# HELP ! Axle/Boots/Struts/Bearing - whats gone bad ?



## drock (Apr 18, 2004)

My 95 Sentra somtimes makes clunking sound frm driver-front wheel & steering shakes. It does not clunk when I am making a turn or anything, it just does it.. mostly when I am accelerating - and it's a "clunk-clunk-clunk" type of sound in the frequence of wheel's rotation and stays only about a min ..

It's doing this for the last 6 months and one mechanic jacked the car and changed a ball joint -and didn't see anything else wrong..

But yesterday the whole car started shaking seriously (as if the wheels are not round anymore) & steering wheel was moving step-by-step (like seconds in qartz watch) and was HARD - came back to normal in 10m... now it's driving just fine, but I am sure it will come back

I really need some help !

Thanks!


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## Kindfiend (Oct 13, 2004)

Alignment? Really warped rotors, worn engine or transmission mounts. That's all I can think of right now. My best suggestion is to search. There's plenty of info on these kind of problems on this site.


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## drock (Apr 18, 2004)

Kindfiend said:


> Alignment? Really warped rotors, worn engine or transmission mounts. That's all I can think of right now. My best suggestion is to search. There's plenty of info on these kind of problems on this site.


I did alignment last year, it should be fine - besides the car doesn't pull on one side or anything. 

Will a worn engine/tranny mount cause the car to jerk like you are riding a horse .. and that too, all of a sudden and in months' interval ? It surely felt like the wheels were terribly out-of-round, or the axle is not at the center of the wheel .. something like this, the steering's hard - can engine/motor mount affect steering ? I am just narrowing down the possibilities before taking the car to a mechanic.

Again, I don't know much about cars..


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## psuLemon (Apr 23, 2003)

picture it like this for your mounts.. when they go bad they get really swishy and your motor will bounce around fairly easy. and usually a clunkyin noise is a bearing gone bad.. but does this sound only made when you turn or even on straightaways.. try to give some more info.


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## drock (Apr 18, 2004)

psuLemon said:


> picture it like this for your mounts.. when they go bad they get really swishy and your motor will bounce around fairly easy. and usually a clunkyin noise is a bearing gone bad.. but does this sound only made when you turn or even on straightaways.. try to give some more info.


It actually made that sound all the time when I was driving straight..


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## drock (Apr 18, 2004)

*NEED REAL HELP !*

I took it to a mechanic I know and he found these...

1. The Lower Control Arm bushing for the driver side front wheel is worn
2. The transmission mount is bad.

He didn't find anything else worng.

Now, what do you guys think ? Can the above 2 things cause the problem I described ? Particularly the terrible scary car shake (in the wheel's rotation frequency) and the steering's hard incremental movement ? I really need a second opinion. I wouldn't mind fixing the bushing or whatever, but I surely would be grounded if I don't fix the thing that actually caused this problem !

I know this mechanic personally, and I can tell him look at this.. look at that etc, so if I hear anything from you guys, I'll have him check that. Really need help !! Thanks!


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

It can be the bearing. Here's how you should check your bearings:

With the car on the ground rent a 32mm axle nut and a breaker bar, remove the hubcaps and loosen the 2 front axle nuts about 10 turns (remove the cotter pin and any other retaining devices before loosening the nuts).

With the axle nuts both loose, lift the front of the car with a jack and begin to push on each of the front wheels. The wheels should remain solid with the only motion being the wheel's rotation. If either of the wheels are wobbling side to side, your bearing is shot, and prolly the hub too.

As for a warped rotor, I guess a REALLY warped rotor would cause the wheel to wobble, but you would've noticed braking problems well before the rotor got bad.

After that there are only 4 things that cause a wheel to shake like that:
Worn tires, loose lug nuts, bad wheel balancing, or bad bushings.


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## drock (Apr 18, 2004)

Thanks Ninety-Nine - really appreciated ! very helpful, I'll have these things looked up.


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## gh94z28 (Mar 5, 2007)

What was the end solution? My 95 sentra is kinda of doing this. Thanks


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## IanH (Feb 11, 2003)

When my wheel bearing was bad I had a clunking over bumps, no other symptoms.
Then when CV boot tore I found the bearing was bad, replaced only the boot and the bearing, noise gone !!!


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## kizer24 (Mar 23, 2008)

Ive got the same issue. Started tonight when I was driving home. The steering wheel just starts shaking left and right. I do have a issue with road grades causing major pull. Im thinking ball joints or tie-rods. Its similiar to an issue a friend of mine had on a q45 years ago. Feels like the steering wheel loses connection with the wheels and kicks back and forth. Im already planning on throwing in a manual rack but was not wanting to do it this soon. If anyone has had similar issues or has ideas PLEASE CHIME IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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