Steering shake and vibration
 

Hello all,

Wanted to post this and see what everyone's thoughts were.

I have terrible steering wheel shake and suspension vibration when traveling either 1. at hwy speeds and hitting very small bumbs, 2. normal speeds hitting very small bumps and cracks, 3. while breaking

'02 Honda Civic 111k miles

What I've replaced:
dirvers side strut and upper bearing
lower ball joints both sides
lower control arms both sides
brakes (new rotors and pads)
outer tie rod ends both sides
wheels
tires

Kind of at my wits end, vibration was much better after all this work, but has gradually come back. Now I look at the passanger ball joint and the boot is cracked again. Only thing I see wrong now is the drivers side inner cv boot is torn. What could be causing this? Could the rotors get warped from bad suspension parts? I did the brake work before the suspension work.

Please let give me some suggestions on how to proceed with this thing, about to just trade her in......

Re: Steering shake and vibration
 

Could be CV Joint, it could also be your wheel bearings. Does it make noise or just shake and vibrate? Have you checked your lower control arm (compliance) bushings?

Re: Steering shake and vibration
 

Yes, I replace the lower control arms bushings and all. It makes kind of a knocking noise when it happens. Going to throw it in Nuetral on the way home today when it happens and see if it stops, this will tell me if it is the cv joint right?

Re: Steering shake and vibration
 

wheel bearings aren't making noise while driving, could they fail and not make noise just driving normally? I would think they would squeal?

Re: Steering shake and vibration
 

Usually CV joints make a clicking noise while turning to let you know they're on their way out. If they get real bad, they make a grinding noise while driving in a straight line:( . Mine had got so bad the wheel started moving on its own. Luckily it was on the way to the shop. Sometimes WBs just go without any warning noise though, so who knows.

Re: Steering shake and vibration
 

Yeeea and wheel bearings arent fun to change either... get it checked... hmmmmm.... Unless in your plethora of part replacement you replaced the broken part with a cheap replacement and it just went again? This is when it starts to become a money sinkhole :( Recheck your work and make sure all the parts you replaced are still okay.

Re: Steering shake and vibration
 

just throwing a comment out there - but I had a very similar issue with shaking steering wheel and such; I was able to fix the majority of the issue by replacing the end links. The stock end links run out of grease pretty quick it seems and then they lock up and suck:tdown: Moog makes GREAT aftermarket ones, I changed out all 4 in the driveway. The Moog ones have a grease fitting you screw in so you can keep em' good to go, plus they're much more "beefy" then the stockers...sounds like you replaced a lot already but I hope this helps!

-K

Re: Steering shake and vibration
 

Oops, forgot to mention, I have replaced those already.