Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2012 16:09:04 -0400
Reply-To: Larry Alofs <lalofs@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Larry Alofs <lalofs@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Rear End Vibrations
In-Reply-To: <CAN9MZT-eFdVBv-K1x6ppkYbur+8WDNkMFsPbBaWpOyLe5svafQ@mail.gmail.com>
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It does not seem likely that a bad CV joint would cause pulsing in
your brake pedal. Typically it is caused by a warped brake rotor,
although I have not experienced it in a Vanagon.
I have encountered 4 or 5 bad CV joints thru the years and I don't
recall them causing brake pulsing. The idea of turning in small
circles for diagnosis is not so useful on a Vanagon because the CV
joints are only on the rear wheels. On a front wheel drive car the CV
joints are bent to greater angle when turning and are therefor put
under more stress.
On a vanagon you could try to detect whether the CV clicking is more
frequent when turning left or right; that would help you decide which
one to suspect. The most recent CV that I had go bad on a Vanagon
only clicked when going straight ahead at slow speeds under light
load, and not all the time.
Are your wheels well balanced?
Jack up each back wheel and check for a loose bearing by wiggling them
top to bottom.
Hope this helps,
Larry A.
On Thu, Jul 12, 2012 at 10:47 AM, orin <alpineorin@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello!
>
> I've been having some pretty loud vibration/noise coming from the read of
> my '88 Vanagon GL. I did some research and reading on the list and at the
> Samba and it seemed like checking the CV joints was a good place to start.
> I also read this article:
>
> http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_16_9/cv_joint_maintenence.html
>
> for more info on checking/replacing CV joints. At this point I feel like I
> probably have worn CV joints, but I'm not totally confident and I thought I
> would ask here before moving forward with the work.
>
> One thing I'm not totally clear on comes from the above article:
>
> "Another test you can easily perform (thanks to Mark Drillock) is to park
> on level ground, tranny in neutral, parking brake off (wheels chocked,
> please!) and try to manually move the axle from side to side. When the CVs
> are badly worn, the axle will move quite easily, and may even hit the
> flange plug/cover on the transmission side (clunk). "
>
> When performing this test I believe the author means to move the axle
> toward the wheel/away from the transmission and back, in which case my
> axles do move about an inch, fairly easily. The thing that confuses me is
> that I imagine the axles have to move in and out to compensate for the
> position of the wheel in relation to the transmission. So, is the inch or
> so of play normal, or a sign of a bad CV joint? The other test mentioned
> in the article, driving in tight circles and listening for clunking/noise,
> did not reveal anything.
>
> The one other thing that makes me think it could be the CV joint is this.
> When cornering at highway speed, when the vibration/noise is most
> noticeable, I found that while turning more sharply the vibration/noise
> stops. My theory, based on no real experience with CV joints, is that as
> the weight of the van shifts to one side it stabilizes the joint, stopping
> the vibration. Is this guess totally out of line? One last diagnostic,
> when braking the van I can feel the vibration in the brake pedal. I can't
> feel the vibration in any other way, i.e. the steering, and the vibration
> while braking seems to be getting worse.
>
> Also, I did check the torque on the retaining bolts for the CV joints on
> the tranny side and the wheel side, everything was tight and in place.
> While working there I did check around for anything else loose, but didn't
> see anything.
>
> I'd appreciate anyone's experience or suggestions as to whether I am on the
> right track or not. If not, any other thoughts on what could be causing
> the vibration?
>
> Thanks everyone!
>
> --
>
> '88 Vanagon GL w/ Suby 2.2 conversion
>
> * My Blog <http://orinsalah.blogspot.com/>
> * My Photos <http://www.flickr.com/photos/orinsalah/>
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