Chewing through axles with Aspire suspension swap

[Movin]

Jeez...that was just an example of what you might find if you keep your eyes open and look. There is a boot chewing itself up because it folds in on itself. That and the vibration you describe means it is compressed. You need to figure out why!!! Is that the car in the sig? It has had an accident that could have bent something?
To catch little bends in the built in frame stuff you have to look close.
The other guy swapped stuff, he may not have swapped it the way you think he did. You may have an Aspire axle for instance.

[200KGPGTP]

I had no intention of sounding negative or crass, sorry if it came off that way. Just trying to figure this out.

I didn't have any issues before the suspension swap, the wreck damage is very very minor.

I know they're festiva axles because I but a brand new set on when I put in the b6, and yet another brand new set just last week.

[navdoc101]

I just had the powertrain out a couple weeks ago and all 3 mounts are solid. A bit of dry rot cracking, but that's it.

So I SHOULDN'T use Aspire control arms? That's a relief, because for some reason they're like 10x the price of Festiva control arms.

I guess I'll replace the tie rod arms , get it aligned, and go from there.

Aspire tie-rod Ends , not arms.
That & aligned is all you need.

[nitrofarm]

I but a brand new set on when I put in the b6, and yet another brand new set just last week.

B6 ? Thats a detail that you should have mentioned earlier unless I missed it. I would bet money that your problem isn't the ride height.Make sure your drive-train is squared up & centered. If one of these are off you can get bind-age. If both are off you can get really bad bind-age. Center/Square your drive-train and your problems should get better.

[200KGPGTP]

I don't have a manual, please elaborate. How much could it possibly be off? It uses all factory mounts

[TominMO]

I just had the powertrain out a couple weeks ago and all 3 mounts are solid. A bit of dry rot cracking, but that's it.

So I SHOULDN'T use Aspire control arms? That's a relief, because for some reason they're like 10x the price of Festiva control arms.

I guess I'll replace the tie rod arms , get it aligned, and go from there.

You can get Duralast brand Aspire LCAs at Auto Zone, about $60-70 or so.

[nitrofarm]

I don't have a manual, please elaborate. How much could it possibly be off? It uses all factory mounts

Look at the upper mount see how its slotted to allow the drive train to center left to right? First off you want to see how the axles are centered before and after. So with the car on the ground loosen both axle retaining nuts. Push the axle in as far as you can, and measure the distance from the end of the axle to the hub. Compare these left and right,if you are way of you'll notice one axle will almost want to push out of the spindle.TIGHTEN the nuts back down and loosen all three mounts. Now with engine running move the car forward and backward a few feet. I do this a couple times- Now tighten the mounts and recheck the axles like beforehand. You have just free'd up the axles like they should be. When folks make the upper mount without that slot they miss a great oppurtunity to get rid of axle bindage. Thats what the slot os for. NITRO-

[TominMO]

^^ Great info, thanks.

[200KGPGTP]

Before reading that post, I parked on flat ground, neutral. Loosened all three mounts and shook the engine as much as I could to get it to "settle where it wanted to be" and sure enough, it eliminated 99% of the issue.

The inner boot on the short axle still eats itself though due to the sharp down angle. Guess I'll just have to live with that......

[Dragonhealer]

How many "ribs" or "bumps" are on your inner CV bellow?

[200KGPGTP]

I'll check in a bit.

I have also installed new Aspire tie rod ends and had an alignment done.

[200KGPGTP]

3 ribs. Upon further inspection I think it might hold up after the alignment/tie rod replacement/powertrain centering. It's not making contact like it was.

[Dragonhealer]

Oh good!
Sometimes axles come with the wrong boot on them.

[bhazard]

Space the crossmember down

[Movin]

Space the crossmember down

Just the rear mount