Hi,

I'm new here so please forgive me if this question has already been addressed. I have a problem with my 96 honda civic dx. It shimmy's at 40 mph and up. The steering wheel and passenger side vibrates bad while driving at those speeds. I just bought the vehicle off a friend's daughter. I doubt she has been keeping it service at certain mileages. The miles on it is over 175000. I'm thinking maybe the ball joints need replacing. Any help you give me will be appreciated. Thank you

 

Yea, probably. Bring it to a tire/brake place, they would be able to diagnose it. Sounds like a mix between a desperate need for tire balancing, possibly alignment, and busted wheel bearings.

Have the brakes checked too, old warped brake disc's will cause that as well.

 

hrm, does the vibration increase with speed? sounds like the wheels could be off balance

 

yeah balance your tires, check for a sepereated tire too. rub your hand over the tire to feel if there is any humps on them. then get it aligned. if it vibrates when you press the brakes then you have warped rotors.

 

Check your tire pressure and get your tires balanced, its cheap to balance and its not safe to ride if will wobble.

 

Is it riding on the stock wheels or does it have some aftermarket wheels? If you do have aftermarket wheels, you might either need to get some hubcentric rings or make the wheel lug centric.

 

...well you can also feel a slight vibration while it's idling..at least you can see the stirring wheel vibrating, but it vibrates badly when driving.

 

i'd say get the wheels balance and check it out, and its cheap so you could get it done quick.

 

Thanks alot, you guys were right it were definitely the tires. I had walmart put the original tires back on and the shimmys are no more. The aftermarket wheels like sk8er602 says were not put on correctly. Thanx again.