My Caravan has now been doing this since Aug 2004 and I'm sure it will
quit on me anytime.
The first thing you think of when this jerking starts is that the front
end is badly out of alignment or a wheel is loose. Not so. When I start
off, I can hear loud popping from the front, especially when
accelerating and turning at the same time and there is a violent
jerking when accelerating. As soon as I let off the gas, it stops. It
will level out fairly well when getting up to highway speed. And
actually, the jerking has subsided some over the last few months, but
that's probably not a good thing. One mechanic told me it was the
torque converter. Since it's front wheel drive, my thought is that it's
probably the half-axles/CV boots. The van has 215,000 miles and surely
they are about gone by now. Any thoughts on this? And if it's the CV
boots, does anyone know what a going rate for replacement for both
boots would be? I'm sure repair at a Chrysler dealership would be very
high and I'd prefer to use an independent shop.