Help everyone, the other night I was driving my car down the highway and it started shaking terribly. Feel it through the floor and the seat, minimal in the steering wheel, and only when load is applied, as soon as I let off the gas it smooths out completely.

I went to a local Canadian Tire as I was too far from home to get in to my buddy's garage and take a look, and had them put it up on the hoist and took a look under neath, quick diagnosis by their mechanic was that the driver's side axle needed to be replaced, and they wanted to charge me $400 to do the job, so of course I took the car to a friends, picked up the new axle, and changed it myself (I will try and post a pic tomorrow) and it was pain, the axle broke where it connects to the tranny and we had to weld a bar on and hammer the remaining piece out, but all said and done 2 hours including time to get parts and it was fixed, but..............the shaking is still present.

I am thinking now that it may be the torque motor mounts, as everything else in and under the car is in either new condition or in great condition and it's the only thing I can think of it being.

Is this a proper direction I should be heading in?

Has anyone experienced anything like this before?

The tires are in excellent shape, rims are not bent, new wheel bearings in november, new tie rods and ball joints, and new front pads and rotors, all within the last 5 months, oh and a transmission, so I just had the front end apart 6 weeks ago with no issues noted and everything was great up until 2 days ago. So I have ruled out any of those possibilities

any help is appreciated

 

I was having dumb mad shaking tyne same conditions as you when I checked the play in the wheels it shook bad turned out to be one of my tie rod ends. Something to consider

 

Did you check the other axle?
When I had to replace the right side Axle on my 02MCSS, I used a 3 foot Crow bar. Wedged it into the trans and the inner CV cup and it came out with Great easy.
A bad motor momount will cause the engine to rock, but not constantly. Just on take off and stopping. Your problem has to be in something that rotates with the tires. Have you checked your rear hubs?

 

The other axle was replaced about a year ago, so it could be the problem. The Tie Rods and everything else is new. There is no play in the wheels. I can take the rear hubs apart and give them a once over.

The weird part is that it only does it under acceleration and when there is power to the drivetrain, as soon as I let off the gas it completely goes away, which is why I was thinking it wasn't the rear hubs or anything as I thought they would do it all the time while the car was moving

and there is play in both the front torque strut mounts, they move freely when pulling on the motor

 

Yeah, it's not likely the rear hubs. I replaced my right axle but when I had the Trans done I found out it needed to be replaced again because the strap that holds the boot on broke. Fortunately it had a lifetime warranty.
I've had all my hubs replaced, the right axle and I am about to replace the left control arm. It's got bad bushings. When o replace it I am going to check the left axle because I still have a wobble. Mine is all the time although not bad unless I am at 60 mph or I accelerate from what ever speed I am doing. Winter puts a damper on my repairs though.
To bad we can't watch the underside of the car while we are driving! I will find my wobble. And everything I have replace could cause the wobble but also needed to be replace so it was not a waste of time or $$$

 

I agree, it'd be nice to see the underside while it's driving. I don't mind replacing the bad parts, but it would have been nice if that was what was causing the problem. I've put a fair amount of money into my car in the last year because I want to keep driving it so all I keep saying is that "it's only half a new car payment" and that gets me through lol.

The shaking doesn't even start until it hits around 70 kms an hour, so it's not like I can even have the wife stand on the side of the road in town to look and see if anything is shaking while driving lol, the tires are all in great shape with no broken belts or anything.

Oh well good puzzles are always the hardest to solve

 

Mine starts almost right away. It's not bad though until I get to about 54 mph. But not every time.

Here is my philosophy; If you buy a new car, you make payment of $300 up to $500 a month. When you go to the bank, you give them your money, they give a receipt. A piece of paper. Woo Hoo!
IF I have to go to the parts store and give them $300, I walk out not only with stuff, but stuff that will make my car BETTER! And I Don't have to do that Every Month. I win! LOL

 

Well had the tires inspected and all 4 tires re balanced today and the shake is still there.

Now I'm thinking maybe motor mounts?

Never had an issue like this with any of my previous cars and honestly all suspension parts are in great shape

 

I just had to have my steering rack replaced, had replaced tie rods and that didn't fix the shake. That might be it? Would think it would be a constant shake rather than only under load.

Have you tried shifting to neutral while driving? I'm told if it's something in the power train then it will stop but suspension will still shake in neutral, just a thought.

 

I still don't think that the motor mounts would cause your problem. Even if they snapped, the top of the motor should roll towards the fire wall with the trans in drive, and roll towards the radiator with the car in reverse. But it would roll to a certain point and stay there. This is determined by the amount of torque you are applying. (Position of the gas peddle) so the harder you press the Gas to go forward, the more the engine will roll backwards.
Test: put your emergency brake on as tight as it can be. Put chucks under your tire to stop the car from moving forward; or put someone in the drivers seat with both feet pressing the brakes hard. Then put the car in drive. Now, while standing on the left side of the car, rev the engine by opening the throttle at the throttle body. The engine should roll towards the firewall a little. If it looks like the engine is trying to flip in the engine bay, then you have bad mounts. But your engine will not shake.
Things that will cause the car shake/vibrate: bad suspension or steering parts, bad harmonic balancer, bad timing, (which is computer controlled), fouled plug/plugs, dried and cracked wires, bad Ignition coils. There are also internals in the motor and Trans that would cause the shaking, but unless there have been some major changes in Drive Train design that I am Unaware of, the motor mounts are not one of them.