I took the Escape out for another drive last night.
I verified that the shimmy immediately stops when I take my foot off the gas and just coast. Basically, the shimmy stops as soon as I unload the CVs.

Does this preclude any additional damage inside the transmission or external to the PTU?

You state that you found runnout in the driver’s side axle. I would replace that axle and see if it is repaired.

Will do. Thank you again, sir.
Of course can't know 100% until this is addressed.

I have to agree with Andy about the other axle, derf. And I KNOW that you're just effing with me! LOL She's currently scheduled for thyroid surgery on October 13th. That is subject to change, of course because of the blood thinners she's on. She'll have to be off those for a couple of weeks and her cardiologist has to give it his blessing first.

Well, it's two weeks later. They replaced both the CVs they had already replaced. The popping noise went away, but there is still a shudder.

They measured my old parts which I carried and the parts I put on the vehicle before bringing it in are an exact match.

He asked if I took both the CVs out at the same time because if the gear they go into rotated at all it would put it out of balance. I said **** no I never do that. I do one side at a time.

Except this time, I took them both out at the same time with my brother-in-law. He had only done CV axles once a long time ago, so neither of us realized the implications. That gear inside the transmission must have shifted because they can't get rid of the shimmy which I'm assuming has to do with that gear having been damaged to the point that it is now misweighted, misshapen, you know what I mean just as Andy predicted.
and the case needs to be cracked open for replacement.

Depending on the cost, this $3,000 vehicle maybe sold as a rolling parts car. If the PTU is damaged, I can sell it as front-wheel drive by disconnecting the driveline to the rear. If it is inside the transmission, as I understand it to be, I don't know whether it is cheaper to replace the transmission or to fix this part.

Any guidance on that point would be greatly appreciated at this point

As it gets more expensive, I remind myself that I have saved well over the amount it will cost to fix this with all of the work I have done in my life to date. The world is not about money, but when you haven't worked in 15 months, you feel just a tad guilty causing thousands of dollars worth of repairs to your own vehicle. It doesn't shake my confidence one bit. I just need to know more about what I'm getting into before I start. Not that I needed to put that on the forum, but it beats going out in the garage and breaking **** in frustration.

Continued thanks.

Maybe I will be immature and go break ****. **** I don't need nor want

Damage is most definitely internal. For Andy, side gear makes the most sense. I've asked my mechanic to stop fussing with it because the next step is opening the transmission or troubleshooting the PTU and I prefer not to incur the expense of either.

No additional cost for sleuthing. Picking it up tonight.

If the driver side side gear is damaged but the vehicle drives most wonderfully except the shuddering at 15 to 25 mph on a hill, I'm going to assume that it is safe to drive the vehicle, as there are no other strange vibrations or steering anomalies that would make me believe the driver side CV is somehow loose and about to fly out with the hub.

Forward and reverse do not clunk so there must not be very much play between the spines of the driver's CV and the damaged side gear in the transmission.

I'm yet to take it on the highway but will do so tonight. Actually I will wait until it's light.

I believe I have digested most of the information in the wonderful graphic Andy posted above. I still have to get under the vehicle to make sense of how the PTU is driven. Sometimes you just have to have eyes and hands on it. Transmissions I've always been a stuff under the rug for me. Can't get away with that anymore.

Long-term update. The replacement replacement CV driver side axle shaft again has the wobble, and the shimmy still exists and will forever more. I believe the CV where it is supposed to mesh with the side gear is not doing so properly due to the damage to the side gear. This is causing a slight wobble at that end of the CV which of course is amplified as you travel outwards towards the wheel. So the wobble in the actual shaft between the joints is originating inside the transmission so to speak. Nothing I can do about that.

I've traced the popping noise, which showed up two weeks after I picked up the vehicle, to where the driver side front strut mount attaches to the frame. I carefully replaced the bolts one at a time and noticed that the mounting plate must have been cocked a bit. Once all three new bolts were in, I loosened them all to the same depth, then installed them evenly all around like doing lug nuts except they were only three. The loud pop is now a much quieter mini pop. The temperature dropped 20° here and when cold, the pop is gone. This tells me that there is still a tiny gap between the strut mount and the frame. I need to make sure the strut mount bolts are still torqued properly. At least that is gone for the time being.
I'm finally taking it in for an alignment tomorrow. obviously the toe can be set but on this vehicle there is no simple camber adjustment should it be necessary. There's only one pinch bolt holding the strut into the knuckle so there is no second mounting hole for a cam bolt. Seems like it would be a complete pain in the ass to put in some type of long cam bolt where the control arm meets the vehicle to move the lower ball joint in and out slightly. And the entire bolt would need to be cammed except the very end where the nut is. Not even sure that would work because they would have to be enough slop where the bolt goes through for the cam to even fit.
The only other adjusting location would be possibly at the top of the strut but it seems like the strut would be fighting the knuckle, lower ball joint, tie rod, and now the axle as to what controls, and the strut would likely be under stress laterally.

Yes, I know I am what if ing, but this particular session comes from trying to learn how to align these cars when things are not optimal.

There is no Ford part akin to a camber bolt for the front, only the rear. Which makes sense. Just trying to figure out how they would adjust it at the alignment shop and weather it involves taking everything the hell apart. I could do that with all the new parts in there as long as I don't pull out the CV. Haha

Andy, would greatly appreciate your wisdom

Our family had a 1976 Econoline Club Wagon. These were twin I beam front axles and our van got about 25k miles out of the front tires. Wore the outside edge off the tires, too much positive camber. Forged axles that had “do not bend axle to align” printed on them. Ford had a large acceptable camber range and would do nothing about tire wear under warranty. After the third set of front tires I told my father about Beeline truck alignment shops. I discovered them after moving to Oregon in 1980. So we located a Beeline shop in Pasadena CA and took the van to them. They bent the axles just like they do on big trucks and guaranteed that we would not have any problems. The next and a couple more sets of front tires went 60k miles. I ended up with the van and finally sold it in 1991.

So I should bend it to what is right ish
Bending the control arm will add positive camber.
Bending the strut should be able to add positive or negative camber.
Or just clamp the hub and adjust with force...

Better yet, drill out the rivets that hold the lower ball joint in the lower control arm, buy a new ball joint, and elongate the drilled holes and put a cam bolt in the center one so that camber may be adjusted and both directions.

But if in doubt, just bend it out. What's a few tenths of a degree among friends?

You are definitely more stubborn or patient than I am, derf. It I was dealing with all of that frustration, I'd have been rid of that thing one way or another by now. I sure hope you get that worked out, man. Once you get as old as me and get as tired of dealing with so much crap on a daily basis, you'll understand. Reatha is finally having the thyroid this coming Monday. Of course, we're coming up on a weekend and there seems to ALWAYS be something wrong with her on the weekends.