[Apollo-Soyuz 1975]

Well we've had a big load of snow in NW Ohio/ SE Michigan. I'm a student at Monroe County Community College in SE Michigan; today I was driving home from the first day of finals week. Ida West Road was glazed with ice (all the primary/secondary schools were closed), so I turned onto a gravel road to head toward Ida Center Rd, hoping it would be better maintained. After less than a mile, the snow starts to get deeper and then -- RRRGHCHGGRRZZH!! The car grinds to a halt and the front wheels spin hopelessly. I get out and discover to my dismay that the front end's seriously high-centered on snow, while the front wheels are barely contacting a pair of wheel tracks in the snow. I end up getting on my hands and knees, trying to dig some of the snow out with a long-handle snowbrush/ice scraper when a guy in an AWD Ford Explorer approaches in the opposite direction, and pulls up in front of me. We both try digging the car out... no success. He noses his truck up to my front bumper and tries to give me a nudge.. now HE'S stuck. I try calling AAA, but they're backlogged for the next 3.5 hours. So he ends up calling his neighbor, who comes up in a 4x4 Ford F-150 pickup and drags both of us out. I thank them both and head on my way, but on the US-23 freeway, the car begins to shudder above 55. I exit to regular roads, but discover the car does the same thing while accelerating in first and second gears if I use anything but a feathery touch on the accelerator. I get home and pop the hood, and see snow built up around the CV joints and halfshafts. I tried to clear as much of it out as I could, but I could only get the stuff on the sides reaching through the tight spaces. There's likely still snow under the CV joints, and my mom says it's still shuddering around town. Since we'll be below freezing most all week, it's highly unlikely the snow will melt, so I won't be able to tell for a while if the snow is the culprit behind the shimmy. Am I screwing the transaxle??

-Worried Shitless in Toledo

 

[antiSUV]

I have a similar story

We had near blizzard conditions for about 3 hours here in MO and I got let off of work during it. Going home, my windshield kept freezing over and blinding me, plus there was tons of wind blowing snow everywhere which made it 5 times worse. The windshield eventually froze up completely and I couldn't see anything and slid into a ditch. Luckily a good ol' boy in a F150 came by very soon and pulled me out. However it took some doing and my front right mud gaurd got rippd off in the process.
This happened Saturday. Today I went to my Mazda dealer to order a new pair of mud gaurds (18.50 with my good customer discount) and they said they have to be shipped form Japan and wont come until January sometime (or are discontinued...he has to check.) Damnit

 

[kennymx6]

That is one odd problem. I have never heard of anything like that before. antiSUV, both mudguards were 18.50? WOW. I think I will buy a new pair this spring!

 

[smachan]

does it do it on a clear road with no snow and ice? b/c i used to have that similar problem when i lived in michigan and it was just the road not being smooth.

 

[antiSUV]

quote kennymx6:
That is one odd problem. I have never heard of anything like that before. antiSUV, both mudguards were 18.50? WOW.

Well like I said I have a frequent customer discount. without the discount they would be 22.00 or so, but that's still cheaper than I expected. When I walked in there I was fully expecting him to tell me the front pair would be 70-80$ Only problem is this back order thing. He says they are either an NLA piece or must be backordered and sent from Japan. I'm crossing my fingers hoping they are still available because I needed new mudgaurds before this happened; the black color has come off of mine in some places leaving white underneath. Wierd.

Apollo-Soyuz 1975. As for your problem, make sure your wheels aren't full of frozen snow. That happened to me and made my car vibrate becuase the wheels were so out of balance.

 

[anarchyx34]

Actually this has happened to me before. The snow collects in one part of the wheel and throws the bastard completely off balance. Try taking the wheel off and clearing the snow out of it.

 

[jiffy6969]

I agree with Anarchy. I experienced the same thing when I used to take my truck mudd hogging. Mud will get on the inside of the tire, sticking there, throwing the balance off. Since it is ice, and it is too cold for it to melt, you will need to clean it off. Probably like Anarchy said, taking off the tires.

 

[Apollo-Soyuz 1975]

Well the car had to be towed today, and the problem turned out to be the motor mounts. Seems they'd worn over the years, and the high snow around here pushed them over the edge. I'm just glad it wasn't the CV joints!