hi all
drove out to town yesterday and noticed some noise coming from my right front tire when going around a corner. i then went to a parking lot to see if it was my CV axle. and of course it was. the question is, with a bad outer CV joint can it cause vibration in the front of the car almost to the point of losing control and coming up through the steering wheel, now it doesn't happen all the time but it happens.

It could cause a vibration. That'* a little tell tale warning to get it fixed. Otherwise she will leave you stranded.

So is the outer shaft loose in its socket?

im not sure at this point, i got the tire off the ground to check the wheel baring to find out it was the cv joint. there seemed to be a point (small point) where the tire rotated and the shaft didnt, but by this time i was pritty @#%@ off.

Yea, any play in the assembly itself is a sure sign that the joint is fubar. If you grab the CV shaft, and rotate the tire and the tire travels a bit before the shaft does, then its a goner. Might be able to rebuild it, not sure. But tis safer to just replace it with a new one IMO.

can this cause the vibration and jumping around at highway speeds almost to the point of losing controll

If the end of the shaft has lateral play in it, (you can move it up and down) the shaft will eventually move itself out of line with the wheel and cause itself to become unbalanced. Think of jump rope.

Because this is a very high speed shaft, I highly recommend not driving your car until it is repaired. I just looked up the prices on Autozone, and you are looking at about $80 for the shaft. If you can get yours out before you buy the new one, you will save a $75 core charge.

Changing one out is not all that difficult. You would need a 34mm? socket for the spindle nut, a breaker bar, a large flat head screw driver, another pry bar, and some common sockets to remove the lower ball joint, wire cutters and new cotter pins.

thanks for the info, im up in canada and i just got off the phone with some parts places and im getting prices around 150.00 because of the suppercharger but i need to know the axle ratio first, so out in the snow i go. oh god i HATE this car.

Best place to find out what your gear ratio is on your RPO sticker. Should be a white sticker on your spare tire cover.

FQ3 - ratio, transaxle, final drive 2.86
FR2 - ratio, transaxle, final drive 2.93
FW2 - ratio, transaxle, final drive 3.06
F17 - ratio, transaxle, final drive 2.84
F79 - ratio, transaxle, final drive 2.97
F83 - ratio, transaxle, final drive 3.05
GX3 - ratio, transaxle, final drive 3.33

You are going to have only 1 of those above codes.

BTW, keep your chin up. We all have had bad experiences when it comes to replacing expensive parts. Look at me, I'm already on my 2nd engine, and 3rd transmission!

i just call gm and gave them my vin and they told me i have a 2.93