there is a spotter, use them and listen to the commands they give; it’ll save the rig and you.

There are more, but this is a start. I guess one goes without saying is bring your own recovery gear and tools.

Hope whatever happened wasn’t too bad, but learn from it, then get back out there, it’s a ton of fun. And ignore the banter with the Jeep guys, so if you can’t take it, don’t wheel with them until you‘re more prepared.

 

[da_jokker]

There have been a couple people on here that I've had their transfer case implode. I think some have even had their diff fall apart inside.

Guess the first question would be, does it do it in 2H, 4H, or 4L?

Also, have you visually inspected up underneath and checked your CV joints? I know some people have had the boot come off and a bunch of mud got into their CV joint. Others have even had big rocks stuck up under there.

 

[Dream_Solventless]

Fast, rhythmic clicking is usually CV axles, almost sounds like the wheel of fortune wheel spinning. When I grenaded my front differential there was a much more aggressive bang/crunch, about once per tire rotation that would cause the tire to skip/bind ever so slightly, and sounded like it came from the drivers side.

Probably an unrelated note but out of the last 4-5 differentials I've heard of coming apart, they have all been in reverse/4wd. Mine broke reversing to take a better line into a vnotch, it was not super stressed and tires never spun when it broke.

Here's a video of my differential

 

[Bing]

Thanks fella’s, will run thru some of these exercises. That vid sounds exactly like mine. Appreciate the comments.

 

[indio22]

First time taking my 2022 Bronco off roading…. Northern MIchigan, 30 mins in - I had to back out of some mud and snow, stopped, put in reverse …”click click click …”. Had a recovery - pulled me out.

When I put it in gear there’s a cyclical, banging on the drivers side. Loud. The more power…the more intense the banging. CV joint? Or CV splines to the hub? Confused and a busted rig, now.
My Jeep buddies are having a ball btw. &€$&er’s!

Do you recall, did you happen to have the front wheels turned far to the right or left, while making those maneuvers under power? That can put more stress on some of the front axle elements. (Typically I try not to hit the throttle hard, when the front wheels are turned near the limit.)

 

[Bing]

Do you recall, did you happen to have the front wheels turned far to the right or left, while making those maneuvers under power? That can put more stress on some of the front axle elements. (Typically I try not to hit the throttle hard, when the front wheels are turned near the limit.)

Naw, was totally straight.

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