Have a look up under the front of the car. Also, check you tires to see if they are the same size, brand, correct pressure.

All you need to do is look underneath there and see if the boots are torn. Check tie rods, ball joints. If it is jerking as violent as you say it sounds like something is about to break apart. Do not move this vehicle!

I had a similar problem on my DD civic after some front end damage and it turns out it was just the alignment. However, it didn't get progressively worse as you're describing. I'd check first to make sure that there aren't any broken suspension pieces/CV joints as stated above, then if that is inconclusive check the alignment.

like everyone else ^^^^ check the cv axles and the alignment but also take a look at the powersteering hoses and make sure they are colapsing

Have your brakes been replaced recently? If the calipers were compressed unevenly this could happen. And it might be a good idea to check your rotors, they could be warped or one of them might be cracked, another thing is maybe your tires are out of balance, but that would be constant at say 55 it's really bad and it goes away at 65. My bet is something with the brakes.

Well, the CV boot on the driver's side isnt even there, so im guessing thats the problem. Time to replace the axle. Or, do they sell outer axle ends only, so I dont have to replace the whole axle?

Other questions about replacing the axle/end:

1) Is it possible to replace the driver side axle WITHOUT draining the transmission fluid? If so, how?

2) If you can replace the axle end without removing the entire axle, how would I go about doing that? vfaq does not show how to replace axle ends.

I read that Raxles sells outer axle ends. However, I looked at the CV joint on my car, and I dont see where the end separates from the rest of the axle, so i am unsure weather an axle end will solve my problem or not.

Just to repeat, DO NOT drive your car. If it's a violent shake, then something is about to fail on you. A bad alignment will cause vibration, but not to the point where someone would describe it as 'violent'. Go take the wheels off of the front of the car and have a visual inspection of your suspension system. Even if you've never looked at it before, just use your common sense. Any boot that is rubber, make sure it is not ripped. Any moving joint that appears to be cracked, exposed, misaligned, etc should be evident, check EVERY bolt in the suspension system and make sure they are on tight (You can probably get away with just a 14/17/19mm socket and wrench combo). Make sure you also check INSIDE the engine bay for the strut mounting bolts and the two upper control arm bolts.

I already found what the problem is, more than likely. The CV boot on the driver side wheel is virtually gone. I imagine the CV joint has seized up. My question now is if replacing the CV joint without draining the tranny fluid is possible; either by replacing the axle or just the axle end. Any suggestions?

you may not need to change the axle, depending on how the axle looks, you could just get a outter CV boot replacement kit, and just put on a new boot, it comes with grease even. but id take it out, and just move it around, and see what kind of shape its in

I havnt removed the axle yet, but I have jacked the car up and inspected it. I might get away with a new boot, but after looking at the joint, I would certainly feel better about replacing the whole joint. I am already looking into new axles, and would have no problem replacing the whole axle, unless I had to mess with transmission fluid. So far though, no one will tell me weather replacing the axle on the driver's side requires messing with the transmission, or weather an outer axle end is a viable option for this problem.

just remove the axle, if the tranny fluid leaks just add more when your done, there is a plug on the tranny, kind of big bolt on the front, just remove that and add more fluid till you can stick your finger in an feel it right below the plug whole, if your car is 5 spd use 80-90 weight gear oil

The only way an alignment will cause a vibration is if the caster is WAY out of wack. I have only seen this on cars that have been in wrecks. And that would be a slight vibration And I have been doing alignments for years. I would have a shop check the balance of the tires. And tell them to see if the rims are bent when they have them on the balancer. When you have it there ask them to check for any play in the front end. I really doubt that the axle is going to be the problem. Yes you can change the axle without having to mess with the fluid. Why are you afraid to mess with the fluid?

gotitjr- You have no idea what you are talking about. When the tires are out of balance the vibration will get worse as you speed up. It won't magically go away at 65mph. The only time I have ever seen brakes cause a vibration when not being used is when a drum was not balanced. Obviously he does not have drum brakes on the front of his car.

Go to your local pepboys/autozone/oreillys or whatever is near you and order a new axle. That's what I did when I caught the same problem, except I didn't have any telltale signs like yours. I agree, I don't think I'd be able to sleep at night just replacing the boot.

1992awdlaser said:

Why are you afraid to mess with the fluid?

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Because I dont have anything to drain it into, hehe.

Something I forgot to mention about the shaking in the steering is that it isnt constant. When I park the vehicle for a few hours, then drive it, it seems fine for the first half mile or so, then the vibrations slowly come back. This is sorta why I dont think its the alignment or an unbalanced wheel, because those would vibrate constantly.

Its not going to be the alignment. You are correct that an unbalanced tire would constantly vibrate. Could be a wheel bearing. I have seen that once. The wheel bearing gets hot and then the symptoms start.

I would just change the axle, I seen axles for the same price as boots or around the same price. Changing the axle isnt hard it should take an hr. tops. Then i would get it aligned for reasureance.

Run your hands along the tire. See if there are any bulges. I haven't ever had a cv axle "shake violently" except when it came apart. I think some of the guys might agree there is probably something else wrong here. Make sure you check the tie rods, ball joints, etc. There should be no play in the wheels at all.

I agree the if it was the shaft u would know it, i've had the same problem i swicthed tires and lower ball joints and it went away.

1992awdlaser said:

gotitjr- You have no idea what you are talking about. When the tires are out of balance the vibration will get worse as you speed up. It won't magically go away at 65mph. The only time I have ever seen brakes cause a vibration when not being used is when a drum was not balanced. Obviously he does not have drum brakes on the front of his car.

Click to expand...

I am only speaking from experience. I had a crack in one of my brake rotors and it shook very bad, like the OP said it initially started when he used the brakes. I thought maybe he had a crack or a warped rotor and that may have caused a weight on his tire to fall off, causing his tire to be out of balance. And I do believe in most every car that I have driven with out of balanced tires it shook very bad at certain speeds then when I sped up a little it wasn't as noticeable. After I had the tires balanced the whole problem went away. So I do believe I know what I'm talking about.

I'm not going to argue with you. I know what I'm talking about. I have been doing this work since before I was old enough to get a job. With a bent rim the vibration will be less noticable at high speeds. And You can make it go away almost completely by doing a match mount balance.

If his CV Axle or joint went bad his car would have the clicking sound on turning if bad enough it will click on all the time. I would check for nail or object on the tire and the engine/tranny mount.

I got a nail on my tire few days ago and it sound like I had a flat or warp wheel (car shaking bad), it turn out to be a nail. Anyway that is my .02 Cents.

BTW it cost me $100 flat to repack the CV Joint for both side 6 months ago.

Have you checked to make sure all of the lug nuts on the wheels are tight? Don't ask me how I know that this can cause what you are experiencing.

So I was driving down the road today when some guy cut me off and I had to slam on my brakes. Well in that brief minute of thinking about giving the guy the finger when I got on the brakes, my steering wheel acted like it was being jerked left and right fairly violently. when i let off the brake it went away for the most part.

I have have never noticed this before. After the brake incident, when I went to accelerate, the wheel did the same thing but only not quite as hard and only to the left side. Also does the same thing when turning slightly but way less violently. It doesn't make me swerve all over the road, although it does make my car lurch slightly when the wheel does move.

I do not know what this is and I do know that the wheel have been balanced and are fairly new. I know because I mounted and balanced them as well as I checked all the wheel weights when I stopped. All are still on.

Could this be a brake issue? The pads catching the rotor when driving? I don't believe it is a warped or cracked rotor because the steering thing goes away and it would keep doing the same thing if it was a rotor. Please help! Thanks.