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Bad tire?

M

mattstansbury

New member
Had transmission replaced, drove fine, didnt pull...so was in no big rush to get an alignment..drove 60mph fine, then I had to drive 20ish miles on I-81 going about 75-80 mph...after that car has a funny hum and around 60-65 mph a violent shake that almost is like a bad axle, but the shake is persistent whether accelerating, decelerating or just in neutral.. The thing that stumps me is i cant pinpoint the hum and it sound doesnt change whether turning left or right...also, the shake happens sometimes when turning left, sometimes when turning right...the thing i am lost about, if car was just out of line, wouldn't this problem been happening from the beginning? also, if a bad tire, wouldnt it go away when u turn left or right?

moog front bearings
moog outer tie rods
moog inner tie rods
also, jacked car up and attempted to shake wheels at 12 and 6 positions, wheels were tight
Transmission shifts fine and differential does not bang
 


Ive had the axles go bad before and it shook like hell around 40mph...but normally wouldn't the vibration stop if you let off the gas or put car in neutral??
I guess if the tire rotation doesnt solve or clarify the problem, ill jack the car up and put her in drive to see if a wobble is there..
 


Idk why you don't get an alignment to rule that out of anything and you need to anyway or you will end up ruining your tires if its not aligned properly. I don't think the alignment is causing all your issues but seems to me like a no brainer to get done asap...
 
i always check for worn parts before going for an alignment. if i find something that needs to be changed, then you take it in after you change the parts.

the does it in "neutral at hi way speed" has tire written all over it for me. be the first thing id swap around anyhow.
 
but i just dont think its the tires, i rotated them and the vibration is still the same.. the reason i dont think its an alignment issue, is it never did this before. as soon as i took it up to 75-80 mph for interstate 20 miles the vibration was there after that...so i thought a busted belt in a tire, but all tires look fine and vibration is the same after rotation..and a cv joint going bad wouldn't vibrate in neutral right??
 
a bad axle could vibrate in neutral if its really shot, but i think you would feel that part being bad all the time at this point, like all speeds.

maybe a warped brake rotor? how the brakes feel? they smooth, or pulse under your foot?

or maybe a wheel bearing. jack the wheel up, grab the top of the tire, and firmly push and pull the tire, if it moves the hub is worn.

while its in the air, grab the tire at the 3 and 9 o clock, and push and pull the tire, it should not move much at all. if it moves, you need tie rods.
 


I checked all the tires for wheel weights and they all had their weights on them...and The brakes are ok. no warped rotor or anything like that..I have to go see my marine recruiter again in martinsburg tomorrow...if its the axles im sure it will be more apparent after the 20 or so miles at 80mph... also i might like to add, i checked all wheel bearings etc, and yesterday on an empty lot, put in reverse and cut tires all the way and did a couple loops both ways, there was no popping or anything... its just for the car to shake in neutral, wouldn't the axles be damn near close to seperation? it just baffles me that i didnt notice any popping or anything from the cv joints...
 
would grabbing the axle by the rod between the inner and outer cv's, and shaking them maybe shed light on a bad axle?? i think thats how u find U joints going bad..but idk how that would work for transaxles??
 
they should be tight, so if you push or pull on it it should not move much at all.

dont know if you can do the twist test so easy, maybe jacked up and in neutral? then have some one turn the tire back and forth while you hold the axle? its worth a shot i guess.

if you know how to test a rwd U joint you know what i mean.
 
as i was rotating tires, i could grab the driverside axle and shake it up and down nd it look as if the inner cv had a little play, but the passenger side didn't have any play really.. i wasnt sure if that was a valid test for transaxles though as it might depend on how the position of the tripod of bearings in the inner cv are located if you know what i mean
 


i sure do......i haven't played with mine lately.

when mine went bad with light gas you could feel it vibrate. just like a rwd would feel. of course, thats the early stages of failure. mine never got to clicking or any real bad vibration. just light on the gas while cruising at highway speeds. nothing if i let off the gas or if i floored it and nothing in neutral.


the guys who post up "i got this clicking sound" they let the vibration go for months i guess. till it would be an obvious problem. or the boot blew out and lost the grease.

some people just aren't in tune with how their cars feel i guess. loud radios may have something to do with it lol
 
I mean very seldom like if i hit a dip while pulling out with the car turned all the way, id hear a pop or two, but i chalked that up to napa maxdrive garbage axles. they never vibrated or anything like that, and yes thats how my old axles went out when my motor mounts failed, only vibration when light throttle, which is why i didnt think it was the axles at first..cause it was kind of all of a sudden and in all gears and turning left or right..hopefully ill get this solved the first try and not break my bank
 
dont feel bad, im one hub away from replacing every last part of my front end. even the rack and pump got changed.

and that hub is getting done as soon as it warms up some.
 
go to advance and get moog hubs haha ive had them on my car and have had no problems, my brother had a grand am i think and he didnt replace them with expensive moogs and they went bad after a month..i think the brand on them were drive works or something...napa sells timkins, but advanceauto i can use p20 code on >_<..speaking of axles, i forget what i did with my inner cvs from my old axles...i pulled them apart and kept the inner hubs so when i had to change them i could just pop the bad axle out and put the hub in so i didnt lose all my tranny fluid and stain my garage floor..still, if i can get this vibration taken care of i think im just going to trade it in and get out from under this car...been costing me boatload of money lately..
 
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