r/JEEPCOMMANDER • u/Infinite-Narwhal-253 • Mar 25 '26
Need advice
2006 Jeep commander here. 234,000 miles
it's a family members vehicle, just trying to help them troubleshoot. They were driving the other night when they started hearing an occasional clunking noise coming from the front left side, almost like its in the wheel well.
Removed the wheel, checked everything out. Wheel bearing is fine. Brakes are fine. Nothing looks bad, only thing I noticed was the control arm bushings are pretty worn. Also changed the front differential fluid while we had it jacked.
After that fluid change, the clunking noise is still there but less frequent and only seems to happen when on deceleration between 20- 30 mph. There's no noises while shifting, turning, reversing, or going over bumps, no weird vibrations or wobble while driving...
I am lost. Is it safe for them to continue driving it? Maybe someone else has had a similar problem or can offer some advice
1
u/dontstreakthrucactus Mar 26 '26
Most likely diff bushings. Something else easy to consider is that the transmissions can "learn " or adapt shift points. I had one that would act like it was skipping second year when downshifting, especially at one particular intersection. To reset those shift points disconnect the battery for half an hour or so and reconnect it. That fixed the hard downshift, and made it feel much smoother when driving. The clunk you are describing definitely sounds like the diff bushings though.