Vibration. CV axle or wheels?

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Hey everyone. I have had a persistent problem with my 99 Solara since I bought the car 2 years ago. It has always had some kind of vibration when moving. When I first got the car, the steering wheel shook like mad. My mechanic determined it was because Oldsmobile rims on the car were not compatible with the Solara. I got some $10 junkyard rims and used 2 year old tires. There was significant improvement, but the issue remains. However, before I switched out the wheels, I also replaced the CV axle. The old one was badly damaged from a ripped boot. So to sum up my situation:

1: car has always vibrated
2: replaced axle before swapping wheels.
3: swapped wheels. Noticeable improvement.

4: so i don’t know if the vibration remains because of the cheap wheels/tires combo or cheap $60 eBay afternarket axle.

Symptoms of vibration as it currently stands: the vibration occurs most noticeably at freeway speeds. Every time I have my backpack or a grocery bag in the passenger seat, you can see it vibrating at a high frequency. And I can feel it too. Not through the steering wheel most intriguingly, but through the cabin. The vibration is worst if I floor the gas at freeway speeds, putting the car under load. Vibrations get bad enough to cause my sunglasses to rattle on the dash. The vibrations are not as noticeable at lower speeds. I can floor it in first or second and not feel it much, but I can feel it in 3rd. I mean would wheel balance issues show markedly worse vibration issues under load? The vibrations don’t dissipate when I am cruising or decelerating.

Are there any things I can check to see if the problem is the CV axle or the wheels? I am planning on lifting the vehicle soon, to inspect the tires for roundness issues and maybe bumps. I have no idea how to diagnose the axle.

This issue has plagued me for the past 2 years, and my patience is wearing thin.

I have had the wheels balanced just under a year ago btw.
 
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I don't think it's the CV axle. I keep thinking it's the tires even though you've had it balanced a short time ago.

How's the alignment? Wheel bearing? Any loose suspension nuts and bolts?
 
Maybe you could put it on stands with jacks under the front suspension to get the drive angle right, and see if you get vibration with the wheels off?
 
Is it safe to run a fwd car without any load on the wheels? Can it damage the viscous differential? That does seem like a decent idea. Also, the car has not been aligned lately, even after installing new shocks. But I thought alignment doesn’t cause vibration, just bad tire wear. Wheel bearing seems ok last time I checked it. I didn’t notice any looseness on the wheels when I rocked the tire at the 9-3 and 12-6 positions (clock positions).
 
Originally Posted By: Kurtatron
Is it safe to run a fwd car without any load on the wheels? Can it damage the viscous differential? That does seem like a decent idea. Also, the car has not been aligned lately, even after installing new shocks. But I thought alignment doesn’t cause vibration, just bad tire wear. Wheel bearing seems ok last time I checked it. I didn’t notice any looseness on the wheels when I rocked the tire at the 9-3 and 12-6 positions (clock positions).


I said put jacks under the suspension to get the drive angle right, so the suspension will be loaded. Wheels obviously won't be and at least one of them will be off at least some of the time. I'd not be too keen on doing it one wheel at a time though (which might be diagnostically useful). I do that when I use engine power to de-rust the disks, but I keep it at fairly low revs in second since I'm not sure the diff would be OK with high revs one-sided, though I'd guess short burst would be OK.

Main thing would be to be sure not to drop it.

Dunno what a viscous differential is, but I'm guessing its a fluid coupling implementation of an LSD? That'd seem to stop you doing it one-wheel-on-the-ground like I do the de-rusting, but with both wheels up I'd think it'd be OK
 
Certain aftermarket CV axles or worn axles are also known to cause vibration. It's the worst under load/acceleration.

What axle did you use? What about the other axle on the car? Is it worn?



If it's the wheels/tires you feel that in the steering wheel, not cabin.
 
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Get the wheels/tires balanced and make sure the wheels rotate true.
Cheap things first, I always say.
If it's a rotational unbalance, the wheel and tire assemblies have much higher inertia to create vibration.
Then if that doesn't fix the problem, have the halfshafts checked.
Wheel vibrations can be felt in the cabin. I lost a wheel weight on my truck a couple of months ago, and it shook the whole truck at about 75 mph. It was a rear wheel that was vibrating, and I didn't get any vibrations through the steering wheel. I had all the wheels balanced, and the vibration went away.
 
I've fought a similar issue with my Subaru Legacy now for a few years. Original rims and new tires less than 10k miles ago and it still vibrates/shimmies in the steering wheel right at 60-65mph. I've rotated tires, changed air pressure, no effect. Strangely enough it doesn't do it when its first driven and not warmed up. Once warm its consistent right at highway cruise speeds.

Only issue I've found underneath is a torn CV boot, No slop or noise yet but I do have a new replacement on standby. Could the CV axle cause it?
 
The wife's Pontiac G8 had similar problem from new and It was a problem others also had. GM would load balance and or replace tires first and I heard that many were fixed by replacing motor mounts. Hers stopped when we put new LCA's, forged wheels and Michelin tires on.
 
I would recommend having the balance double checked to completely rule that out, if you can, take it to a shop that has a roadforce balancer. The roadforce machine has a drum that rolls against the tire and also measures how smoothly there tire rolls. From there, check your suspension bushings, specifically the rear most front lower control arm bushing. The problem does really sound like an axle, but they are really hard to pin down. I have seen a few new "value" axles cause vibration out of the box.
 
In my experience, a bad axle gives a vibration under load (going up a hill or acceleration) that goes away when you let off the gas.

Wheel-related vibrations will be dependent on speed but not load.
 
Like others said, check wheel balance first. If they wobble on the balancer machine, you have bent rims/out-of-round tires.

If that doesn't work, thoroughly inspect the suspension for loose parts. Aftermarket axle quality is hit-or-miss. Check for slop at the inner and outer axle joints.
 
Thanks for the input everyone. Today driving the car home, I floored it in 4th year going about 2000rpms at 45ish. The car didn’t vibrate at all. It’s so frustrating. The vibration varies in magnitude all the time. I guess I can take it to a belle tire and have them balance the wheels again. I might actually like this car if not for that and an exhaust leak.
 
a bad rear alignment or cupping/uneven rear tires will cause a vibration. my steering wheel felt fine but looking at passenger seat wiggle bothered me and once i got rear things aligned properly, it went away
 
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