front end vibration

[ledzep68]

98 explorer 4wd. The steering wheel has a small amount of feedback from the front end at all speeds, but more prominent at high speed. It is like a slight tapping and is more noticable at the bottom of the steering wheel. First guess was the c-v axles. I jacked it up and found a little play when I tried to move the c-v axles front to back (if you are looking down on the car) ,not sure if thats normal. The side to side play was negligable. When I rotated the tires ,I noticed 1 small click per rotation on one of the axles. The other axle was ok. The clicking axle was a rebuilt aftermarket, and it has 37000mi on it. 99% street driving, no offroad pounding. Can anyone offer any advice?? Is it difficult to replace a c-v axle (any specialty tools needed ,ie ball joint separators, special pullers, etc?) I have a decent set of tools. The haynes manual sucks in this area, thats why I am asking here. Any advice would help.

 

[skoal_mint]

Well im not to sure what your problem is, but the cv should just pop off, might have to use a screwdriver or prybar. But usually just pulling it hard and a tap with a hammer will to the trick

 

[ledzep68]

thanks

I wasnt sure if it is the c-v , but it is making a slight clicking sound each revolution when I turn it by hand.