coolharry

Ok this has been bothering me for a while now. No major shakes while cruising on the highway, slight vibrations occasionally. Then when I apply the brakes I get a violent wobble in the steering wheel and car but not so much in the pedal. After I get below about 55-60 mph, the vibration goes away almost completely. And it’s not a gradual decline, it’s pretty abrupt. I replaced the driver side axle not to long ago because of a torn cv boot, and changed pads and rotors in the front a few days later.

Could this be a balance issue with the tires? Or should I be looking at possibly a frozen piston on one of the brakes?

hdragster

dang this happen to me too, I just change my axel a couple months ago and now my car is shaking at cruise. I took my car to get my tires balance and now it still shake :[

godslayer

Broken side motor mount?

coolharry

Found a very similar thread in the accord forum, and it sounds like it could be my tie rods. at least that will give me an excuss to get an alignment finally

1GPlusSH

check to make sure everything is tight with your suspension, especially everything you had to take off to replace your axle. i highly doubt it's a tire balance issue unless you have a "may pop" tire.

coolharry

I had to have a shop do the axle because of time constraints, but the shake was there before the axle got replaced.
I will look at that as well though.
I have a feeling this one could take a while to figure out (especially with work and school getting in the way). until then, its more downshifting and engine braking for this guy.

double wishbone

I would also check your rotors...if they are old and warped, it could cause this problem during braking.

race2live

I Am with Double Wishbone,What U Have described Is Usually Rotor Shake. If U Apply The Brakes At Highway Speed 55-60 U Should Notice The Shake Worse Than say At 15-20 Mph. If This Is The Case You Should Replace The rotors And Pads As a Pair. Tie rods wont Cause such A Shake Unless They Are Ready To Fall Off..........................

coolharry

The rotors were replaced about 6 months ago (along with new pads), so they aren't old. After I installed them I took the car out on a country road nearby and did the bed-in process and I didn't get any kind of shake during that process so I assume the rotors aren't warped, or weren't warped when I put them in.

And the shake is a lot more prevalent in the wheel and body of the car than in the pedal, which now makes me think its something other than the brakes. I'm gonna try and get it off the ground tomorrow after school and check if there's any play in the wheels.

double wishbone

Sounds good...is the car just a daily driver? Do you track it at all? I know sometimes if rotors see a lot of heat (racing applications, for example) and then you sit with the brakes on, it can warp the rotors enough to be shaky at high speeds. Under normal circumstances, though, I would think your rotors would not be the problems if they are that new. I would still recommend checking them just to rule it out so you can start looking elsewhere with more peace of mind.

00siboy

iTrader: (3)

a wobble in the wheel means its not engine related, most likely need to check alignment and all front suspension parts

GraphiteMW

I have a similar issue except that it violently shakes at any speed and doesn't even require heavy braking if I slightly tap the brakes going at a speed the steering wheel will shake left to right causing my steering to get really jerky but if I hold it straight I can feel the front end shake left to right. Like something might be loose but I have checked and everything seems fine. I was told my tie rods are bad but would that cause it to shake at any speed under braking? I have new inner and outer rods but haven't had a chance to get them installed. I do have to say that after installing my new front brake pads it became a lot worse till my brake cylinder starting leaking, the brake pedal became really squishy but at the same time the shaking has nearly vanished. Maybe it's the rotors?

I also have a new brake cylinder that I have yet to install till I diagnose the problem.

race2live

You Should Also Check The rack And Pinion Bushings That Hold the Rack To The Car . Those Could Be Rotted And Letting The Rack Move under Braking

h23siaws

mine was a frozen piston in the front brakes. when i went to compress the the piston, it wouldn't compress all the way. to test, take one set of pads off, fully apply the brakes and try compressing it. if it is really hard, that's your problem.

j01bb6

I have a similar problem i hope its only my rotors though.. My car shakes wen comin to a stop at higher speeds its really violent and shakes a lot and comin to a stop at lower speeds it shakes a little bit kinda side to side i'm almost positive i have warped rotors.. u guys have me 2nd guessin tho haha

coolharry

Should finally get the car up on a jack tomorrow to check the tie rods etc.
I was thinking harder about back when I replaced the pads/rotors and I remembered on the drivers side, the inside pad still had a decent amount left on it while the outside pad was almost down the to backing. had a real hard time pushing the pistons back in too if I remember right. So, if all the suspension is tight, I'll try rebuilding the calipers and hope that works.

coolharry

I got the car up on jacks today, and no play in the wheels in any direction, suspensions all tight, but now the passenger side cv boot is torn open. time for another new axle. Followed by rebuilding the front calipers. hopefully after that i'll be done with this damn vibration.
And on a totally different note, i figured now would be a good time to pull the bumper off and clean the filter on my CAI. gotta love suprises! the ****ing filter fell apart, so for god knows how long i've been riding around with a giant hole in my air filter. Awesome.

rjr162

the vibration, if it's not a LBJ, TRE, UBJ, rotor, or axle, could be the wheel bearing going out. I know you said there's not much play, but I had replaced both the UBJ and LBJ on my Accord after feeling a vibration and finding a little play. The play went away, but the vibration still stayed (not as bad). Replaced the wheel bearing using my OTC Hub Tamer and the vibration went away.

The other thing, as stupid as it sounds, could be a bubble or other defect in the tire if everything else checks out

coolharry

I got LBJ and UBJ, but what do you mean by TRE?
I'll add those suggestions to my check list, thanks man!

TheJGB3

TRE = Tie Rod End

rjr162

scratch the bubble.. wrote that without thinking about the fact you said it was when you applied the brakes

mafia

Just saying but to get a warped rotor is not that hard, I don't mean to sounds like a smart-*** but It sure sounds like mabe you warped your rotors. Or mabe bearing, but like you said there is no play in the wheels when you jacked up the car.

coolharry

how did I not put that together? thanks man.

yeah the more i deal with it the more i think its gonna end up being the caliper, which i'm sure probably messed up the rotor.

5thgencoop760

My car was doing the same thing, changed to new rotors. Fixed!

coolharry

Figured I should bump this back up instead of starting a new thread.

I got new tires mounted and balanced and had the rotors turned while everything was apart. The shake went away for a bit and came back but much less intense now.
So I figured I might aswell upgrade to the vtec calipers if I'm going to re-do my brakes.

Are the vtec caliper the same for both 4th and 5th gens? I might have found some from a 5th gen and I want to make sure they will fit before I buy them. I tried searching but no luck.