hey all. ive got a question. will a NEW axle cause these problems? ive noticed on cold startup when the car is at about 1200 rpm warming up, if you put it in reverse you hear a loud POP on the passenger side. (side i just replaced)

ive also noticed that i have steering wheel wobble at random speeds. esp during LIGHT braking. hard braking is smooth as butter. light braking jerks the wheel from 11-1. i checked the pads, and they are good. no chattering issues. wheels are balanced and the car is freshly aligned in an effort to fix this issue. im starting to think there is a defect in my bran new axle.

thanks alot for any input guys!

Pop, Bang & or clunks aint good ! Just throwing out some ideas Jason..
Is there anyway to have u with a good inspection light to have someone (with foot on brake wheels chocked)+ or on ramp to have u under car to try to view the front pass side and hear or see what may be going on? If u throw the car into reverse with a loud immediate pop, could it also be the transmission mounts? (hopefully not the rear one)
or somethings not right..I wish I was there I would help you do this...
Is your front rotor warped..anyway to access a runout dial indicator?
Are you pads wearing evenly or equal pressure being distributed by caliper....

i would have someone do it while i watch the wheel and stuff to narrow it down. could be something you took apart didnt get back right, sometimes its just a new issue you notice because you were paying attention to the other thing

You will not be the first person to put in an aftermarket junk axle.....

If you are sure of your work, it'* probably the axle....

Sounds like you have a pulsation problem from your rotor(*)....

rotors might be an issue, but still wouldnt explain the wheel wobble while driving. no chattering issues, and i lubed up the slide pins and made sure they were releasing quickly with lauren on the brake pedal.

once i get some more money i plan on replacing the rotors and pads as preventative maintenance anyway, so we will see if the brakes had anything to do with it..

How are your lower control arm bushings doing? worn cracks?
Movement from LCA not good either..

If you didn't have this issue before you changed the axle, you have only two things to really check it would seem. Not sure how you did the dis-assembly to get the axle out but I'm thinking maybe a good thing to do would be totally back track everything you did from start to finish, step-by-step and verify you didn't miss something putting it back together. It sounds like you didn't get something seated properly or torqued tight enough OR the axle is defective. Not sure what brand axle you used, but some of them suck and are remanufactured units. The Grand Prix'* we beat on at Pontiac Drag Days at LACR every month were hard on axles. We almost exclusively used the NAPA axles because we thrashed the stock GM crap so quickly when the horsepower was turned up significantly. The NAPA MaxDrive new (new not reman) axles stayed together through thick and thin and are only about $110 or so for your car.

When you took the steering knuckle loose from the ball joint, did you use a hammer against the ball joint boss area OR did you use a pickle fork to break it loose and pry it down? A pickle fork will almost surely damage a ball joint and once removed that way should be replaced.

During installation, did you let the new axle just hang after sliding it back into the tranny? Big no-no that can damage it internally no matter how well it was built.

When you tightened the ball joint nut to line up the cotter pin hole, you didn't loosen it to line up the hole by any chance did you?

Did you use a new spindle lock nut? Any decent axle should have come with a new one because GM recommends changing them EVERY time they're removed.

Just some thoughts about key areas that could possibly cause a pop or wobble because of too much clearance, improper torque or damage caused during removal or installation. If your install is spot on, sounds like the axle may well be the culprit.

never removed the ball joint. turned the wheel all the way and unbolted the strut and sway bar end link. didnt even need to remove the brakes till i was done which is when i checked the slides and all. ill take a look at it sometime in the next few days.