wheel spins not smooth

[bronzemaxell]

my 99 solara v6 driver side front wheel spins weird, i jacked up both front wheel and put on a 4 ton jack stand, then start engine, and shift in gear, i was watching the rotational motion of the front driver wheel, while speed at 10 to 20mph, i can see the wheel goes up and down motion about 1/4 of an inch per revolution(not side to side), the passenger side spin steady, no up and down motion.

what would cause this problem?
my lower control arm feel very weak, i can easily push it down with my hand.
i've work on other vehicle, where i would have to use a 2 foot pry bar to push it down.
i've replaced driver side cv axle, though there is a little play on the differential, in and out motion, about 1/8" to 1/4" travel distance, differential seal no leak, not sure if that is normal, the passenger side don't have any play
I've also replaced the driver side spindle/hub/bearing, along with outter tierod and balljoint.

[71Corolla]

Swap the wheel/tire with a different one, then try the same test again.

edit - the axle spline does have some play in the differential, that is normal.

[bronzemaxell]

Originally Posted by 71Corolla

Swap the wheel/tire with a different one, then try the same test again.

edit - the axle spline does have some play in the differential, that is normal.

i've swapped wheel/tire from two other vehicles, also 16", oem rim and good tires, and my vibration problem still exist,
here are my vibration symtoms
light braking at 20 to 40 mph, the steering wheel will pulses like a warpped rotor,(though hard braking at 40 or 50mph doesn't have pulses on steering wheel) my rotor are brand new oem from toyota, brake pads are a few months old.

traveling at speed above 60mph, it start to vibrate, sometimes vibration more pronounced while driving on some curvy expressway, along with some clunking sound, especially curving to the right, sometimes hardly noticable on straight and smooth surfaced road, but speed lower than 60 is hardly noticable as well.

[sam333]

Its not good for your axles/cv joints to jack up the car and run them unloaded.

The 1/4'' movement in the wheel while jacked up, may or may not have anything to do with your vibration while driving( the drivers side axle is short, and at high angle when jacked up and you may be binding your cv joints while testing).

Sounds like you have replaced most of the front right parts. How do your struts and strut mounts look( how many miles on them)? Also the control arm? Sway bar bushings and dog bones? They can all add to a loose sloppy front end when worn. The control arms are much easier to move ( even when new) than most other cars/trucks( can be moved by hand, to a point).

[bronzemaxell]

Originally Posted by sam333

Its not good for your axles/cv joints to jack up the car and run them unloaded.

The 1/4'' movement in the wheel while jacked up, may or may not have anything to do with your vibration while driving( the drivers side axle is short, and at high angle when jacked up and you may be binding your cv joints while testing).

Sounds like you have replaced most of the front right parts. How do your struts and strut mounts look( how many miles on them)? Also the control arm? Sway bar bushings and dog bones? They can all add to a loose sloppy front end when worn. The control arms are much easier to move ( even when new) than most other cars/trucks( can be moved by hand, to a point).

i replaced all strut with tokico back in or 2008, probably put another 20k on them. didn't replace any strut mounts, but did replace the rubbers where the springs sit, no knocking/thumbing sound over bumps.
just replace front and rear sway bars, sway bar bushing look ok, and no squeaking sound.
dogbone bushing no crack.

a few time i was coming to a stop at a traffic light, and front driver wheel drove over a man-hole cover that caves in a little, maybe 1", (not flush with the road), and i felt my front end very loose, and my abs kicked in.

[fenixus]

so the last things left are lower control arms and perhaps struts?

On my V6 I am able to push both LCA down with a hand (once unbolted from ball joint), not easily though, takes some force and wiggling, but those bushings are quite elastic. doesn't necessarily mean they are bad though.

If you cannot make the LCA move with a pry bar when all is bolted up then it's good.

now ... how are your front struts behaving when bouncing them, especially in FD corner? how old are the strut mounts and springs vs struts and coil spring insulators?

did you use OEM (new or remanuf) axle on the driver side? if it was aftermarket, then it could be a suspect too, e.g. not 100% straight and wobbling?

just shooting some ideas.

[JohnGD]

What does it mean when the LCA is weak, when the outer end still connected to the knuckle and OP pushes down on the inner end with the bushings? Or with it disconnected from the knuckle (when changing the halfshaft for example)? If the rear bushing show cracks in the rubber I'd change them out. It may be cheaper to get a Dorman LCA with new bushings (unless you want to spend for OEM $$).

+1 about supporting the kunckles before running the wheels. The driveshafts shouldn't be run when fully extended. I'd jack up so the frame lifts up slightly from the jack stands. And then run them again. The left side shouldn't move up/down otherwise. Sounds like something is binding.

Also, was the axle nut properly torqued down?

[bronzemaxell]

Originally Posted by JohnGD

What does it mean when the LCA is weak, when the outer end still connected to the knuckle and OP pushes down on the inner end with the bushings? Or with it disconnected from the knuckle (when changing the halfshaft for example)? If the rear bushing show cracks in the rubber I'd change them out. It may be cheaper to get a Dorman LCA with new bushings (unless you want to spend for OEM $$).

+1 about supporting the kunckles before running the wheels. The driveshafts shouldn't be run when fully extended. I'd jack up so the frame lifts up slightly from the jack stands. And then run them again. The left side shouldn't move up/down otherwise. Sounds like something is binding.

Also, was the axle nut properly torqued down?

the first time i unbolt the lower control arm was when i changed the driver side spindle/knuckle, not sure if my old ball joint was worn, but i was able to spin or push my ball joint like almost no force at all, and i did replaced with an greasable aftermarket ball joint.
i pushed down the lower control arm to uninstall and reinstall ball joint. but i never try to test if there is any movement after bolted to ball joint.

i don't know if i torque down the axle nut properly,
i use a craftsman 1/2 ratchet to tighten it, until i couldn't tighten any further
then i attached my 6 ft fence pole to ratchet, and do another 1/4 turn.
i must have applied about 50 lb of force at the end of the pipe, my guess is around 250 to 300lb of force.

[sam333]

Originally Posted by bronzemaxell

the first time i unbolt the lower control arm was when i changed the driver side spindle/knuckle, not sure if my old ball joint was worn, but i was able to spin or push my ball joint like almost no force at all, and i did replaced with an greasable aftermarket ball joint.
i pushed down the lower control arm to uninstall and reinstall ball joint. but i never try to test if there is any movement after bolted to ball joint.

i don't know if i torque down the axle nut properly,
i use a craftsman 1/2 ratchet to tighten it, until i couldn't tighten any further
then i attached my 6 ft fence pole to ratchet, and do another 1/4 turn.
i must have applied about 50 lb of force at the end of the pipe, my guess is around 250 to 300lb of force.

Axle nut torque is critical ...to tight will cause damage, to loose will cause damage. If you are going to tighten the axle nuts without a torque wrench at least use a scale to stand on while torquing. Using your method, you could have easily doubled the required torque( distorting crushing the bearing). I have seen many bearings installed like this and they always fail. With torques this high, if the manual does not calls for oil on the threads then make sure the threads are clean( no oil, no grease , no anti seize) or your torque will be too high.

[fenixus]

bronzemaxell, not sure where you live, but in US you could borrow a 1/2'' torque wrench (2ft long, up to 250ft-lbs) from autozone...

30mm axle nut calls for 217ft-lbs torque.

also, I would suggest getting a second person to hold down on the brakes firmly (car can be started, active brake booster will make it easier) while axle is still in the air, when torquing down on the axle nut. you don't want to rest the weight of car on a loose axle/knuckle, especially if bearing is new ...

[bronzemaxell]

i do have a torque wrench, but hardly use, i am aware of the torque spec, i normally loose or tighten axle nuts while vehicle on ground, parking brake on, and blocks on rear wheels, used this method dozen of times, works fine for me, all parts i swapped recently didn't change my vibration issue, my guess I've been swapping out parts that are still in working condition

i will probably change struts next,
this vibration just happen after my brother hualed 2 yard of mulch at once to his backyard
today, i just hauled 1 yard of fill dirt, the guy at Mr. Mulch told me that is about 2000 LB, especially it just rained last light.
i thought the good indication of bad strut is bouncy ride, but i did see one time the strut on one of my vehicle was totally shot, and the ride were not noticably bouncy.

[sam333]

Well sounds like you have all the answers , so you should be able to figure it out.

The tid bit about it happening after your brother hauled with it would have been nice to know in the beginning.
If you want help here you should not dole out little bits of info along the way , give all the information up front.
Did you brother hit something, is you differential making noise?
If your axle has a clip where it goes into the differential and it moves in and out a 1/4" then there is something wrong there.
The reason there are torque values for certain bolts and nuts is because the torques are critical(necessary for proper operation).

[bronzemaxell]

my differential does have a distinct louder grinding noise compare to the rest of the moving part parts like cv axle and wheel bearing while lift both front wheel off ground and shift in gear.
i just found and bought an used solara v6 manual transmission, it seems like not many of those transmission around, very rare and very hard to find.

i spoke to my mechanic friend, he said that excessive 1/4" play at differential spline is not a good sign.
i went under another car and try the same test at the differential spline, and play is very minimal.
my friend said more simple to replace the transmission than to take apart the transmission case, replace the bearing, then trying to figure out how to put it back in one piece and hope it will still work.

i was thinking if i should replace the clutch disc/pressure plate, throw out bearing while i am there, but then i hate to swap out parts that are still in working condition, so i am going to just swap the transmission, and do the clutch when it slips, hopefully just 2 or 3 extra hour of labor at that time.