2002 TJ 4.0 Engine Locked?

[Jimmy's Jeeps]

Thanks for sharing all this. Question for you, did you have any other bearings that looked worse than the ones you posted here in the picture? Those bearings didn’t really look bad so it would surprise me if that was where the knocking was coming from.

Did you try the plastigauge on the old bearings? Or just the new ones you got?

I have a knock I’m trying to figure out too (in another thread) but the clearances on my old bearings look just fine with the plastigauge.

So I’m just wondering what exactly it was that you think was causing the knock. Thanks man! Glad you got it solved!

Hi, sorry for the thread revival, but why not? Maybe it'll be of use to someone.
All of the bearings looked pretty much like the ones in the picture. There seemed to be very little wear on them. I never plastigauged the old ones though so I don't know what the specs were. However, the new bearings completely solved the knock issue. Maybe the old ones just got stamped down by just a little but enough to allow for the knock to happen. I don't think jeep used the best of the best, so maybe without looking beat up they can thin down and produce that crappy sound. When in doubt, change the rod bearings with good quality parts. Hope that helps, take care!