HG-2003Civvy

Hey,
So a couple days ago I started my car like any other day and it seemed normal on 60km/h roads. When I got on the highway past 90km/h it shook really bad, the steering wheel was shaking alot too. It's literally just past 90km/h it starts shaking and making a really rough ride for the last few days. I've checked tire pressure, wheel weights, got a car wash thinking ice build up in rims. Nothing works. Alignment seems fine too, it doesn't pull hard either way. Any ideas or help would be appreciated.

Brian1037

sometimes that happens to me too. being winter, its obviously snow that built up somewhere if it just started out of no where, and there are no mechanical problems. but every time it happens to me, i can never find where it built up... so what i do is drive in as much wet stuff as i can. sounds stupid, i know, but it helps. the water melts the snow (if its not too cold, but if its warm enough for the roads to be wet, the water shouldnt freeze up inside). eventually it lessens and lessens and in a few days it's nearly gone.

if you want to try, you can go to either one of those self serve car washes and use the water gun to spray water up behind the wheels and in the rims, or go to one of those drive-in car washes that sprays strong gets of water under the car as you enter. if the problem isnt gone in about a week (assuming you drive daily) then it's probably not compacted snow or ice.

just make sure you're 100% sure its not a mechanical problem before assuming its snow.

HG-2003Civvy

Yeah gotta love winter, destroys cars. Well at least someone else has had that problem. I'm not saying its not mechanical, I'm just wondering what else mechanically could cause the vibration if the alignment is fine..And yeah I tried yesterday to get the pay and spray nozzle inside the steelie's but its hard. I'm taking it to a buddy's heated garage on Friday so if its ice it will be gone for sure. Just trying to figure out what else it could be so I can check at his garage then

MelJ

If the wheel is shaking, it could possibly be tie rod ends. The check for that is pretty easy, but it's effing cold, make use of that garage.

HG-2003Civvy

Yeah I was thinking tie rod but there's no clunking or popping noise. I will still check though when I have it up in the air, if there's play in moving the wheel then I know it'll be some steering part. How will I know if its a tie rod or wheel bearing or whatever though. I just know that if there's play, its not good.

MelJ

Mine didn't make any noise. Just a quick wheel movement startled me on the highway. I jacked the car up, took the tires off and grabbed the tie rod ends. They were moving, so I knew what the culprit was at that point. The wheel bearings usually let out a howl that's easily noticeable from what I've read on forums.

HG-2003Civvy

Damn, that pretty much sounds like what happened to me. Doubting more and more that its ice build up in the rims..still hopeful. What did the tie rod set you back at a shop? Hope its not too pricey. Thanks for the info btw

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

for loose tie rod, if you are driving slow (around 20-25mph) and you jerk the wheel left and right and hear a loud clunk, you know its bad. dont do this on a busy street. if the tie rod is loose already, a sudden swerve could cause complete loss of steering if the part falls off. tie rods are serious business lol.

HG-2003Civvy

I actually did do that this evening in an empty parking lot at 30km/h to try to hear anything unusual. I heard no clunking and the car was very responsive. But when I jack the car up it could be a different story. Thats why I'm trying to get people to throw ideas, only have one day to fix it. You know if it could be anything else gearbox?

TRIZ

iTrader: (14)

Tire balance is off, motor mounts, do you have an aftermarket crank pulley? ... I dunno what else besides whats been mentioned.

MelJ

If the TREs do turn out to be the problem, I ended up getting the Moog ones from Advance Auto. I can't remember how much they ran me. Maybe 60 bucks? They have a grease fitting on them so you can service them every now and then. I got some rear sway bar links by them and they're good quality.

HG-2003Civvy

Thanks for all the input guys. I found out today that my girlfriend borrowed my car while I was in U.S. for business. She said the roads were "really bumpy". I'm thinking she hit a pothole or two. I'm gonna try an alignment on the weekend and I have another set of rims to try out if she bent one of them. Knew I shouldn't have left her a key lol. But yeah if its the tie rods I'll check out moog for sure.

MelJ

Lol. Yeah man. Pot holes are the devil.

BobDobolina

I would have to say its something with the wheel/tires. Maybe bent? depends on the pothole, and I imagine she would downplay it alot, LOL.

I was doing doughnuts in a parking lot one day long ago, and after that, when on the highway, I got that vibrating/shaking you speak of that only increased with speed. Turned out to be snow/ice packed into the inside of the wheel. couldnt see it from the outside cause of the stock steelies with covers.

Lesson here? NEVER let a chick drive your civic!!

HG-2003Civvy

lol yeah I know man, but it was leave her the keys to my civic or my company vehicle (2009 nissan altima). Yeah so I did take it to my buddy's garage tonight and the front right rim is bent and the tire bulged. Excellent At least they're the winter steelies. If my girlfriend wasn't so broke I'd make her pay lol. F*** this, all seasons are going back on for now. Gotta buy one new tire and rim on monday woo hoo.

MelJ

Ouch. That blows. I mean, you can only blame her so much. I remember I was leaving school and I literally FELL into a pothole. I had no other way to go around it. It was either fall in the pothole or drive into oncoming traffic. The state or province or whatever you live in should seriously pay for this crap. They use crappy material to save money and it ends up hurting our sources of transportation in the end.

HG-2003Civvy

Yeah I know what you're talking about, I think its the same everywhere.. the roads in Ottawa, Ontario are so bad downtown. I've been down to Maine and they have such nice roads, I'm jealous. That sucks for your poor Honda though. Recycled pavement is the worse but its "environmentally friendly" so its worth it apparantly

TRIZ

iTrader: (14)

Yay, I was right, but Boo, you have to buy a new rim

When I bent mine (from psudo-drifiting on snow in a parking lot for fun) I went to an auto wrecking yard and got a honda 4x100 as a replacement for 40-50 bucks. My tire on the other hand was completely fine. Picture?

HG-2003Civvy

I actually went to an auto yard yesterday and got a rim off a '97 civic with decent tread. I was impressed by the mileage, 386,000km on that honda. Cost me $18, putting it on this afternoon. And no I forgot to take a pic but it wasn't pretty, it was bent on the inside and it actually took off a chunk of my tire. Damn potholes.