Rough shaking while accelerating at low speeds

[Ukrainian102]

Hey guys.. I dunno how many of you remember me. I haven't been on here in ages, but I'm having some serious problems with my car and need some help/advice.

Recently my car began having a very very slight vibration when given gas at highway speeds. I figured the wheels just needed to be balanced and so I got a shop to do it. The same shop said that the vibration was actually due to a worn front right axle and, though I didn't think my CV joints were worn or anything, I told them to go ahead and replace it. (This is a shop I've trusted for years, but have sort of started to doubt now.)

After I got the car back from them everything was fine. All vibration had gone away and it was smooth sailing at any speed. That weekend I drove down to Kentucky (11 hour drive) and everything was fine until the very end. When I got to my destination, I noticed that the whole car would vibrate like crazy when I was pushing the gas around 20-30 mph. The vibration is also noticeable at highway speeds but not nearly as much. When coasting or braking, there's no vibration at all. Also, if the wheels are turned slightly (accelarating in a turn), it's felt a lot less.

I got back to NY and took it to the same shop and yelled at them for taking out a good Toyota axle and giving me some piece of crap reman that now causes my whole car to shake like it never did before. They looked at it and said that the vibration was now coming from the front left wheel (when I felt that it was coming from the right) and that now in addition, the front left axle had to be replaced.

Anyway, I took the car to another shop and they said that something in the transmission is loose around the part where it connects to the axle and so the whole transmission needs to be replaced.

I dunno what to do or whom to believe. I know a full transmission swap would cost about as much as the whole car is worth, but other than this vibration the car is and has always been running extremely well. Though I do downshift to slow down ocassionally, I don't do it so that the engine/trans. revs high; the car's got < 130k miles on it, so I'm just really surprised that the transmission would just fail like this. Sorry for the long post. Any thoughts on this?

[zythr]

Yes, Where you're taking the car is trying to get as much monsy out of you as they can. If you don't know much about car maintenance/repair, you're riped to be taken for a ride, no pun intended

[Steelballz]

I would advise to look at the tracking of the car, I think the toe angle could be out hence the "shaking" which goes away while turning a corner

[kickfli12]

if the toe angle was out bad enough to cause a strange vibration, the tires would wear at an uber extreme rate.

[Steelballz]

true, but worn balljoints or trackrod ends would all make noises, so that was my first thought...

second thought is that its mentioned that it doesn't do it while coasting, so possibly front/back trans mount?

[speedy25]

I'm sure there is something or a lot of things loose/worn out that havent been looked at in the front suspension. Look harder or take it to a REAL alignmnet shop that can scrutinize parts and actually ahow you whats worn out.

Tonight I work on a friends ford Aerostar that recently got a tie rod end and an alignment. Well that shop kind of overlooked that the other tie rod end was WASTED, almost to the point of falling off, and the upper control arm bushings were so far gone the arm was moving a LOT, as well as a bad inner tie rod and one of the shocks wasnt bolted tightly to the lower a arm. Minor problem was a loose wheel bearing.

SHeesh!

I hope you guys actually find good shops that do decent work.

-SP

[Ukrainian102]

Yeah taking it to another shop on Tuesday. I don't think it could be the toe-in, because the car is shaking very strongly and I don't think that much vibration could come from the tires (they look pretty straight), but I'll tell them to check it.

Looking at my Haynes manual troubleshooting section, the only other things it suggests for "shudder or vibration during accelaration" are incorrect spring heights (no way) or worn or sticking CV joints. Maybe I'll just get that left axle replaced like they said. How likely is it that the CV joints on both axles will wear out at almost the exact same time though?

Thanks again for the help guys.

[PhatRoyale]

Did you check the engine and transmission mounts?

[ganda1f]

Doubt that there is a problem with the transmission or axles. I would imagine that vibrations from bad transmission mostly come from bearings becoming worn and loose. I can't see how these vibrations would go away once you're coasting. Especially if they are quite severe as you describe. I mean, the transmission and axles are still spinning while coasting.

I would say +1 on the engine and/or transmission mounts.

[speedy25]

Shaking does NOT come from misadjusted toe.

Its typically from worn out or loose parts.

-SP

[Steelballz]

well you can tell my daily driver corolla different, the wheel and car was shaking quite noticably, just got it tracked after fitting new trackrod end and all is well

[Rip The E Brake]

Well. when my first trans in my first corolla was going bad, from a stop, or taking a turn under acceleration, the car would vibrate with extreme violence. 3 months later, clutch packs were TOAST.

Don't rule out the trans being bad...

[speedy25]

Originally Posted by ganda1f

Doubt that there is a problem with the transmission or axles. I would imagine that vibrations from bad transmission mostly come from bearings becoming worn and loose.

I wouldn't suspect bad axles in many cases either but they DO go bad that way. Boots good and no obvious damage, but replacement makes the vibration go away.

Transmissions rarely have vibration (other than a bad convertor in an auto trans) but they do make a racket when internal bearings go bad.

-SP