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Axle or diff vibration?

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Old 03-24-2014, 09:39 AM
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Default Axle or diff vibration?

I've had this nagging issue with the rear end of my car for a while now and I can't seem to pinpoint the problem. The car acts normal under all situations except when putting power down coming out of a hard corner. I get a very heavy juddering vibration and noise coming from the rear of the car. It sounds and feels like I'm going over rumble strips though I'm not. It happens when turning right or turning left. There are never any issues going straight and never any issues when coasting through a corner. It's only in the second half of a corner when I start to put the power down that it happens.

For street driving, I rarely notice it, but I had a track day last November and it was really bad then. Here is a go-pro clip of two hard corners which show the issue: https://vimeo.com/89935935 . Coming out of the first corner and the last corner, it is quite noticeable.

Some background info. Diff fluid has been properly maintained and changed recently. Axle buckets have recently been swapped (with no change in symptoms). I'm the third owner of the car and the car has never seen any hard launches in the 3 years and 23k miles I've had it.

Seems to me like the culprit is probably the CV axles instead of the diff, but I'm still troubleshooting and taking ideas at the moment.

Any ideas what this might be and how to fix it?
Old 03-24-2014, 09:55 AM
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Have your axle nuts been re-torqued?
Old 03-24-2014, 10:01 AM
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At the time of the track day, no. I did attempt to do this myself about a month ago with only moderate success (long story, but only one side got torqued past OEM spec).

Regardless, these symptoms do not seem consistent with low axle nut torque - which should manifest itself as a single "thunk" under hard cornering. Right?
Old 03-24-2014, 01:56 PM
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Hey I got the same issue. This happened after I swapped in an OEM axle on the driver side because it had a aftermarket axle. I Also swapped the bucket on the axle before I installed it, so it cant be the bucket. It kind of feels like your losing traction right? Like sort of wheel hopping? Although I don't hear any noise, maybe cos I gotta aftermarket exhaust. Kind of hard to explain.
Old 03-24-2014, 02:27 PM
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sounds like axles, you could open up the buckets and look for pitting.
Old 03-24-2014, 04:56 PM
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Originally Posted by s2000maniac
Hey I got the same issue. This happened after I swapped in an OEM axle on the driver side because it had a aftermarket axle. I Also swapped the bucket on the axle before I installed it, so it cant be the bucket. It kind of feels like your losing traction right? Like sort of wheel hopping? Although I don't hear any noise, maybe cos I gotta aftermarket exhaust. Kind of hard to explain.
Yes, it feels a bit like wheel hop.
Old 03-24-2014, 05:28 PM
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Yea I don't know what it could be. I checked under the rear and everything looks good. I figured it might the tires. My s2k tires are pretty much done.
Old 03-25-2014, 02:55 AM
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VSA off? check your tires as well.
Old 03-25-2014, 03:19 AM
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Originally Posted by baZurk
Have your axle nuts been re-torqued?
whats the new torque spec to prevent failure of bearing ?
Old 03-25-2014, 03:23 AM
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Originally Posted by iamxpL
VSA off? check your tires as well.
Tires are perfect... VSA on or off doesn't matter.


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