My car starter pulling and vibrating a couple of months ago. 97 leg wagon 2.2 I didn't think much of it I did some snow banking over the winter. I was changing the oil and noticed a 2 inch strip of my drivers tire was worn bald but thats not all. The CV boot was thorn in half. Is there something in the front end that can cause both? or is the Axel causing all of this? When I bought the car a year and 26k ago the pass. side Axel had already been changed. I don't see anything else wrong but I haven't pulled the Axel yet. Just wondering what I should be looking for.

Give the suspension components a good shakedown. Do you feel any freeplay in the wheels when rocking hard by hand or foot? Ball joint tight? If you lift that wheel off the ground, does it turn smoothly? If everything is tight, could just be an alignment issue. But if you are noticing drifting and vibration something may be worn. The ripped axle boot you may start noticing clicking and maybe vibration as dirt and stuff gets in there. I just tore one and ordered an MWE axles replacement.

What would a bad ball joint look like??

I put some Subaru ball joint info here and some pics below.

 

Usually when shaking down the suspension you lift up the vehicle and get it on jackstands. Then get in there and shake with your hands everything you see checking for any looseness. And inspecting for any obvious broken things such as springs. Ball joints you might need to have someone lift under the link with a pry bar while watching for any freeplay. Not much freeplay is allowed in balljoints, like .3mm