odd vibration problem

[niju321]

After 35 pages of browsing through this forum and no luck searching I thought I would make a new thread (in fact, my very first) to try and figure out what the problem with my car is. I have a 1994 Camry (bought new in October 1993) with 80,000 miles. I have noticed that when accelerating or at highway speeds, the entire car vibrates/shudders. This is an intermittent problem; sometimes the car drives like it's brand new. Often on the highway when going downhill it will be perfectly smooth, so I suppose I could say the problem only presents itself when I'm working the car a little harder (accelerating, higher speeds (65-75mph), going uphill, etc). Very rarely, pushing the car to about 80-85 makes the problem get a little better, but mostly it gets worse. I probably wouldn't want to push it that fast/faster again, due to the following conversation I had with my dad:

Me: What would happen if I got a ticket?
Dad: Do you know what a eunuch is?

Going back to the topic at hand, both front axles were replaced earlier this year (I believe at about 76,000 miles); new tires and alignment followed shortly thereafter. Last week I took the car to a transmission shop to try and figure out what was going on; they thought my transmission was fine, but the tech showed me that the left axle had "excessive play" moving left and right, while the right axle was "solid." As the tech moved the left axle I could actually hear it clicking. The place which replaced the axles denies any problem; the owner had the tires rotated and told me to come back in a few days if the problem continued (it did). Is this really an axle problem or am I looking in the wrong place. Also if you are in the Kansas City/Overland Park area, are you familiar with Best Import Auto (where the axles were replaced) or any reputable shop where I could have the problem looked at/fixed?

Thanks for your help and patience in reading my exceedingly long post

[Cyorke]

he freeplay that was in the axle was it at the transmission end or wheel end. If at the wheel end maybe the axle nut is not as torqued correctly. If at the Tranny end could possibly be a problem inthe differential but then again could be any number of things. Have you chekced all your motor mounts and trans mounts. COuld also have problems in the stering/suspension. Jus some ideas tht you may want to have checked out if taking it into a shop.

[500KCamry]

Freeplay at the end where it enters the differential would mean that the snap ring was not installed, or is was damaged during installation and is not snapping into place. That also might explain the vibration if the shaft is free to move in/out a bit while turning.

You should remove the half axle and see if it just slides out of the differential. It should not.

[niju321]

the freeplay was left to right, the long way, moving it forward and backward seems pretty solid. thanks again for your help