I have a 2007 scion tc. I recently just got my driver side cv axle replaced. After i got it back i have noticed that the car vibrates very badly during second gear. its only in second gear and while the car is going straight. if i'm turning it does nothing out of the ordinary. also starting to hear something rattling as well when i go over roads that are a bit bumpy. at one point it sounded like something was dragging on the ground, but nothing was dangling under the car. this metallic rattling noise seems to be coming from the the center of the car but a bit closer to the driver side. anyone got any ideas on what this could be? maybe something wasnt properly tightened or something? i have looked twice and cant find anything. gonna take it back and have it checked out, just curious if anyone might have some input on this for me and what to really look for if my mechanic cant figure it out. thanks

 

Did you use an aftermarket half shaft? They are supposed to be balanced, so maybe yours is out of whack.

ITT to see the outcome.

 

yeah i am sure it was a half shaft seeing how it was only the one side i replaced. if it is out of whack and not properly balanced it should vibrate more than in only second gear (manual trans) and only during certain speeds on top of that. i would think it would do it while turning as well but it doesnt. but yea i'll post what it actually was in the end here when i find out.

 

Ya I just took a guess. I don't know lol.

 

There's a possibility that the shaft never fully settled inside the transmission and could be loose. That would also cause the tranny fluid to leak out quickly and risk damaging it. Lift it up and take pics of the area, that could help

 

thanks for the info. i found the metallic noise. it was a piece of metal stuck inside my car. not sure where since my mechanic didnt specify but it elimanated that particular metallic noise problem. didnt cause damage either thank you very much. so i am not too concerned. that problem solved that problem fixed. otherwise my mechanic is gonna get me a new cv axle and reinstall it no problems, no questions, and thank god no fee's. yayyyy hopefully it fixes all. but it still seems to be a rare faulty cv axle so far(half shaft). keep ya'll posted, but keep flowing the ideas for now. the more i know the more i can help others too. thanks for the help and support. love all around

 

okay new cv axle did not fix problem. still the same one there, i even put a new seal in and it still leaks. i got the tire rotated and rebalanced just to make sure nothing was wrong there and cut that loose end. started out better but made the problem worse actually. now the car vibrates from 15mph and up gone as fast as 50 and it still has a bad vibration issue. it sounds like the tires more than anything but it shouldnt be. i even had the tire place recheck it and the tires were fine. however after i stopped for a bit tonight and got something to eat, it never had a problem the rest of the way home. gonna double check with my mechanic and make sure cv axle is settled and properly sitting. after that maybe make sure everything in the suspension and steering is tightened down properly. i know the owners manual says to tighten down all the suspesion part every oil change and i know it hasnt been done since i got the car, could this be causing something? i have noticed that the struts have started to go but they arent blown yet, (going but nowhere near blown, although one is leaking, rear left side)and even if they were blown, i havent had that problem before. i'm not sure what else to do. it seems less likely to have these problems when the car is cold and hasnt warmed up yet. but it still happens on occasion when cold but more frequently as of late, dont know if that helps. anyone with any ideas please let me know, i feel like i'm chasing 20 symptoms just to get to one problem. thanks again everyone i'll keep you guys updated as it progresses and what i find out on my own end as well. thanks again guys

 

i will take pics the next time it is up on the rack, and post them here so all can have a good look and maybe help me out more. gimme at least a day or two to get the pics up.

 

What brand axle did you get? I went through 3 sets of aftermarket axles and they all vibrated at lower rmp. I ended up getting low mileage OEM axles and rebuilding them with new boots and grease. No more vibration. As far as leaking goes it usually your seals. Its really easy to damage even brand new one especially driver side. I learned that hard way lol Also check for seal dust covers. Some axles don't come with those. I've reused stock one ones but it came loose after a few hundred miles and started to squeal like a slipping belt. I've heard guys with o'reily axles had good experience with them. I would try those and put in new OEM seal. Oh I see you are from Houston too. What's up! Anyways good luck. I know how annoying axles can be lol

 

got the cv axles from o'reillys actually. the master select brand to be exact. my mechanic is positive that its the tires though. he even drove it for about 15 min and he is positive that its the tires. took car to discount tire twice withing the past couple days after that. first time they said the tires were kinda jumpy and that they balanced them out. not even 5 min later the problem is back again. took it back earlier today now they say that i have four bent rims? hmmm some kinda red flag here. (gonna go back to first dicount tire i went to and have the manager ride with me so i can show them whats going on with it.) i noticed that before they even started removing the weights from before that it looked like that the tire was still way out of balance(not positive but looked like 3 oz. off still, they could have removed the weights already not sure though) i'm thinking possibly 4 bad tires? kinda weird that i go from rims are fine from one place to having 4 bent rims. havent hit anything either. maybe blown struts/shocks? but it still vibrates horribly from 15 mph and up and gets really bad at anything over 50mph. vibrations go through the steering wheel and driver seat too. prolly the whole car, at least the front half anyways. any ideas?

 

Bro I'm telling you its not your tires. Places like discount tire will try to get you to buy their services and tires. Think about, why didn't you had this problem before you put it new axle? Idk, did you mechanic dropped your car off the rack or something?
Don't waste your time and try another oreily axle make sure its new (not re-manufactured ) or even better used OEM.

 

well i am going all out one last time with this problem before i start replacing tires, rims, struts/shocks. gonna try a new o'reilly cv axle one last time. i seriously doubt 3 brand spanking new ones with two being replaced with a brand new oem factory seal/snap ring( new one tomorrow), would fail that many times but hey it could. highly unlikely though. also gonna get the tires rechecked and the rims as well. gonna make sure all of the suspension is tight and in spec or as close as possible without problems. but otherwise i got tires rerotated again, earlier today. problem went from vibrations from 15mph and up to only the 15-25mph range. always ends at 25 mph now but can start as early as 15mph but it isnt always consistent there, might start a couple mph later as late as 20mph though. if i still have the problem this weekend and anyone is in houston,tx , i will welcome anyone to come out and meet me and ride/drive my car. let alone look under it as well or whatever. at that point i would be open to most suggestions as long as i can fit it into my budget, and as long as the ideas are practical and feasible. btw Drey what up? if i get this fixed soon i may go out to royal purple raceway if ya wanna meet me out there? or whatever weekend i get this fixed anyways.

 

post up pics of the new axle or when it's on the rack so we can get a better pic of whats going on... which axle is being replaced? driverside? passengerside is fine??

 

Yeah I can check it out for you. LMK I live like 10 min away from RP raceway.

 

gonna take some pics of it tomorrow. still not any better. gonna take it to another shop too and see what they say.

 

okay got some pics. got to really looking under my car. i found this. looks like the tie rod bushings are done for. its the same on both sides. probably need to replace the tie rod ends with new ones. or do they make specific replacement bushings from energy suspension?

 

Old thread bump but did you ever fix the vibration issues? I had to replace my drivers side cv axle today and the car vibrates at low speeds. Between 15-20mph it starts to vibrate and then it's gone.

 

Bumping because I had the exact same issue after replacing a CV axle.

The vibration felt like it was coming from underneath the drivers side floor so it must have been something with the axle. Turns out the two bolts (one being a camber bolt) that attach the rotors to the coilover were loose. The kicker is that these bolts were for the PASSENGER coilover. I guess what was happening was when I hit 15-25mph the passenger side front wheel was wobbling from positive to negative camber until it balanced out. Scary.