EKhatch

My mom's 97 CRV has a slight to mild vibration above 60mph. It gets worse until about 75 when it subsides a little but doesn't ever go away. I told her to get the tires checked and maybe have them balanced. She ended up needing new tires anyway but the problem still persists. The best way I cab describe it is like driving over washboards on a dirt road. The steering wheel and dash shake. The car has 104K miles and to my knowledge has never had the wheel bearings or struts replaced but I have no idea if that would have anything to do with it.

Does anyone know of anything that would cause this that I can check into before she takes it in to the dealer? It's an auto with AWD and ABS (I think) if that has matters at all.

Thanks

JuicedUpRice

id check to see if you have any cuts in the cv boots.
it sounds like something is probably bad with the cv shafts,or wheel bearings etc..

Yang907

if its a awd check your rear driveline u-joint

EKhatch

Thanks for the replies. Both suggestions seem fairly easy to check. Was going to try and figure it out before she has to take it to the dealer.

turbohatch96y7

iTrader: (15)

Get your rotors turned

EKhatch

The brake pedal does not pulsate. Do you think that could still be it?

Thanks

turbohatch96y7

iTrader: (15)

yup the brake pedal doesn't pulsate the steering wheel vibrates when the rotors warp.

MonkeyMagic

likely, the tires are balanced but not round. very common. even with brand new tires made by private label companies.

beyond that.. check the driveshaft for dings, dents or bad joints.

EKhatch

Yeah it just seems really unlikely that two different sets of tires would cause the exact same vibration. I'll check into the driveshaft though. Thanks

Oh, and I'll have to take a look at the rotors as well.

DCFIVER

Rotors do not warp and even if the TV of the rotor were out of spec,it would not make the vehicle vibrate if the brakes are not applied. That model year CRV has issues with the axles. 1 or both of the axle inner CV joints is possibly bad. There does not need to be any tears or rips in the boots for them to be bad.

turbohatch96y7

iTrader: (15)

Come on bro your supposedly certified
Heat warps metal.. the rotors being off just a little will cause vibrations in the steering especiallly at high speeds since the rotors are turning faster

DCFIVER

How much heat do you think is needed to warp a piece of metal as thick as a rotor? Rotors do not warp on street driven vehicles. It is a misconception. And if for some odd reason the rotors were actually warped, they still would not cause a vibration unless the brakes were applied.
LoL, Where do you people come up with this stuff....

MonkeyMagic

all at once? not terribly much actually.. has more to do with uneven cooling, in addition, unevenly torqued lug nuts can warp rotors. some designs are more prone than others, and of course metallurgy has a big part to play as well.

DCFIVER

Incorrect. They do not warp.(on street driven vehicles) Uneven lug nut torque is probably one of the prevailing reasons to brake pulsation, but not because the rotors are warped....

onefastx

I would check the front end, wheel bearings, ball joints n tie rods. Could be upper strut mounts too. It could be driveshaft or diff if it's awd. Bad tire can do it. I've never seen a warped rotor make a car shake unless it's under braking. Could be control arm bushings or sway bar links. It's almost endless what can cause a shake or vibration.

MonkeyMagic

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

I heard it all now. "Rotors do not warp." Agreed that they shouldn't affect driving at speed but while braking you WILL feel a hard vibration if they are warped. I'm speaking from first hand experience.

turbohatch96y7

iTrader: (15)

Lol that's what I thought too.
But rotors will cause vibration at high speeds.
Think of the rotors warped just a little bit. The brake pads are always riding on the rotor ever so lightly..
If that rotor is warped its going to hit the pad and transfer that all the way threw the knuckle to the rack and pinion. And get worse at higher speeds.
Who cares anyway the op hasn't even checked anything or posted back.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Exactly. Just offering up my experiences same as you. However, no one's going to tell me warped rotors are come urban legend or figment of my imagination.

MonkeyMagic

my crv makes a very similar shake. just noticed this week. usually don't drive that fast.

i'm going to say it's either my slightly wobbly right-rear wheel, the two out of round rear tires, the two well-worn front tires, or the driveshaft(s). idgaf really though because i normally don't drive that fast.

not on a passenger car equipped with a traditional floating caliper. if so, your sliders are shot to **** and you have a seized caliper.

and i care just because i literally have nothing better to do at the moment.

real question is "who cares? honda kids are still going to replace their rotors with cheap autozone ones which are going to warp anyway"

turbohatch96y7

iTrader: (15)

even if they are "floating calipers" what keeps the pad from resting on the disc? the pads arent attached to the caliper. From my experiance they rest against the disc very lightly.
and if that rotor is warped just a little guess what happens at high speeds. i have an eg right now out side with warped rotors. drives perfect under 70 after 80 it gets a bit shakey.

MonkeyMagic

nor are the pads attached to the disc.

here, read it again..

the question is what keeps the pad resting on either.. the answer is, hydraulic pressure.

no braking pressure and the pad is going to be pushed into your eg's caliper if the slides are sticking, clear of your warped rotor. or it could be gliding gently back and forth on a smooth coat of grease if you have kept up with maintenance. or it could be causing a slight vibration because of a combination of sticky sliders and contaminated brake fluid and gummed up orifices which has allowed the brakes to settle in a near-applied postition which in laymen's would be the makings of a sticking caliper.

not to mention the warping of a rotor is like the profile of a lazy cam shaft.. a gentle sinusoidal sway of no more than a few hundredths of an inch when we're talking of such motions without the brakes applied. apply the brakes, increase the friction between all these parts and it's shake time.

and they are most certainly floating calipers. no need for "'s as that's just what they are by their design which enables them to "float" on lubricated pins to prevent vibrations.

your vibration at 80 is something else. or a twenty year old sticky caliper.

turbohatch96y7

iTrader: (15)

Nope all the explaining in the world isn't going to convince me.
I "know" the rotors are warped. I "know" that is causing my vibration.
Your saying thee calipers may be seized. But when I change brakes I always have to push the caliper back in to fit the new pads cause they're thicker. What I'm getting at is the pad is always extreamly close to the disc. Obviously not pressed up against it but really really close.

DCFIVER

Wrong.
Wrong.



I find it amusing that no one would argue with a doctor about medical advice, no one would argue with a lawyer about legal advice, yet because any back yard bob weekend hack can buy a craftsman tool set he thinks he's a mechanic. So they feel they can argue with a professional mechanic, like myself. Shame. You really look like idiots from my perspective...

http://www.stoptech.com/technical-su...nd-other-myths

A good article from: The Tire Rack.com:
What causes brake rotors to overheat and warp?

Overheating brake pads beyond their designed temperature range releases large amounts of gas and uneven, sticky deposits of melted binders/fillers that coat the rotor surface. Every time the brake system heats up, those uneven deposits will grip the pad more aggressively than the areas without the deposits. The brake pad will slip over the non-coated areas because it can’t grip as well on those bare areas. These heavy concentrations of compound material are called hot spots because they cause uneven overheating on the rotor surface. This can actually alter the molecular structure of the cast iron rotors forming hard spots. Severe overheating forms a compound within the cast iron structure called cementite which is harder and more abrasive than the surrounding iron. It’s also not as effective as a heat sink as the surrounding cast iron. The compound cannot wear down these hard spots and the result is more heat building up in those areas and a thumping you can feel whenever you apply the brakes. Continued use of the rotors will expand these areas of cementite and uneven heat distribution. Once cementite forms in the rotor, it cannot be removed. The rotor needs to be replaced.


OEM and aftermarket brake manufactures chased down and eliminated the warped rotor myth years before StopTechs article. For more information regarding the falsehood of "warped" rotors you can purchase white papers here on the subject:


http://www.sae.org/search?searchfield=brake%20rotors

These papers are the result of real world testing and design.


Rotors dont warp kids.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Wrong. When you get bullshit advice from a doctor you get a second opinion. When your lawyer gives you bullshit legal advice, you go to another firm. When I get bullshit advice from mechanics/technicians like you, I go to another shop.

I've learned in my years that just because you call yourself a professional and maybe have years of experience, and even a title, that often, you people with your big egos don't know ****.

You are a prime example of this statement.

And for every piece of "evidence" that one person can find, another can find something opposing. Funny that instead of "warping" they instead call it "brake roughness". The description of which sounds just like warped rotors to me.

I wonder, if someone came into your shop to replace warped rotors, would you take their money or tell them that they're imagining things.