I have had my car shake really bad while driving on the highway, and gets worse when I get off onto main roads at slower speeds.

The only way to get my car, and steering wheel to stop shaking is to pullover, and turn the steering wheel all the way to the right and all the way to the left. For some reason the car will stop shaking, and drive normally for a while, until it starts shaking again.

What could be the problem?

Thanks

 

Have you tried balancing the wheels? Sounds like it might just be that.

 

Sounds like it could be one of the following:

Wheels need rebalancing.

Ball joints are bad. Crawl under the front wheel well, and check the rubber boots on the ball joints. If they are torn, and if there is grease all over them, then it’s a safe bet your ball joints are the issue.

It could be a bent axle or the CV joint is failing. Try going to AutoZone and getting new axles. You can always return them if the problem persists.

It could be a transmission issue. This is new territory for me, so I can't help much there.

 

Check your ball joints and tie rods. If you dont know how, just take it somewhere. It is VERY unsafe to have those worn or loose. VERY VERY unsafe.

Check the balance on the tires.

Make sure your axles are still good.

 

Ya, I should have mentioned that. Failing ball joints are a serious. It is extremely important that you confirm that the ball joints are NOT the problem.

If any of your ball joints go, you loose control of the vehicle. You will not be able to steer it, and you will collide with whatever is in your way.

My mechanic friend was almost killed by a ball joint snapping. His gave out on the highway, and his car ran off the road and flipped several times.

Ball joints are relatively inexpensive. If you have a mechanic friend, I suggest you offer him a case of beer for an afternoon’s lesson on fixing the front end suspension. Repairing the suspension can be around 2 hours per front side, or faster if he has access to an impact wrench.

A shop manual will show how to disassemble the suspension, but in most Hondas (other then the 1993 accord ex, avoid doing suspension work on that car) can be easily disassembled without following exact procedure.

I bought a replacement front end kit from eBay for $175, shipping included. It included more then what I needed.



Modified by antaren at 10:12 PM 10/8/2007

 

It appears that the boot closest to the wheel is torn, and now clicking.

Which is the ball joint, any pics from under the car?
My tie rods where replaced last fall.

Thanks

 

Jack your front end up, one wheel at a time is ok, then push and pull your wheel in each direction and see what shakes or is loose. If they are all tight, then check the balance of your tires.

 

could be a numerous amount of things.. unbalanced wheels, alignment, rotors, axles..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by buzlink &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It appears that the boot closest to the wheel is torn, and now clicking.

Which is the ball joint, any pics from under the car?
My tie rods where replaced last fall.

Thanks
</TD></TR></TABLE>

If you dont know what the balljoint is, you should probably take your car to be looked at somewhere. No offense...it's just that your suspension components are one area that should be 100% good before you ever go on the road.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B serious &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

If you dont know what the balljoint is, you should probably take your car to be looked at somewhere. No offense...it's just that your suspension components are one area that should be 100% good before you ever go on the road. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I know most parts of the suspension, it is that I get some mixed up sometimes. I found many people on the forums use diffrent names interchangabley for diffrent parts.

Axle was replaced earlier today, due to the boot closest to the inner wheel being torn, and that joint being really worn.
Hope that fixes the problem.

Thanks for the input.

 

So did the shake go away?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mangotreemechanic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So did the shake go away?</TD></TR></TABLE>

The front axle / half shaft was replaced. The CV Joint boot was torn, and the joint it self was dry and worn out. So far no wheel shake, I hope it doesn't come back.

Now only if I can get the looseness of my steering wheel to go away.

Thanks for asking.

 

If you do't know the name of the part, post a picture and circle it. We can tell you what it is.

 

Sorry for the vague part reference. I always hear people referring to the same part as different things.

Piece I would assume the axle the inserts from the wheel hub to the tranmission.
The piece broken on the axle, CV joint.

If anyone had any pictures that would be great. I could put an arrow on it.

Thanks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by buzlink &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
If anyone had any pictures that would be great. I could put an arrow on it.

Thanks
</TD></TR></TABLE>

5 seconds on google:
http://www.rageimports.com/sto...h.gif

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AWD Terror &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

5 seconds on google:
http://www.rageimports.com/sto...h.gif</TD></TR></TABLE>

Saw those on images.google.com I was looking for some under the car pictures.

 

had the same problem not long ago, the wheel would start shaking badly, then goes away after awhile. Big rip in the axle boot and all the axle grease leaked out... took no more than a few hours later for the CV joint to completely break into pieces...

Swapped out the axle and we're all gravy... hopefully you checked your ball joints while you were down there... and hopefully you didn't crunch the ball joint when you reattached everything

Hope everythings smooth as a baby's bottom for ya!