Southern GENIUS axle swap
 

1. NeedForSpeed 92 Silver LS-L 200K

As the Silver neared 200K, the car developed random shaking, to the point the steering would shake violently at freeway speed. Backing off the throttle, the shaking would stop, and everything would be normal for another few hundred miles. The condition would occur more frequently or easily on two-lane crowned roads. I believe the car also had a clunk, now absent.

Once I had him under my roof for the Two Museums Meet weekend, I asked my good friend from Arizona about the problem, believing that the service manager at an Arizona Honda dealer for more than a decade had probably seen it all. Michael gave the full differential diagnosis, like a true clinician, concluding that the axles were likely and finally toast. He thought we might solve the problem by swapping the front axles, right to left, left to right, that if we were lucky, we might get some more miles out of the worn axles.

Well, was he ever right, or should I say, off course, he was right on. Not only has the problem not recurred on a four hour round-trip to Santa Barbara on some rough Social freeways, the car rides smoother than ever, even with the stiff and aggressive 17" RE070 STI rubber. I'm so impressed; I'm going to THE AXLE SWAP in all the cars. :D

If your SVX has 100K and if your boots are in good condition, my guess would be that a front axle swap would be in order. The improvement in ride and longevity would be worth the time.

To get an idea on the amount of members doing this relatively easy maintenance swap, [and to give credit where due and appreciated], I've started a list. In time, I will add cars to the list as time permits the swap. I hope that all of you will do the same, and report your driving impression. Axles are important to the way the SVX drives, I've learned!

Again, Southern is Genius :cool:

Impressed and grateful,
Thanks Mike :)

Re: Southern GENIUS axle swap
 

You are too kind, can't claim the genius though as I didn't come up with this one on my own, I just learned it somewhere along the way.

Glad to know that it worked for you and the silver. Swapping the joints so they ride on the relatively unused faces can ease those 2nd order harmonics issues. They are nasty things to diagnose when they go in and out of phase like yours did (usually took multiple road force balancings before we'd ever look past the tires).

On the Hondas the axle lengths are different so we'd swap the outer joint out side-to-side. Of course the best fix might be new/reman axles, but sometimes what is best isn't in the budget. This has been a good stop gap measure.

Of course this means you might get some vibration if you go in REVERSE at 70mph, which I don't recommend. ;) (and you can't put it past California drivers not to do something like that)


Thanks again, glad it worked out.