Shaking

[sodakfastiva]

Ok guys I need some help. My car likes to shake when I get up to 65+, but I have done the following already
Balanced tires - all perfectly balanced because I did them when I put new tires on
Lower control arms - helped because the shaking was worse before I did them
Also has brand new gsp axles on both sides
It likes to shake when I am about half throttle, but when I let off the shaking goes away until I give it more gas. Just looking for some suggestions thanks guys.

[william]

Check your Swaybar bushings.

[sodakfastiva]

Check your Swaybar bushings.

You think that would cause it too? I didn't get new bushings when I did control arms and they were in pretty rough shape. Maybe I'll try that and see what it does.

[william]

Yeah also check the Swaybar to body bushings. There available at the festiva store. The bar to control arm bushings are available just about anywhere.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

[ryanprins13]

Loose bushings are a big part of this, there are inners and outers on the lca's, and the front sway bar ones. 8 parts in total, the outer lca ones are considered one part though and come togeather.
Biggest thing is the tires. What size you got? Yokohamas seem to be the only ones built well enough to not cause a shake in the 12in size even when balanced good. Switching to quality 13 or 14in tires fixes it for many people.
Are your tie rod ends in perfect condition?

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

[sodakfastiva]

My tie rods aren't perfect but they are tight. The rubber is cracked and split but tight for sure. For tires I am running 175/65R14 - Ironman RB-12s and they are brand new. I did order the sway bar to LCA bushings because they were under 2 bucks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[WmWatt]

To test for worn sway bar bushings rock the car back and forth and listend for clunking. I've cured shaking by rotating the tires. I don't mean removing the tires from the rims, just moving the tires and rims to another positiion on the vehicle.

[sodakfastiva]

To test for worn sway bar bushings rock the car back and forth and listend for clunking. I've cured shaking by rotating the tires. I don't mean removing the tires from the rims, just moving the tires and rims to another positiion on the vehicle.

Ill try that too, right no I understand what rotating tires means haha. I just put a brand new set of 4 on so I know rotating wont do anything for me.

[FestYboy]

Your tires are 1" too tall. And even if they balance out, they can still be out of round and will cause a vibration no matter what you do. Also I would re-check the axles at the tri-pot (inner bit). Too much lash there within the cup will cause vibration under load.

[sodakfastiva]

Your tires are 1" too tall. And even if they balance out, they can still be out of round and will cause a vibration no matter what you do. Also I would re-check the axles at the tri-pot (inner bit). Too much lash there within the cup will cause vibration under load.

Gotcha and it only happens when under load. When I put the passenger side axle in, I noticed that the outer joint was really stiff. I've put plenty of axles in and it bothered me that it was tight. It was like a u-joint if you don't clearance it. It is also making noise on the passenger side when I am in load at low speeds. Thank you for that I bet that is it. I will check it out and see if it is loose.

[WmWatt]

You can repack the outer joint on the axles. Just jack up the car, carefully bend back the tabs on the metal clamps, slide the rubber cover up the axle out of the way, pack with fresh bearing grease, reposition the rubber cover and clamp. If a clamp breaks people use nylon cable ties as replacements. Hope that helps.

PS I've been sold wrong size refurbished axle. They just compare a couple of neasurements and spline counts. Mine looked like it was off a Honda. Too tight. Not enough lateral ply when turning corners. Had to remove and return for replacement. It was okay. Second time lucky.

[ricko1966]

Okay I am going to psss everyone off again but 50 years of expierience has taught me a lot. I used to sell and install new joints or reman axles. You cannot buy 1 new joint for what a reman axle cost. Standard reman axle procedure is dissassemble bore the inner races and outter cages out put in the next larger size bearing put on new boots,done next please. The problems are sometimes the grind right through the .040 surface hardening on the races and cages it's a gamble maybe you won't have a problem, maybe you will.Next problem is the reman guys, cheap is their goal the do not hold their tolerances to O.E. specs so your axle maybe 1/2 way worn out as installed. Next problem a guy goes to the parts store to buy his honda axle,it is still in the car he is driving to go to the parts store,so he grabs the junk axle from when he did his 5speed and turns it in as a core so now the core axle is theoretically for a 5speed but in reality it is for an auto car,who gets to figure out what's different? You do. We used to dissassemble customers car axles if the made noise or had torn boots, clean them well inspect them well, no galling no big pits, grease them with mos2 and reassemble them with new boots, if we had pitted races or other damage we replace the joint with a oem new joint.This really happened a customer who I thought trusted me told me he could get two new axles from O'reilly for less than or what it was going to cost to repair his axles, I tried to tell him the were not the same but he informed me they had a lifetime warranty, which he ended up needing 3 times while he owned his jetta. FWIW an original lobro joint at least in a VW/Porsche application uses fractionally different size balls in each hole on the joint to adjust for manufacturing tolerances,kinda like the front diff thickness front wheel brg shims in a festy.Also FWIW VW porsche balances their engines from the factory to within 5 grams, I do not know about other marques, I do know if I am building an HP VW I am going to source all my rods from the same motor and rebuild them and weigh all my new pistons and pins on a gram scale juggle light pins to heavy pistons then lighten all pistons to match weight of lightest assembly.Does Mazda/ Festy hell any other brand do this?No really if anyone knows I'd like to know

[sodakfastiva]

I checked my axles out also and I had it turned all the way to the right. I could move the axle back and forth a little bit and it was the same thing with the other side as well. I mean it wasn't a lot of play just some pretty normal stuff I guess. I could try repacking them and maybe that would help? Idk if anybody else has had bad/good luck with GSP axles? They were only 50 bucks a side so not too bad. The axles have to be it because it is only under load. And driving low speeds it is fine tho.

[sodakfastiva]

Alright guys I'm pretty sure my axles are bad because they are cheap junk. I know oem ones are the best but what axles have you guys used? I am working on getting a quote from raxles for two of them just to see what the price is. Should I get reman ones or new ones?

[WmWatt]

Sorry, local shop which refurbishes axles and radiators. Good luck.