98 legacy outback, 160k 5MT.

 

it started out with a very intermittent problem of what felt like a shuddering coming from the front driver's side when accelerating from a stop. this would last for about 3 seconds max. this ended up going away but lately there is a high tempo constant shaking in the steering wheel when accelerating up hills. it's a very light vibration but it definitely wasn't there before and only started after the few times i had the heavier what i would call shuddering. this is not clutch shudder as i lived with that until my clutch was last replaced. you don't feel it in the seat, just in the steering. this doesn't happen when just crusing, only under load.

 

trying to be as descriptive as i can with it. front axles have 40k on them. struts have never been replaced. any insight on what i should be looking into?

 

thanks in advance.

have your tires balanced and rotated, its most likely a balance issue.

If the CV joints start to bind, this is exactly what happens. Many replacement axles are junk, I've had better luck grabbing original axles out of the junkyard than I have with ones from the parts store.

Also check for ball joint and tie rod wear in the suspension. Also could be loose road wheel lug nuts, I have had that happen.

tires are balanced and on there tight. i'm religious about rotating them too. i think it may be the left cv joint. i just noticed today if you listen carefully you can hear it click when you go over speed bumps at an angle.

 

yes, it is a cheap aftermarket axle on there. any recommendations on brands of axles other than oem?

Check out MWE Axles in Denver--quality rebuilt Subaru axles and Marshall Wolf is a good guy to work with.

thank you so much!

CV was my first guess.

 

axles - if you don't want any issues there's only two options: Subaru or MWE. I've done both many times, well worth the effort.

 

don't buy Subaru axles, get used ones at a junk yard and reboot them or have a shop reboot them. I do it all the time - 100% success rate.

 

Aftermarket axles - i've had tons of failures and issues with those, waste of time, as you're finding out.