Alright... this is on a '99 Si. I had been noticing a rattling/clunking noise when I go over offset bumps... isolated it to the axle. The shaft between the intermediate joint and the c/v joint on the driver's has about 1/4" of lateral play in it. It doesn't make noise when I go around corners, like one would expect with a bad C/V joint. What exactly is wrong? I've settled into the fact that I'm probably going to have to replace the axle, but what do you all think the specific cause of that would be?Appreciate the help.

 

Are you sure it is the axle and not the suspension bottoming out or something.

 

I am absolutely sure that it is not the suspension bottoming out. For one, I just put in new Tokicos up front, I have neuspeed sports (1 1/2" drop), and a sprint camber kit with new, longer upper control arms. I also first rechecked all of the torque specs. It is NOT the suspension. The intermediate shaft moves back and forth 1/4". I'm pretty sure its not supposed to do that, but I don't know what caused it or exactly what is wrong that would cause that kind of play.

 

are the halfshaft bolts tight?

 

Don't know... I hadn't disected it that much. Do you just take off the metal band around the thick rubber bushing-looking thing? Never seen what's under there. I've changed axles on a volkswagen, but it didn't have an intermediate shaft. Please elaborate.

 

bump... anyone there?

 

Ok, I'm going to point back to the camber kit.

If you have you camber set too positive, the tops of the camber kit can hitinside you wheel wells since the extra plate with bolts on the control arm makes it taller. Sometimes you have to grind away inside your wheel well to make it work or make your camber slightly negative to stop the hitting.

It usually will only happen on a turn or something where your suspension compresses.

My buddy didn't get aftermarket shocks and when his wore out, his camber kit punched holes into the top of his shock tower cause of him bottoming out etc.... One day his shock is gonna break through cause of the damage.

 

Alright... one more time. IT IS NOT THE SUSPENSION/WHEEL/CONTROL ARM RUBBING ON ANYTHING. I have personally installed 3 different suspension kits on this car since I bought it new, and as stated above, I do have brand new (~1 month old) aftermarket shocks that have appropriate travel, compression characteristics, et cetera, for the springs that I have. I know what the sound of the tire rubbing on the inside of the wheel liner or the suspension hitting the wheel liner is and this is not it. Clunky, rattley noises are coming from the intermediate shaft clunking against the inside of the hub. When I take off the wheel and play with the intermediate shaft, it moves and makes a sound like the one I hear when I'm driving. I'm trying to find some insight into exactly what has gone wrong and if it may just be a matter of adjustment or if I need to replace the whole axle. The Haynes manual is relatively vague about the mechanics of the axle utilizing the intermediate shaft. Can anyone give me an answer?

 

Are you positive its not the suspension.... Hahaha Sorry had to do it you need to relax a little. The Halfshaft shouldn't be moving really at all. Check to make sure it is securely still bolted in place.

 

ALright... I'm guess I'm going to have to get in and take it all apart and see what's up. Sorry about getting wound up... felt like noone really read the whole post before answering, you know? (Except for you, kind sir...)

 

i know ur sure its not suspension but i had a 93 teg gsr and i ran into loud clunkin noises as well and it was under waranty so i went back to the dealer i got it and it turned out to be bad ball joints. jus a thought id throw out there

 

That was actually the first thing that I suspected, since the camber kit has only been on there a few months, and I had heard all kinds of people that bought the Skunk2 camber kit had a problem of the ball joints going out (even though I bought the Sprint kit to avoid the same problems). I don't think that's it, but thanks.

 

Hey I am having the same problem. The intermediate shaft move left and right . When i push it to the right it seems to click in and everythings ok. then i drive and it moves agian making it vibrate when i hit a bump on the drivers side. Have you had any luck on fixing this.

 

just bought a new axle... haven't put it in b/c we got 6" of snow here. I will post again once I get it in later this week.