Thread: FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.... ( axles and transmission )

Here's the run down:

1. 96 200sx with 220k mi. on it. Bought the car and didn't realize it had bad axles.
2. Replaced both axles.. drivetrain vibration at 30mph & highway speeds vibration. Motor mount replacement suggested.
3. Replaced all 4 motor mounts, vibration still present.
4. Replaced all 4 shocks and all shock/spring mounting rubber, vibration changed from ~30mph to <20mph + above 40mph. I can hear the tires going 'whoop whoop' now.
5. 4 wheel alignment and the vibration is better dampened, but still <20mph and 40mph+ vibration is present. Worse on very flat roads

So i am wondering what the hell is going on by this point, ~$1500 later.

I took both front wheels off my car and noticed the axles were wobbling a little while the motor was spinning them. They both seem to have an uneven wobble at the same point.

Could my differential/transmission be bent on the inside?

Could i have got a pair of equally bad axles?

If you didnt have the suspension fully compressed and just hanging there with the car in gear then its gonna look like they wobble because they are at an angle. Unless the suspension is in its normal position you wont know.

Could be your tires or your control arm bushings. Just inspect everything over man. What about your tires? how old are they. Could possibly be the wheel bearings as well. Check for any wobble in the hub, bolt the wheel back up and grab the top and bottom and push and pull in and out and see if you have any play. If not it still doesnt mean they arnt bad but it will be a dead giveaway if it does have play.

was this wobble there before you did the axles? I'm wondering if it isnt something as simple as directional tire tread going the wrong way or the tires being out of balance, or even just crap tires.

I have heard of members having issues with aftermarket axles that don't have a dampner midway on the axle shaft, problem with that is the only way to test that theory is to try and source some genuine axles with that dampner on it, which again is like throwing money at the problem.

ashton's right on the money for now. Check everything on the control arm, bushings, joints, along with the sway bar and strut towers. Even take a torque wrench and make sure everything on the suspension is still torqued to the FSMs numbers.

Have you changed your tires?

I'm having the same problem with my car, but mine vibrates at 65, 75, 85mph
.
I have a 12 or so page thread on here about it, I thought it was my wheel bearing,axle, tires I went through it all (well on the drivers side)
.
It all started off with a flat tire (rear drivers) that I rode on for about 30miles before I even noticed it (stupid low profile tires), changed that and then the car would violently pull to the left (nearly crashing multiple times on the way home 120 miles away), I thought it was the bearing binding up... wrong, changed the axle went away but I started getting vibrations at speed from then on
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Now I'm convinced its the axle, and/or bearing (its making noise any way) on the passenger side
.
Someone sugested to me its the trans but I believe it would be vibrating at every speed if that was the case
.
I'm currently on unemployment & going to school so I haven't had the money to fix the passenger side yet, I really need to as I drive about 600 miles a week
.
Also my car is a 96 205,000mile car with the original shocks on (and they are still good) and I'm on the 2nd engine
.
Good luck

if you rode on a flat for that long I would change your rim

Okay, so watching the axles spin at an extreme angle is not a good indicator? hm.

Okay, the tires are very new actually. There is one patch on each front tire that looks like it keeps skidding on the ground. When i watch the tires spin, part of the tire seems to sag.

The shop that did my alignment said all 4 wheels were bent, but that seems odd. The rims do not have any dents, dings, and when i watch them spin at any speed, they do not have any waves/wobbles in them. The tires seem very well mounted.

When i put the spare tire on, same thing. The spare tire seems well mounted to the rim too.

The axles the car came with were *shot* but there was no vibration. They were clicking on turns, the CV boots were completely torn open and oozing all over the place!

There is no damper on the new axles -_-. They are Napa axles.

Anyway i'll check the wheel bearings and control arm. But it's weird because there is a rhythmic bump Maybe i should post a video.

I had my rims tested and they are all straight (well measured by a machine shop)
.
Anyway that rim is still on the rear and has no effect on the steering wheel shaking

ding ding ding!!!!! we have a winner!!

i keep tellin people bout these cheap freakin axles from auto part stores.. they're bad news man, they vibrate AND when u try to remove them from the tranny they dnot wanna come out...

im cereal dude...

get some remanned oem axles from o'reilys next time... an if ya need help doin the work, hit me up.. im free on sundays usually..

I installed new napa axles on my G20, I replaced them twice due to the vibration. I still get but at very low speeds and it's minimal. Luckily I'm an employee so it really didn't cost much bit it was a pita to kepp swapping them out. If you still have your old ones try getting them rebuilt, best choice imho. Of course check your tires first, I had a bent rim on the inner lip I never noticed since it was on the inner rim. I took a wheel off and while rolling it I noticed it wobbled, very slight bend on inner the rim, never caused an issue though in my case.