Bent CV axle or something else

[1993BlackSHO]

OK if you remember, I just got my motor and MTX installed. I put in new CV axles but did not replace the center halfshaft because the bearing felt good. Here the problem. Went to take the first test drive and was pulling out of my buddy's shop. I had the wheels turned to the right a little, and going up hill. I was letting the clutch out and starting up the hill in reverse, and the front started shaking bad and the guy standing in front of the car said it looked like that wheel was comming off.

Got the car on the lift to inspect everything and finnaly noticed something that did not look right. While turning the right wheel, if felt like it was binding in the same spot while turning it. Then noticed that the axle was moving up and down about 1/4 in at the same time.

Our first thought was I got a bent axle from Autozone. Now I'm not so sure. It was moving up and down all over, not just like it had a bend in it. That would have to be caused by the wheel bearing or half shaft right? I need to figure this out. Any ideas out there?

 

[SHO-NUF93]

Got the axle nut tight? How about where the halfshaft bolts to the bracket, and bracket to engine? Before you take anything apart, shake down the front end, make sure there are no suspension parts left loose, or worn. Doing this will also reveal a bad hub bearing(if it's bad enough to cause what you described).

BUT, if it is a reman. axle from AutoZone, of all places, it could be bent...

 

[1993BlackSHO]

Yea the axle nut is tight, halfshaft is rock solid. Yanked on it and would not move. Im starting to suspect the wheel bearing beacause I know it got stressed pretty bad with the old halfshaft was in there. It was vibrating pretty bad.

 

[1993BlackSHO]

Anyone else have any thoughts on this? Would a bad wheel bearing cause something like this? If not, what would. I will be pulling the axle out over the weekend to inspect everything a little better.

 

[Shoaz]

The bearing is easy enough to check. Just jack up that corner so that the wheel is in the air and then try to rock/jiggle it with a hand on the top and bottom of the wheel. If there's play, the wheel bearing is bad. If it's snug, it's something else.

 

[geos sho]

EXCESSIVE PRELOAD ON THE BEARING, get a NAPA axle shaft. shudder is a binding issue normally. my 2 cents

 

[1993BlackSHO]

That reminds me of something. May be relevent. When we were putting on that shaft, it did not want to go into the hub very easily. I slid it in by hand about half way. Used the impact to put it on the rest of the way and it still did not go easy. Probably took the impact 20 sec to get it seated all the way. All I know is, its probably not gonna come out easy either.

 

[1993BlackSHO]

OK got my new axle and installed it. And it is still shuttering. Only done it in reverse and I didnt have the clutch all the way out yet.

We started going over everything and trying to figure out if we did something wrong. And then I realized something looking at the old motor and tranny sitting there. When I swapped the new clutch from my old trans over to the new one, we didnt change the flywheel. Only swapped the clutch, pressure plate, and TB. And the clutch that was on that flywheel was wore out.

Now I'm thinking its the clutch and I have the pull the trans out. Damn this sucks. I did take the car for a drive and it feels fine going down the road. Accelerating and decelerating is smooth. Only did it in reverse with a partial clutch.

You guys agree its probably the clutch?

 

[Shoaz]

*IF* it's the clutch (and switching diagnosis from a CV/hub to a chattering clutch seems a little odd to me), the chattering is usually aggravated by loose or bad motor mounts. Check the motor mounts first, even just to make sure they're tight.

I've cured clutch chatter a couple of times by tightening or replacing motor mounts.