Ok i have a vibration when cruising and only happens when on the throttle, goes away if you back off.

So most likely engine mount, which ones generally go?? I've replaced the top front drivers side allready and the others a little hard to get too. Any easy way to check?

It was caused by drive shafts/cv joints when I had the same symptoms. It went away when I replaced them.

It was caused by drive shafts/cv joints when I had the same symptoms. It went away when I replaced them.

Same here, CVs/Driveshafts would be my bet

Do driveshafts just go bad one day, or is it an issue that slowly gets worse?

As far as i know they slowly go bad. Barely noticable at first. Mine just felt like the car was 'missing' under acceleration or like I was driving on small corrugations. I noticed it first when I was highway cruising and would accelerate to overtake. On a previous front wheel drive car I had it first showed up as a distinctive knock when slowly turning corners. Far more obvious in that case.

I think its actually the CV joints not the driveshafts that are the problem but the driveshafts I bought came as a complete unit with CV joints anyway. They were not particularly expensive. I replaced both sides while I was at it.

Interestingly the original joints were nice ball bearing units. The replacements were just 'splines inside splines'. Probably not as good as the originals but have been fine for me.

Constant or just starts to happen suddenly out of nowhere? I had what i'd describe as a somewhat violent shudder that would happen on its own out of nowhere on smooth roads and went away as soon as you changed throttle position, or otherwise only lasted a couple seconds at a time. Transmission flush solved it

My old KR Verada had this same problem, it was the drive shaft, not the CV end that goes into the hub but the other end that goes into the gearbox, the tripod joint.

inner joint example from a V6 Galant, symptoms were violent vibration through the whole chassis above 80 kmh, worst 90 -100 with acceleration. Reduced going to 4th gear (5sp man), really bad up hills at hwy speeds.

Also got worse the longer the drive probably heat related. I suspect this example was due to a damaged boot and lube escaping as the inner boot was not OEM.

Disappeared coasting

Removing the shaft, it was possible to rock the joint back and forth with a knocking noise. had to slide the joint in and out to find the bad spot.

Those marks are worn through the hard casing, essentially scalloped out

Diassembled and this is what it looked like.

I have had a TC issue with a 4cyl Tr and that felt to me like an engine misfire under acceleration


http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=48076

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=48075

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=48074

Some good pictures there!

You get the same symptoms on a rear wheel drive if one of the universal joints goes bad.

I used to keep front wheel driveshafts going for a long time by regularly checking the boots for splits - if you catch them early, when the grease is coming out but the dirt hasn't gotten in yet, it is simply a matter of rekitting the driveshaft with new boots and grease. A total of about $60 for parts and a few hours work. (old price, probably more now)
If you let them go to the clicking or vibration stage though, they are too far gone for rekitting.

I now have a new/old stock pair sitting around - $175 off eBay - to do a swap on my TL or TJ as soon as I find a split boot.

Interestingly the original joints were nice ball bearing units. The replacements were just 'splines inside splines'. Probably not as good as the originals but have been fine for me.

The ball bearings in a cage design were the old design, these will click when worn and going around corners. My TP had those, first noticed the clicking going uphill turning a slight corner.

The later design last longer, has a higher load bearing ability, and will never click on you when worn. First sign of wear is the vibration under load.

(That's my version of reality, feel free to argue! lol)

I thought the bearing design was better in that the wheel speed remains constant, whereas the later design will speed up the wheel then slow it down? I doubt this is really an issue in either design though to be honest.

Are the original driveshafts/joints able to be rebuilt?
Does anyone know of the good brands for replacements, or which ones to avoid?

About the only bits you can recycle are the shafts themselves.
The outer joint comes as a pre assembled unit.
Both joints are precision machined and case hardened. ie disposable when worn.
Probably won't save much money buying just the joints, then you have to assemble them.

The outer joints are $30 each, 4 boots at $20 each (can't find a price for the inner joints), that's $140 while complete assembled shafts are sub $200.

The ball bearings in a cage design were the old design, these will click when worn and going around corners. My TP had those, first noticed the clicking going uphill turning a slight corner.

The later design last longer, has a higher load bearing ability, and will never click on you when worn. First sign of wear is the vibration under load.

(That's my version of reality, feel free to argue! lol)


No arguments from me, in fact its good to know. I just thought my replacements were splined because they were Ebay 'cheapies'. I discoved they were splined because, on the passenger side, I had to separate the assembly at the CV joint. I had terrible trouble getting that side in. I had to fit the inner shaft into the transmission first then fit the outer shaft. (Or something like that). I just couldnt get that shaft to go in as a complete assembly. Drivers side went in fine though.

Does anyone know of the good brands for replacements, or which ones to avoid?

I bought mine on ebay. Cant remember exactly but I think I paid less than $200 for the pair. 100,000 ks later they have been just fine, but I don't turn a lot of corners since I retired. Most of my driving now is 'country miles'.

I know someone who bought the eBay driveshafts too but wasn't happy with them.
Mind you though I believe it was due to his car being lowered and them clicking

I know someone who bought the eBay driveshafts too but wasn't happy with them.
Mind you though I believe it was due to his car being lowered and them clicking

Not happy either!
The ones I bought look like new old stock, they still have the original rubber boots on them, I was hoping to get rebuilt ones. From personal experience (bought new old boots from dealer) the boots don't last long due to them deteriorating with age just sitting around, but when I swap them in I should have enough time to track down some neoprene boots and rebuild the original shafts.

Max, you mean they were OEM Mitsubishi driveshafts?

EDIT:
Does anyone know when pulling driveshafts out, does the ATF leak out from the diff?

Max, you mean they were OEM Mitsubishi driveshafts?



Not sure to be honest! Just checked them over, put them away. Will need to get back to you as to the brand.

EDIT: Box says "A&F" brand, new. http://anfdriveshafts.com

I bought Ebay ones, about $160 for the pair, i checked underneath and the left hand boot has torn after 70,000k's. This might be my vibration problem.