I have a 2006 GP GT that has developed what I am calling a suspension/acceleration "growl" type vibration. I still get great performance from the engine, but under moderate-hard acceleration and/or when going over "rolling" bumps on the highway, I notice both with sound and vibration sort of a "growl" and I am trying to figure out what it could be.
The growl is most noticeable if the car is full of people (like when my wife and kids are in it). I can get it to happen with acceleration, or like I said going over those larger dips/bumps that cause the whole car to sort of go up/down like a boat going over a wave (vs. short small pavement crack type bumps). In particular, when the suspension is compressed (car is dipping down from the bump/dip) it is VERY noticeable.
Any ideas on what to look for?
There is 1 other piece of information that I will throw out there that I need to fix, but I didn't want to "skew" peoples' thoughts on this.
So please answer the question BEFORE reading the statements below and then read it to see if it makes sense. Thanks!
OK, so by now you have come to at least some thought on the problem, here is the other piece of information. I looked under the front end up the car last night when changing the oil filter and noticed that the CV boot nearest the engine on the passenger side wasn't clamped on with the inner most clamp (the outside clamp is there). The clamp is there, but just "hopping around on the axle" and not holding the one end of the boot. The grease has got to be pretty much gone. I was going to fill the boot and put the clamp back on, but I am thinking that if it is the source of my problem, I may need to replace the whole half shaft. If it is something else, then I would like to try to diagnose and correct it while I am digging around under there.
