Vibration At Highway Speeds

Vibration associated with the Constant Velocity (CV) joints in the half shafts occur in the 3rd and 6th order (3 or 6 events for each rotation). The inner tripod joint with three pivot axis has three events in each rotation of the half shaft. This will produce a 3rd order vibration of the wheel rotation speed. The outer CV joint with 6 pivot axis balls has six events in each rotation of the half shaft. This will produce a 6th order vibration of the wheel rotation speed. A 6th order vibration will create a high pitch sound, like gear noise. Use a vibration analyzer to determine the frequency of the vibration before replacing components.