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Brake vibration, after axle swap


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I finally had my RF cv axle replaced (good used Subaru), but now I have a vibration under braking, mainly from higher speeds. The steering wheel shakes from side to side, more violently the longer you brake. Also it oscillates the same on the highway >60mph. The axle seems OK, and I followed a chart posted by porcupine73 that points right to the rotors, which supposedly weren't touched during the axle job. I cleaned out the calipers & looked for obvious rotor wear, but found none. Could there be a corellation here, or just a coincedence?? As always, your thoughts are welcomed. Thanks!

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Well lets back up a bit, make sure the tire is tight. It is possible that a bad axle was counteracting the vibration that was there before. Vibrations are interesting things.

Can be a loose nut (not properly tightened) can be a bad tire, can be a warped rotor.

 

nipper

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What was the source of the "good used" axle? If from a "yard", can you be sure that the source car wasn't in a front end accident? It's also important that all mating surfaces are clean; some grit or rust between parts can cause problems. I'd suggest checking rotor runout, but if you find some don't assume the rotor is the culprit until other causes are eliminated.

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Silly me, i just went through this.

 

Check the wheel bearing. Sometimes the "effort" to remove an axle can push an old wheel bearing over the edge. I just went through this with Blu, within one tank of gas the wheel bearing was shot. Blu had an axle replaced, and 210,000 miles on the original bearing.

 

nipper

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The CV axle is from a reputable Subaru specialist. The wheel bearing doesn't seem loose and doesn't make any noise. The shake is negligible at speeds under 50 mph, but always occurs under braking. Hope this sheds some light.
As I've already suggested, checking runout of the rotor is a starting point. See the RUNOUT section of http://www.aa1car.com/library/2003/bf110322.htm
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