2000 LeSabre front end vibration

[BuickGirlFromMars]

Thank you, but I was asking the OP

Well I FOR ONE like to hear what frampton has to say, so

check yourself or be checked

 

[SAYBER]

Well I FOR ONE like to hear what frampton has to say, so

check yourself or be checked

Thanks you, but I understand.... 😆 😆 But, this is very important information if chasing a vibration. I wish I would have found out before I wasted $400. Check trans level. 😆

 

[broke_collegekid]

A tire with damage to the construction(you had a bent rim.. didnt notice it before... perhaps it maintained a balance in that exact index on the original position on the car with the proper runout, balance, etc,,, but yeah a tire with damage to the construction is almost always unbalanceable or at least it wont have consistent behavior on the road compared to the machine
of course, check run out. check strut bearings/mounts, check alignment because if you bent a rim you hit something hard. that can jostle your suspension out of wack.
check engine/trans mounts, a torque axis mount will especially let vibration go in through wheel. Check your struts work consistentlybetween sides because they could be worn but if one is shot and one is new, that could cause vibrations from the unbalanced and new-forces imposed on the car and partscheck to make sure tie rods are tightened and have proper amount of play, check those ball joints, wheel bearings
check subframe mount(front and back!),wand ultimately, check your trim height. car should not be sagging anuwhere.

lastly, i almost forgot, check your splash shields and mud guards!! They are NVA as well as underbody protection and cooling

I jacked up my car ( and put 4 jack stands under it) and put it in drive letting the wheels spin off the ground and my mom was sitting in the car giving a little gas to get it up to 30-40 mph. Looking at the passenger side wheel from the front, I can see it was wobbling a little while spinning. The drivers side wheel has no wobble and spins straight. I'm still hunting this vibration I get above 65 mph. I'm thinking the drivers side axle is going bad as I've also been hearing a slight clicking over the last two days while I give the car gas at any speed, when I start the car cold (weather is finally getting to around freezing here in Minnesota).

Drivers side axle you think? I'll probably get a new wheel bearing as well. I've balanced all 4 wheels and done road force balanced the front ones with no effect.

 

[SAYBER]

I jacked up my car ( and put 4 jack stands under it) and put it in drive letting the wheels spin off the ground and my mom was sitting in the car giving a little gas to get it up to 30-40 mph. Looking at the passenger side wheel from the front, I can see it was wobbling a little while spinning. The drivers side wheel has no wobble and spins straight. I'm still hunting this vibration I get above 65 mph. I'm thinking the drivers side axle is going bad as I've also been hearing a slight clicking over the last two days while I give the car gas at any speed, when I start the car cold (weather is finally getting to around freezing here in Minnesota).

Drivers side axle you think? I'll probably get a new wheel bearing as well. I've balanced all 4 wheels and done road force balanced the front ones with no effect.

Clicking is classic, DIFFENITLY axle, outer.

 

[broke_collegekid]

Clicking is classic, DIFFENITLY axle, outer.

Throughout the multi month saga I've had of casually searching for this issue, I personally refused to believe that it would be the axle, mostly because I just didn't want to deal with changing it, throwing the alignment out of whack yet again, and having to get another alignment lol

 

[SAYBER]

Throughout the multi month saga I've had of casually searching for this issue, I personally refused to believe that it would be the axle, mostly because I just didn't want to deal with changing it, throwing the alignment out of whack yet again, and having to get another alignment lol

Welcome to car ownership! 😆 I've been driving almost 40 years and it never stops! 😆

 

[BuickGirlFromMars]

Throughout the multi month saga I've had of casually searching for this issue, I personally refused to believe that it would be the axle, mostly because I just didn't want to deal with changing it, throwing the alignment out of whack yet again, and having to get another alignment lol

your alignment should be unaffected if you just remove the tie rod and pull it out that way./

What you do, jack it up, take wheel off, take wheel bearing off(axle nut of course), take tie rod off , then your knuckle has a LOT of room to take out cv axle.
Remove cv axle
Put new seal in trans, put new axle in, push it in behind the knuckle, put a new wheel bearing over it, match up the splines and make sure clean, get it in, route your connector, get it all torqued(wheel bearing and cv), then put your tie rod back on. may be good idea to invest in tie rod puller so you dont brake the boot. also if you have grease fittingso n ball joint or tie rod, good time to do them.

And congrats, no alignment was affected beeause you didnt change where the tie rod turns in and out, you didnt change the knuckle to strut camber, and you didnt change anything else.

 

[BuickGirlFromMars]

forgot, may have to loosen sway bar link but it shouldnt be necessary.

 

[SAYBER]

your alignment should be unaffected if you just remove the tie rod and pull it out that way./

What you do, jack it up, take wheel off, take wheel bearing off(axle nut of course), take tie rod off , then your knuckle has a LOT of room to take out cv axle.
Remove cv axle
Put new seal in trans, put new axle in, push it in behind the knuckle, put a new wheel bearing over it, match up the splines and make sure clean, get it in, route your connector, get it all torqued(wheel bearing and cv), then put your tie rod back on. may be good idea to invest in tie rod puller so you dont brake the boot. also if you have grease fittingso n ball joint or tie rod, good time to do them.

And congrats, no alignment was affected beeause you didnt change where the tie rod turns in and out, you didnt change the knuckle to strut camber, and you didnt change anything else.

I'd be careful, a new axle may have different dimensions, plus factoring in different length, worn, old parts wear. Just saying.

 

[broke_collegekid]

I'd be careful, a new axle may have different dimensions, plus factoring in different length, worn, old parts wear. Just saying.

I'd probably get one of those cardone axles which I know are not exactly the same size.

 

[BuickGirlFromMars]

I'd probably get one of those cardone axles which I know are not exactly the same size.

the difference in length can vary mildy because its a slipjoint, it goes in and out for difference in height of your knuckle relative to your frame subframe and thus engine/trans. the other dimensions shouldnt be far off... if you mean play has developed, a new one shouldnmt have that. make sure to match spline count. passenger drive shafts on ultra i believe are different. not sure about driver but passenger are because of increased torque applied to a longer axle