Hi guys,

Recently, I've posted in the General Tech section that I had some sort of a vibration problem with my car. My vehicle is an 03 ss and ever since I purchased the car I've been having problems with some sort of a vibration. So far I've installed CA bushings, ball joints, tie rods, sway bar links all on both sides, and complete set of KYB strut assemblies for the rear, as well as a new set of rims and tires (nexen n5000) which were balanced 3 times now, once when I purchased them, 2nd and 3rd time at Canadian Tire 2 different locations. I have installed 5mm wheel spacers only in the rear because my tires were a little big and there wasnt much clearance with the struts. I've also purchased new rotors and brake pads (R1 Concepts e-line slotted and drilled) which only have 1200km on them. My lug nuts were hand torqued to 100ft/lbs on all 4 corners and tire pressure is 35psi for all 4 corners. I dont know what the problem is but when I'm driving in heavy traffic (as the car has warmed up to operating temperatures) between 0-40km/hr I begin to notice a wobble/vibration in the steering. It gradually disappears as I speed up. The vehicle doesnt vibrate when I apply the brakes though. It will vibrate regardless of braking. Anyways, it only seems to be doing it when in traffic slowed down and moving from 0-40km/hr. Any advice or help would be awesome guys. As I am really getting tired of this problem, and I dont want to spend more money having my car examined by someone I dont know.

 

Possibilities:

Bent rim
Bad wheel bearing
Bad CV axle

I wouldn't trust those rotors either, they're known to crack (maybe even warp) very quickly. Definately a poorly made product.

 

Bad wheel bearing or maybe wheel hub would be my guess.

 

Thanks for posting guys. I really appreciate your comments and advice. If I were to take a guess at this I would probably say either one of the wheel bearings or cv joints. I am not getting any sound out of them while driving but the vibration/wobbling comes and go's. It is so weird. It mostly happens in traffic. Sometimes its really serious and sometimes its acceptable (but still there). Ive had the problem ever since I bought the car with my original rims and tires. I guess I'm noticing it more now that I've installed new parts. As far as the rims/rotors/axles/bearings are concerned is there anyway of checking them to make sure nothing is out of balance, but like I said it comes and go's and its felt between 0-40, but also when I gain speed you can somewhat feel it (not as bad though). If you guys can tell me how to diagnose this problem or where I should take my car other than my mechanic I would really enjoy that.

Thanks again for your concerns,

George

 

It's not bad to do yourself. I had never worked on anything past taking a wheel off when I replaced my CV. It's straightforward - remove axle nut, jack up the car, take off wheel, caliper, rotor, then the wheel bearing/hub is right there. The axles come right out, all you need is a pry bar to pull the inner cv tripot out of the transmission.

 

well, considering I did pretty much all the front end suspension work myself with regards to installing bushings/ball joints/tie-rods, I think I am inclined to replace a hub assembly or axle. But the problem is, how would I know which side is bad and which side is good. Would you suggest I replace both axles and both front end bearings? Man, what a money pit .Thanks for the reply nighthawk

 

No problem, there aren't a lot of people on this forum that know about actually working on cars, but I'm one that does so I help when I can.

You kinda have to feel where the vibration is coming from. If it's in the driver's floorboard, it's likely the driver's side. If you have another means of transportation, you could always jack the car up and take each side apart and see if you could visually diagnose the issue, then take the backup transportation to the parts store. Hell, you could buy everything you need then do one side and if it works, bring the other parts back and get a refund.

 

I'm the kind of guy that would buy both bearings and axles and have both sides done rather than one. But thats just me. Man all I do is spend crazy money on this car. But I love it and I hope for sure this will fix my problem, as I pretty much did all suspension upgrades with new tires and rims never been abused and this sort of problem comes up. Thanks nighthawk, your info is very important to me and I will consider doing this sometime this weekend or next. Is there anything specific to know about removing the axles from the tranny or removing them from the wheel hub assembly and or placing them back?

Thanks again,
George

 

Hey, cars are money pits, especially once they get some age on them. I wouldn't trade my Monte in for anything though, ever. Again, it's no problem man, I'll help if I can.

Yours may differ slightly, as my car is a '96. In a nutshell, this is what you need to do:

1.) Loosen the axle nut on the hub, it's easier to break the nut free if the car's on the ground. You're gonna need a BIG socket and a breaker bar to get it loose.
2.) Jack the car up, remove the wheel.
3.) Remove the brake caliper (mine was held in with like two bolts, used a t-55 torx bit to remove the bolts) This may be a pain in the ***, my bolts were in there so tight I had to use a breaker bar and a floor jack to get them broke loose.
4.) Take off the rotor.
5.) Wheel bearing/hub is held in by 4 bolts on the backside of the bracket that the hub is mounted onto (I think it's called an A arm, but I'm not sure)
6.) Pull off the hub. There are 4 tabs, one on each corner of the hub. (Make sure you get those back in the holes you removed them from on the mounting bracket when you're re-assembling)
7.) There was an ABS protector on mine, it came right off (this is where yours may differ)
8.) The axle will now just be sitting in place if memory serves me correctly. Just put the pry bar between the transmission and the inner tripot of the CV axle, and pry it out. It may be held in with snap rings, which can be a bit of a bitch to wiggle loose. You may be able to pull the axle out after you initially get the tripot out of the transmission.
9.) Re-assemble, make sure to take note of how the ABS spline is sitting originally (if this applies to your repair) so you can put it back together the same way it was originally.

Hope this has helped.

 

Awesome thanks so much. I have one last question to ask. Would I need to disassemble the steering knuckle from the strut assembly to make it easier to get the axle out? or will just disassembling the bearing be able to get it out?