nasty vibration after camber change! Axles?

[bv323]

Okay, I just took my car for a pre-Autox alignment to add some negative camber. I have ZX2 S/R struts and h&r springs.

He initially set it to -1.75* and found there was a nasty vibration. He said my right-side axle "pillow?" was pushing up against something and set it to -1*. I test drove it (harder) and there is still nasty vibration, especially when turning right under any amount of load.

He said there is some play in and out, but it is really tight, and is pushing up against some stuff (?). i wish I knew the terminology better. He said i should undo some bolts and try elogating some slots for more travel in and out?

Could I have the wrong axles? When i swapped to the BP, I got axles from a different lot (a non-self-service one) and asked for axles from a '93-ish Escort GT, as noone had Protege 1.8 dohc ones.

If I have been given the wrong axles, would they even fit onto the car if they were from a 1.9l escort, or a 1.8l sohc protege?

Please help! AutoX in 2 days and a nasty-driving car right now

I'm trying to find axles lengths of the various models of Protege's and Escorts to see if I'm even on the right track, but no luck so far.

[bv323]

Broken Axle??

Okay, I checked on online parts store and it seems the Protege and Escort 1.8 dohc's, as well as the Escort 1.9l, all use the same axles on both sides. So, I'm pretty sure my axles were the right ones.

Could I have broken or otherwise messed up my axle? Would a camber change make this happen immediately or would it already have been like this, just noticing it now?


Thanks!
Bart

[progt91]

Loosen the top engine mounts, front of engine and top of transmission and let it settle and tighten them up. sometimes that works

[bv323]

Loosen the top engine mounts, front of engine and top of transmission and let it settle and tighten them up. sometimes that works

I just gave it a try - problem is still there.

[MazdaNoob]

sure it's not as simple as tire rubbing?

[bv323]

I don't really see any evidence of tire rubbing. It also does it under a hard launch with the wheel straight and slightly to the left. Oh, this is killin' me.

[redheddude222]

Sounds like you may have a bad wheel bearing.

Did you say you got the axles from a yard, like as in a junk yard? If that's the case I'd put NEW axles in.

[5l1mm]

wait wait wait......


didnt the guy say there was an issue with the pillow mount distorting?
maybe you have blown pillow mounts?

[gorgonheimer]

i had a problem like this.. the pass side axle was worn out at the union between the axle and the jack shaft. caused all kinds of bad vibrations

[5l1mm]

if you got junkyard axles, they may be lopsided.
i always just spend the $50 on new ones.
some auto part stores can test axles to see if they are lopsided.
i would first check those mounts though.
(pillow mounts are the rubber peices at the top of your strut towers), usually you can tell if they are going bad cause theyll have cracks in them around the center.
you dont need to take anything apart to see this, just open hood, look at strut tops, if cracked, replace

edit, also if you adjusted your camber that will bend your pillow mounts in another direction besides the one theyve spent the past couple years in.

[swalltr207jg]

to fix your problem...first, was it making the vibration before you changed the axles? if not, I would think that it would be an axle issue....junk yard is not really a good idea for that part unless you have someone check em for tolerances....I'd get some new or raman ones...if thats not the cause I would also think wheel bearing...or something is rubbing, jack the car up put it in first and set the wheel how you had it when making the noise....check to see where the noise is coming from .......disclaimer......make sure the ebrake is on and the vehicle wont fall on u

[bv323]

Good advice from everyone on the junkyard axles - never again! I needed them in a hurry and nobody had them in stock new or reman'ed, so I had to resort to used to finish up and get the car back to a DD when I originally did the BP swap 6 months ago. The added camber must've stressed the right axle to the point of freaking out.

I replaced my right side half shaft and it corrected the problem.

Also cranked the camber to at least -2.5* for "testing purposes only" (no way of knowing for sure until I bring it back to alignment shop, but I did my best to crank it way past the -1.75* mark he had) - my sweet lord does this thing crave a beating in the corners! Now, I drive like an asshole normally, but fukcing hell did I give myself the thrill ride of the year just now!