Hello. I have a 98 OBW w/ 230K. Recently had the car inspected and it failed. At the same time I had the tires balanced. I brought it home and replaced the rear wheel bearing driver sider (took the knuckle off). I also replaced both rear struts and springs. I passed inspection but now I developed a nasty steering wheel shake and a clicking from the front driver side axle a week after. I never had an alignment. Could it be out of alignmnet so bad to cause all of this? I am guessing I damaged the front axle by driving 100 miles. About 50 miles into the trip is when it all started. I can replace the axle in an hour but I am concerned this is not the root cause. What do you think

I rotated the front tire to the back and the steering wheel shake is gone. I still have that clicking from what I think is tha axle. I still think it has something to do with the suspension work

Nope. Replacing the rear struts on these cars usually don't make the alignment go out of wack as there is no camber adjustment, just toe. Usually when suspension is replaced you should always get an alignment to make sure you get the most mileage out of your tires. Its not totally necessary on these as the rear toe is adjusted on the crossmember, not where you were working.

 

The shake is a tire balance issue or possibly a separated tire depending on what speed you feel the sake.

 

Clicking is going to be an axle most likely. I've seen axles make noise without the boots tearing. I'm going to guess that the inner boot on the RF axle is split open and finally started making noise as it sits right above the catalytic converter.

I rotated the front tire to the back and the steering wheel shake is gone. I still have that clicking from what I think is tha axle. I still think it has something to do with the suspension work

 

the steering wheel shake disappearing with moving the tire definitely means tire issue - nothing more there.

 

the axle click is purely coincidence - you working on the rear would have absolutely nothing to do with the front axle failing - they do simply get bad over time, and a 98 with 230K - yeah, it's due...