If your front-wheel-drive car shudders or vibrates when you accelerate, clunks when you get on or off the gas or emits a series of metallic clicks when you turn a corner, chances are there's something seriously amiss with the bits and pieces that transmit power to the wheels.

There's a much ballyhooed return to rear-wheel drive in some segments of the automotive world these days, but front-wheel drive (FWD), which has been the mode of choice for delivering power to the wheels for about a quarter of a century now, will likely remain dominant.

It made sense in the 1970s, when fuel crises forced manufacturers to begin creating downsized, more fuel-efficient automobiles, and it will make sense in the years ahead as fuel costs are unlikely to fall back in any significant way.

There are a number of advantages to FWD and a few disadvantages. The big gain is in packaging. Combining all the driveline components in the front portion of a vehicle gives designers a freer hand when it comes to providing people and cargo space in the rest. And concentrating the weight of the vehicle up front provides great straight line traction, a good thing in a Canadian winter.

Downsides include a higher level of complexity, as the transmission and differential are now integrated with the engine, and power has to be delivered to the wheels through a pair of driveshafts with complex joints that allow up and down motion.

And while straight-ahead traction may be improved, steering and cornering power is compromised by asking the front tires to multitask. Overall balance of the vehicle isn't as good either with usually about 60 per cent of the weight concentrated up front. This is why rear-drive is returning primarily in performance-oriented vehicles.

The benefits of FWD generally outweigh the disadvantages though and it is used in everything from econo-cars to luxury sedans and vans.

When FWD began to become more widespread there were concerns that its added complexity would result in much-increased repair costs. Brian Halverson of GM Canada, whose Goodwrench program is designed to keep buyers coming back to dealerships for repairs, says the reality is that modern FWD components tend to be very reliable.

The components involved include the transaxle, which combines the manual or automatic transmission, and the differential, which apportions torque to each wheel. Drive is delivered to the wheels by a pair of half-shafts, one on each side. On the transaxle end of each half-shaft is a device called a constant velocity or CV joint and at the wheel end what is called a tripot joint, Halverson says.

The tripot joint consists of a three-lobed spider assembly located within a tri-lobal bushing that allows it to transmit power at a variety of angles. The CV joint on the inboard end of the shaft is basically made up of inner and outer races and a ring with large ball bearings in it, and it allows power to be transmitted while the shaft pivots up and down with the wheel.

There isn't really anything you can do to maintain your vehicle's half-shafts, CV and tripot joints, but you do have to keep a close eye on them, Halverson says.

The joints themselves are robust and filled with grease and sealed by rubber "boots." If the boots become cracked, which they can with time, or damaged, they can allow water, salt and other road debris to get into the joint, and this can destroy it in fairly short order. Having the integrity of the boots checked on a regular basis is the best way to avoid costly repairs.

"Whether it's one of our vehicles or another manufacturer's it's very important to have your FWD [or all-wheel-drive] components inspected on a regular basis," says Halverson, adding that GM's owner's manuals suggest twice a year.

He says most customers tend to think of only scheduled maintenance, an oil or transmission fluid change, or replacement of an air filter et cetera at a given mileage. Most people will do these, but they tend to forget the periodic inspections, he says. But these are the ones that can catch problems before they become serious, and expensive. At a GM dealer this will cost about $50, but may be money well spent to keep a $30,000 or more vehicle operating properly.

In the case of FWD component repairs on a Chevrolet Malibu, a complete original equipment half-shaft assembly with CV and tripot joints sells for $859 and will cost about $100 in labour to install. A tripot on its own costs $798 and a CV joint $448 and each will cost about $150 to install. A boot kit, to replace a damaged unit, costs $55 and labour will run about $150.

It doesn't have to cost that much, however. A dealership I spoke to quoted me a price of $169 for a complete half-shaft assembly for a minivan with labour at about $50. This was for a remanufactured half-shaft; a new one sourced in the aftermarket and likely manufactured off-shore would be slightly more, and an OE part from this auto maker about $400.

There are aftermarket kits to repair damaged boots without removing them. They wrap around the existing boot and are clamped in place, but Halverson and the service rep at the dealership I spoke to warned against using them.