We have a 1996 stratus w/ a 2.4 . There is a loud roaring sound when we drive it, it shakes. The noise gets louder when we turn to the left but goes away when we turn a hard right. We replaced the passenger side wheel bearing last february. My hubby thinks it is the half shaft. He has bought one and the tools needed to replace it and plans on doing it tomorrow. He bought the driver side one. Does this sound like a half shaft problem? How hard is it to change one? Any pointers would be appreciated. We would take it in but we were quoted at least $500 and the car would be gone for a week so we passed.

 

i would first recomend replacing the other wheel bearing, then lubing up the ball joints and rest of the underside. my 02 was making funny noises until i got the underside lubed up. the noise can be hard to trace down. might even sound like it's comming from one place when it's really comming from another (plus bearings are easyer to replace than a half shaft).

havn't changed out a halfshaft on a fwd car, but have replaced a few clutches on them.

the easiest way i know to remove the halfshaft from the tranny is to discon the lower ball joint from the a-arm. this gives you enough clearance to pull the shaft out of the tranny. might need to drain the tranny first or you couldhave a mess, unless you have a cup type setup that can stay in the tranny,check into a new seal where the shaft goes into the tranny. cv boots should come with new bearing grease, check to make sure.

as far as the hub/wheel side i'm not at all sure. i'd get a haynes manual if you don't have one yet (local parts store). good luck.