Vibration through steering wheel

[AdioSS]

My car has a pretty bad vibration that sometimes starts around 45mph that gets progressively worse as the speed increases. The previous owner claimed it was a CV axle. It’s been a long time (nearly 20 years) since I’ve messed with the suspension of a FWD car. It doesn’t feel anything like a wheel imbalance, which is the most I’ve had to deal with in a while. It is a high mileage car, so it could be anything.

Where should I start looking? I don’t want to start by just buying parts to replace.

[occasional demons]

CV joints will also cause the steering wheel to possibly shake. I have never had one actually shake the car. It was more of a wobble in the steering wheel, to downright violent shaking of the steering wheel. They are usually pretty noisy when that happens too. They may or may not make noise constantly. The one in my Subaru did not make any noises, when it was not vibrating/shaking, and was not consistent in when it shook the steering wheel.

Usually there is a clicking sound at least when the car begins moving.

Have you tried lifting and supporting the car to see if you can tell what is creating the shaking?

I would still try it with and without the wheel(s) on the front to see if removing them does or does not change it. A tire and wheel will shake the car a lot easier than a halfshaft. The mass is further out, and can be amplified a lot easier than a halfshaft.

[AdioSS]

I have not tried that yet.

There are a lot of vibrations going on with this car. On my list of things to do are new engine & transmission mounts. Heck, the one on the top passenger side doesn’t even stay on.

And I’m pretty sure someone hit something in the passenger front.