Need help diagnosing. Egguinn's front end has been shaking for a while. Mostly under acceleration above 50mph and on long sweeping right curves.

At first I thought it was the run out on bold tires. Tires has since been replaced. Than I thought it might by the PU in the camber plates. But a visual inspection and some testing would indicate that the camber plates are fine. So then I decided to make sure the tire guy didn't forget the hub centric rings and torqued the bolts properly. After getting the wheels off, I figured I might as well examine the undercarriage. To my dismay I found the lift inner axle boot leaking with oil/dirt/grime/debris on/near/around the boot.

My question is this: could the bad boot and a possible bad axle cause the above described shaking?

 

Have you checked that your wheels are balanced?? I had a similar problem after the last San Diego autocross I did--turned out the tires had shifted over the wheel causing them to be out of balance. Just a suggestion in a different direction.

 

The guys that balanced the wheels are reputable. The've been doing my tire mounting for couple of years now. Plus the shake was there before the tire change and now after.

 

A bad joint "could" cause a vibration, but the inner is the least likely to fail. You can check it for play easily, and certainly want to replace the boot before the joint is damaged. Try swapping tires front to rear. You may also want to check the lower control arm bushings, all sorts of funky things happen when they are worn out.
--Dan

 

Thanks for the tips. Noob question. How do you check the joint for play? The tires have less than 200 miles on them, so I doubt the problem lies there. I am still under warranty, so I will have the dealer check the bushings just in case.

 

Word. Control arm bushings would be where I'd look first.

How many miles on this car, Mr. Galleria Frappulatte?

 

grab the joint end with one hand and the axle shaft with the other and twist. The inner will have movement in and out, don't worry about that. The dealer may replace the axle unless they have a boot in stock.

 

Hahahah... I know a guy who used to call me that... 33k on the odometer.

 

There you go goaljnky, but it might hurt alittle . Sorry for the edit job GG.

 

have you eaten any Taco Bell lately?

 

What does a Mexican Phone Company have to do with this?

 

Hmm, in that case, you may want to put the joint down before jacking the car

 

That's pretty early for control arm bushings. When was the last time you were sexually active?

 

In my best "Vinny Gambini" voice, maybe you got mud in your tires .

 

5:45 p.m.

 

Are you taking any anti-depressant medication?

 

Nothing that's been prescribed.

 

this made me I just left 6 years of working in telecom

 

Quit whining and take it to Danny when he gets back

 

not by youself!

I"ve found (with real bad bushings) that they do allow for some rattle vibration when in transition, or with light throttle or braking (changes the torques on the control arm). If the vibration is persistant then you may have more detective work to do.

And the control arm bushing usually last longer than 33k, but many have gone south faster than that.

Matt

 

I think I will have the dealer look at the obvious first. If that doesn't resolve it then I will put Danny to work.

 

It was probably from the m7 USS you had on there a couple years ago

j/k man, hope you get this resolved

 

I knew it.

 

cut it off panzy you don't need it.