SpecialKPB

Good evening all,

Setup: Civic is a 5spd 2005 LX Coupe, 93K miles

So I have a slight groaning noise from the front, I'm 95% sure, drivers side wheel. As I accelerate a slight vibration/pulsation begins around 40mph through 50mph (most pronounced during that speed range) When I get to 70mph the steering wheel now picks up a slight side to side "shimmy/shake"

So while driving 70mph I have noticed that if I get up to 80mph the vibrations almost but all fade away, same with slowing down to around 55mph. I'm also about 95% sure this can be satisfied with a proper tire balance, which will most likely happen this Saturday.

The groaning noise continues to follow the RPM's with an increased pulsation noise (faster speed I go: the closer together the pulsation is and ditto with going slower). While going around 40mph if I turn side to side, no one beside me haha, I can actually lesson the noise from turning towards the left. Turning right will increase the noise and usually add some "crunchy/vibrating" feeling to the front of the car.

Note: all symptoms mentioned above happen while in gear, out of gear, on brakes soft/hard, and fully off brakes. So I would assume it's safe to rule out the engine/axle shafts have any direct connections to the issue/s.

This being said I'm off to my trusty mechanic (family member has his own shop) this Saturday to take apart the front drivers side to inspect and, most likely, replace the wheel bearing. I'm ok with that. It obviously needs to be done.

So here is where I finally end this book and ask my damn question (haha)

Q. does anyone have any knowledge or experience with the civic wheel Hubs?
I'm curious to know if anyone has any tips/tricks and also if there is anything else I should be looking for/at while its all apart?
Lastly could the wheel shaking be a 'side effect' of a bad hub/bearing?


I have looked into my Haynes manual and they tell me "dude, take it to a Honda dealership"...which I did just to get a quote last weekend. Ughh yeah we all know I don't need to explain that - they put down on paper how much rape costs nowadays. I have gotten some prices of hubs and bearings so I'm aware of the costs involved.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
I will try to take some snazzy pictures of the install and upload them thanks again for any help!

-K

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

it does sound like a bad bearing. for the shaking idk, i have it too and i just got new oem rims and tires balanced and installed and it still does it. ive noticed rubbing sounds when turning so maybe its a bad bearing for me too lol. have you jacked the front up and spun the wheels to see if you can hear any noises or feel resistance?

flirp

Jack up the car enough to get the bad wheel off the ground. If you can feel play even though the wheel bolts are tight, you've probably got bad bearings.

rednwhite04

iTrader: (3)

I replaced my wheel bearing when I had about the same mileage. They dont have complete hubs. You buy the bearing separate and the old are pressed out and new pressed in. Thats why Hanes doesnt have a write up.

ZFreak

Agreed. It has to be pressed in and out. The trick with jacking up the car and wiggling the wheel to see if it's loose doesn't always work. The bearing seal could wear and allow the bearing grease to leak out, causing it to make the noise without the bearing actually failing yet. Regardless, it definitely sounds like the bearing is your culprit.

SpecialKPB

First off, thank you all for your helpful advice. My buddy and I lifted the car up and turned all the wheels to isolate the problem as you had suggested.
We spun each tire by hand while holding onto the spring within the inside of the wheel well, obviously a lift is needed to achieve this...that or your stretch arm strong. You can feel the slight vibrations at slower tire rotations due to the suspension being first in line and closest connected to the bearing/hub assembly. That method worked like a champ! Front drivers wheel bearing was bad; had a crunchy feeling as the tire spun. back passenger is slightly bad but not yet on the "to do list". It's time will come.

So we removed the tire/brake setup, CV shaft and then had to yank out the hub with half the old bearing on it. We used a press to put the new bearing in, went in perfectly. Gotta love a little bit of LMC/MMC!

End result is my car no longer has a "grinding/roaring" noise or feel from the front corner anymore. This was 100% the culprit, thanks again to those who posted great ideas/suggestions!

Oh and I also had a chance to learn how to use his tire balancing machine, it was great, took about 1 min to learn....seriously its that simple. What's sad is I had my tires "balanced" ,about 4 times now, at a local tire chain that apparently had all 4 tires out of balance. I checked and fixed all of them, end result, I can go 80mph now without the slightest shake, its so nice to finally be back to a smooooth ride.

I didn't do an alignment yet. I will get the alignment done after I install the rear camber arms/rear bearing as it makes no sense to pay for 2 alignments. I'll make sure it's done prior to winter so I don't go skiing in the civic.


I have a few pics of the install from this past Saturday for anyone to use and view; hopefully these can help someone:

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This is my first time uploading pictures, I hope I did it correct and no is seeing red x's of awesomeness....

p.s. there would be more pictures but my hands were covered in grease and when I get into work mode; the phone gets stashed in my car.