Mysterious vibration

[GrayGen4]

Looking for any kind of thoughts/help/random educated guesses on this one. I have a strange vibration in the front end that appears around 70mph. The strange part is that it comes and goes. It'll start, then go away about 2-3 mins later. No change in speed, road, curve, steering, etc.
I've had a 4 wheel alignment, balancing, replaced front rotors/pads...everything I can think of. I spent an hour underneath the front end checking for loose/worn parts, and nothing seems evident. I checked the diff (transaxle? whatever you want to call the thing that the CV axles connect to) fluid, tranny fluid, oil, etc. Still nothing. All lugs are tight. The right outside CV boot looks a bit worn, and I'm planning on replacing it this weekend, but I don't think that would be it.

ITS DRIVING ME NUTS!!!

For what its worth:

Gen 4.5, 5sfe, mostly stock (blasphemous as that is).

Any suggestions would be appreciated. TIA

[Tedders]

Have you checked the fluid in the Power Steering? Also, the steering rack may be going: is it hard to turn on a very cold morning, and then become easier?

Good luck!

Drive laughing!
Tedders

[GrayGen4]

Haven't checked the PS fluid yet, but I'll make a note to. I haven't noticed any difference in the steering between cold/warm but again, I'll keep an eye on it.

Thanks!

[Black95Cam]

sounds like mine. how long ago since you replaced your rotors? do any hard braking?

[chronoti]

i have a 95 aurora with the same issue. it has poly strut mounts so the ole windsheld glue trick fixed it a little. the camry has a bearing strut mount ...........

[GrayGen4]

Originally Posted by Black95Cam

sounds like mine. how long ago since you replaced your rotors? do any hard braking?

It hasn't been that long, maybe 5k miles. No real hard braking comes to mind.

[GrayGen4]

Originally Posted by chronoti

i have a 95 aurora with the same issue. it has poly strut mounts so the ole windsheld glue trick fixed it a little. the camry has a bearing strut mount ...........

Windshield glue trick? Is this something I should try with the strut mounts? Fill me in. At this point I'm willing to try just about anything...even trained monkeys.

[Kep]

The balancing and suspension were my main concerns but you did those. Even so, it would be interesting if you rotated the tires front to back and see if anything changes. I had my tires balanced once and they missed the fact that the tire was coming apart on the inside.

Kep

[chronoti]

well the glue trick is for polly mounts i.e. low controll arm bushings (check those too).

but

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/rafr...&parttype=7460

that should help you see the bearing i'm talking about.

[Wantnmr2]

dude check if every thing is torqued down to the specs i u havent tried that, or look at you struts cuz those could be the problem happend to my friends car

[GrayGen4]

Update: Ended up replacing the right CV Axle. So far the vibration appears to have gone away. I've got 3 possibilities:
1) (and the most obvious)...one of the joints in this axle was bad.
2) The mount bearing (that's what the mechanic called it. Basically looks like a sleeve around the CV axle that mounts/supports it on the car. Has a bearing inside that allows the axle to turn) was siezed up. They had to replace the entire bracket because they couldn't get the old axle out of it. Apparently happens a lot.
3) Something else was loose, and when they reassembled the right side it got tightened.

In any event, it appears to have gone away now. I'll repost in a week or so (if anyone is interested) with updates.

Thanks to everyone for posting suggestions!

[BaByBoiGsxR]

Originally Posted by GrayGen4

I have a strange vibration in the front end that appears around 70mph. ITS DRIVING ME NUTS!!!

hey man, was the vibration only taking place when you put your foot on the gas? cause i THINK i have the same problem. i've been trying to pin-point the reason to why it's doing that. at this point not even the high end mechanics can figure it out. it's driving me nuts too! how much did you end up spending on repairs? what EXACTLY did you have replaced? let me know man. thanks.

Here's the deal with my vibration...

- ONLY when you press the gas
- starts at 20 mph, then goes away
- when i'm at 70mph, and i push the pedal to the metal, oh man! vibrates like crazy!

- had both axles replaced TWICE
- ALL motor mounts
- tires rotated
- welded on brand new exhaust flax, mine was off
- had a complete alignment 4 TIMES
- had both front fairly new coilovers removed and re-installed

so if you could bro. let me know if your situation was ANYTHING similar to mine and what you did to fix it. right now that damn vibration is holding me back from doing further mods to the CaM. thanks.