your suspicion re: the CV joint is likely correct. what side does the noise come from?

 

To be honest, I'm not really sure. It is very quiet and you can't really hear it if there is any background noise present. I should have added before that you can feel the pop in the floorboard. It definitely seems structural and reminds me of a joint/knuckle pop.

When replacing the CV joint, is it generally ok to just replace the joint or should I just replace the whole axle?

 

here's something else you can check - the subframe bolts. they are supposed to be torqued to ~81 ft lbs, plus 1/4 turn. that might actually be your problem.

WRT the CV joint, if there is grease strewn in your wheel well, it is likely too late to save the joint. the common consensus here is to buy rebuilt axles from raxles.com - a little pricier, but guaranteed. factory axles are hollow, and that's what marty at raxles uses; others you might get from a typical auto parts store will likely be solid core axles, and are usually not balanced.

 

Ok great. I will check those out. Would there be any safety risks driving it with the subframe bolts being a bit loose? The problem just showed up, maybe 3-4 days ago after I had taken the car into a tire shop. I live in a downtown area and the spot I usually go to work on my car is about an hour away. I understand it is hard to give a straight answer on that but I'm just wondering if there are any immediate dangers. Thanks!

 

what did the tire shop do?

it won't pose a hazard, if tthat is what you are asking.

 

I had the hardest time tracking down my clunk/thump with that kind of situation. Does yours clunk a bit in the steering wheel when pulling into a driveway with the wheel turned?

I had that issue and the inner tie rods were the problem. Both of mine were original @109K miles.

 

I had the hardest time tracking down my clunk/thump with that kind of situation. Does yours clunk a bit in the steering wheel when pulling into a driveway with the wheel turned?

I had that issue and the inner tie rods were the problem. Both of mine were original @109K miles.

With regard to mine, yes...or when going hard in a round about, or jerking the wheel hard left or right, at speed in a straight line.

 

They mounted and switched out two front tires. I am assuming the CV joint boot tear came from them. I had rotated my tires the day before and there wasn't a tear when I was working on it. Pretty much impossible to prove... but yeah.

 

I've recently noticed a few issues with my 1999 1.8t and am having some trouble pinpointing the problem. When accelerating from a dead stop, I can hear a subtle "popping" noise. It also occurs when suddenly breaking.... basically any strong force forward or backward on the car. Along with this noise, I have noticed that there is some play in the steering when driving.

I'm lost on whether this could be a failed CV joint, CA, or tie rod. I replaced the lower CAs, CV joint and tie rod on the drivers side about 6,000-8,000 miles ago and have had no problems up until now. I checked the car and didn't notice anything unusual other than a tear in the CV joint boot(passenger side). It looks recent and there was still ample grease around the joint.... I know this will definitely need to be fixed but could the "pop" & "play" in the steering be a result of the joint starting to fail or something else? Thanks!

If this were described in terms of when my wheels just come to a dead stop or just begin to roll, it would describe what I spoke of in another thread perfectly.

 

Mine ended up being the inner tie rods @ 85K.

 

I'm at 97K.

 

This trouble notwithstanding...as I look at the car's second hundred thousand miles and anticipate its needs, with regard to suspension how do I tell when it needs attention...aside from something actually breaking?

I know that may seem like an odd question but things wear out progressively and we don't necessarily feel the changes. At 97k, do I likely have components that have lived a full life? When it's time to do something, what should I be replacing besides just shocks?

 

I'm sure all of the components have lived their life. As long as the bushings and boots on the control arms are good I would at least replace the inner and outer tie rod ends.