1993 voyager/caravan

Welp, we took back the 02 Caravan cause the dealer's F & I manager tried to
scam us on the financing. That's another story for another day...
So back to the old van. Its a 1993 Plymouth Voyager 3.3L automatic with
225000 miles. The reason we were trying to trade up is if the van is going
over 15MPH and you try and accelerate, the front end wobbles. The higher the
speed, the wobble turns to a solid shake. It only does this on acceleration
and is otherwise smooth when coasting. It has gotten progressively worse
from a slight vibration occasionally to a full blown wobble in the span of
about two months. There is no abnormal noises (clicks in turns, thumps in
suspension etc) and no visible wheel wobble when the van is observed in
operation. I have ruled out bust belts in the tread because we put four new
tires on it and nothing changed.
Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and what your individual
end results were. (aside from junking the vehicle)
Many thanks to those who can help

evo_fxrp wrote:
> Welp, we took back the 02 Caravan cause the dealer's F & I manager tried to
> scam us on the financing. That's another story for another day...
> So back to the old van. Its a 1993 Plymouth Voyager 3.3L automatic with
> 225000 miles. The reason we were trying to trade up is if the van is going
> over 15MPH and you try and accelerate, the front end wobbles. The higher the
> speed, the wobble turns to a solid shake. It only does this on acceleration
> and is otherwise smooth when coasting. It has gotten progressively worse
> from a slight vibration occasionally to a full blown wobble in the span of
> about two months. There is no abnormal noises (clicks in turns, thumps in
> suspension etc) and no visible wheel wobble when the van is observed in
> operation. I have ruled out bust belts in the tread because we put four new
> tires on it and nothing changed.
> Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and what your individual
> end results were. (aside from junking the vehicle)
> Many thanks to those who can help
>
>
My first impression is that one of the inside cv joints is really
getting bad. I had this happen when I put a reman. axle in the left
side. The joint was faulty and when I drove it the van would wobble -
the faster I went, the worse the wobble. I put it back up on jackstands
, rotated the front tires, and found that once every rotation, the
engine/tranaxle actually moved sideways back & forth about a l/2". I
couldn't see anything obviously wrong with the new axle, but somehow it
was changing length as it rotated and pushed and pulled on the tranaxle.
I remedied the problem by cleaning and repacking the old cv shaft, and
putting a new boot on it. Took the new axle back for a refund. It may
not be your problem but you might start by putting yours up on
jackstands, and checking. Also grab the front tires and yank back &
forth to see if one of the front wheel bearings is gone.

By your description it seems that the symptoms are similar. I suspected one
of the drive shafts but dismissed it thinking I would see a wobble in the
front wheel. It had not occurred to me that the axle could be pushing on
the differential. Now that I think about it.... about 3 months ago, my wife
(primary driver of said van) told me that there was something wrong with the
right front tire. There was a rotational scrape and a good size chunk of
rubber missing from the sidewall. Somehow the tire held air and we replaced
it immediately. There were also rotational scrapes on the edge of the
corresponding hubcap and on the lip of the wheel. She swears that she didn't
hit anything but it looked like she may have been parked on a curb and
scraped the right side wheel when backing up. I wonder if the right side
axle may have gotten a slight bend or minor joint damage in the process.
That would explain why the wobble has gotten progressively worse. Didn't hit
anything my A$$.
Once again many thanks!

evo_fxrp wrote:
> Welp, we took back the 02 Caravan cause the dealer's F & I manager tried to
> scam us on the financing. That's another story for another day...
> So back to the old van. Its a 1993 Plymouth Voyager 3.3L automatic with
> 225000 miles. The reason we were trying to trade up is if the van is going
> over 15MPH and you try and accelerate, the front end wobbles. The higher the
> speed, the wobble turns to a solid shake. It only does this on acceleration
> and is otherwise smooth when coasting. It has gotten progressively worse
> from a slight vibration occasionally to a full blown wobble in the span of
> about two months. There is no abnormal noises (clicks in turns, thumps in
> suspension etc) and no visible wheel wobble when the van is observed in
> operation. I have ruled out bust belts in the tread because we put four new
> tires on it and nothing changed.
> Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and what your individual
> end results were. (aside from junking the vehicle)
> Many thanks to those who can help
>
>
I had similar problem with a 1988 caravan SE: vibration/wobble during
acceleration, but smooth otherwise. Replaced left axle to no avail.
Replaced front (radiator side) and right ENGINE MOUNTS with genuine
chrysler parts. Vibration gone. Don't use after market mounts-they won't
fit properly, and probably won't correct the problem. FAB