civic chic

ok i am a girl so dont be too harsh on me but the question i have is my steering wheel keeps shaking ever since i was in a bad accident a little less then a year ago. my tires are pretty bad too does that have much to do with the shaking of the wheel? i have taken it to honda who thinks it shouldnt be the tires for that much shaking and some other place tells me that its because i need new tires. i just want to know what i should do and whos being more honest about my car, being that im a girl and dont know all too much about this. please let me know your suggestions. thank you.

hybridreams

When exactly is the wheel shaking?

greebler

First, I would say that it is the wheels not balanced. Next I would say have the alignment done. But the tires are prob the problem, get alignment after tires if problem still presists.

Chris y0!

could be a bent axle yo

greebler

true, so what speed is it shaking @??? Like around 60-80mph? If so than its the balance of the tires.

ncjdmeg

I work at a service shop. If your rims are bent it could vibrate at all speeds. There are lots of other things that could cause that vibration. Alignment woundn't make it vibrate unless the alignment had caused abnormal tire wear. An axle would also vibrate. There is another thing it could be. The Force Variation in the side wall of the tire could be high. Force Variation is the difference in the stiffness in the sidewall of the tire. We have a $15,000 Wheel balancer that can detect this. I know it sounds technical but it works. Just fixed a Ferrari 550 Merinello the other day.

civic chic

my steering wheel shakes even when i am not applying the gas, like when i am coasting. its the worst when i am going between 10-40mph so that is what is weird about it. i have had my allignment done like 3-4 times in the last year since the accident. honda just recently rotated my tires a month ago and didnt say anything about that being the cause of the shaking but i dont know.

shawnhayes

More details will help (does it shake at all speeds?, only when braking?, when accelerating?, low speed only?)

We need this info, but possible causes (most already mentioned).

Out of balance wheels.
"goose egg" on tire (belt separation).
Bent rim.
"out of round" tires (sometimes referred to as the sidewall flex problem above).
Bent suspension.
Bent axle
Excessive wheel bearing play.
Misbalanced brake discs.
Warped brake discs.
Crappy brake pads (rare, but it can happen, although these usually cause very very minor vibrations).

Give us more info, and maybe we can help more.

Shawn

shawnhayes

Ah HA.

My bet:

Bad wheel hub bearing.

Accelerating will cause the bearing to "settle in" and coasting allows it to develop runout, but cannot rule out bent axle or bent suspension.

How many miles on the car.

If > 100,000, this is a good bet.

Shawn

PauLiE RN

civic chic, it could be a lot of things

broken axle,
bent rim/rims,
wheel hub messed up
broken "bearing" in the suspension and/or brakes area
tires off balanced
VERY bad alignment

my friend had THAT EXACT SAME problem you have on his civic coupe before, it was a broken axle, tires and dented passenger front rim. the rim was actually spinnin like those wheels from Flintstones (sorry couldnt give a better description)
he also had bad alignment..

we have no idea how he got it.. he was probably HIGH or somethin oh well

get it checked! but Im sure thats what it will be


[Modified by PauLiE, 3:04 PM 1/7/2003]

Turbo Powa

Thats what I think too~!

H23vtecEG

if they are doing it at high speeds then you need a balance. if not YOUR WHEELS ARE BENT DO TO THE SUSPENSION BEING MESSED UP FROM THE ACCIDENT. my moms car was in an accident wich made her front suspesion arm bend. WE REPLACED 4 WHEELS BEFORE WE FOUND THE PROBLEM. I'M PRETTY SURE THATS WHAT HAPPEN TO YOUR CAR