K, in order of events, this is what happened and what I have done with my 2003 GTP, 99k miles.
1. Flex plate broke, at the same time during the repair, the axles fvcked up (front end shook pretty bad afterwards) and I was informed that a needle bearing inside of the driver side of the tranny was messed up causing the axle to shake. So, mechanic managed to repair it without taking it apart, according to him it needed to be tore down but that he worked on it and got it finished.
So, in a nutshell, he fixed the needle bearing problem with a used piece in the tranny and installed new axles on both sides along with a new solid engine mount.
Reman. or not, I'm not sure.
Mechanic also had the tires balanced right before he done the axles because of the shaking, he wanted to rule that out before doing axles.
AT THIS POINT IT DRIVES PERFECTLY
2. I got a front end alignment (at a shop that does it the old school way, NOT computerized, and I didn't like the guy who did it) to straighten up the steering wheel from when the axles were replaced. They informed me that I had a bad tie rod end.
3. A day or so later, I was on the interstate when I noticed that it FEELS like a tire is out of balance... THIS IS WHERE IT'S MESSED UP and I'm leaning towards a bad alignment causing my problems!
4. I replaced with two new MOOG tie rod ends, hoping that would cure the shake. [I know it sounds crazy to replace them after an alignment, BUT I thought they were b.s.ing me about the tie rod end, until I felt the shaking after the alignment]
5. I rotated the tires JUST to see if it would change, leading me to think it was actually an out of balance tire, maybe somehow a balance fell off? NOPE, not really any change.
6. At high speeds, it has had this weird grinding feel. So, as to everyone's advice, I did BOTH front Timken wheel bearings. (torqued the axle nut to 118 ft. lb., per GM tech service manual)
Now, I still haz the shaky wobbly feeling LIKE a tire is out of balance. It does it basically all of the time, but it is rather subtle, it's not HORRIBLE shaking. It doesn't change with engine load either.
Furthermore, on brand new road, I feel this grinding feel when cruising at about 45 or so.
So I am stuck, I need opinions, troubleshoots, and anything you have to offer.
I am contemplating the following to fix this/my ideas:
1. Since the alignment IS still off AND I fear that the original alignment is a probable cause to ALL of this mess in the first place, I am tempted to have the front end computerized aligned tomorrow and pray that that will cure the problem.
2. I am tempted to have the tires re-balanced at this shop tomorrow while it gets aligned.
3. I am tempted to take it back to my mechanic and tell him that I have replaced tie rod ends and wheel bearings and it feels like the axles are bad again, so please check it out.
4. Maybe it's a warped rotor, though I doubt it since it brakes fine even at high speeds.
5. Maybe it has something to do with the fact I haz new solid engine mount but the same old tranny mount? But it was fine before the alignment so go figure?
Other than that I'm at the end of my rope, IDK what to do, what do y'all think of those 3 steps, or possibly another solution??
Thanks!
