I have had a problem with my car for a while. My tires have been balanced many times and my car still shakes. It only seems to shake around 60-68ish. I have been to different shops and last week a mechanic told me my carrier bearing was probably what was causing the problem. Just want to know if anyone else has had this problem or know if the tech's diagnosis sounds right.

 

Are you using stock wheels or aftermarket? Have you tried rotating the wheels from to rear?

 

Aftermarket wheels and aftermarket suspension. Seems to be worse after it is let off the rack when they have tried balancing the tires. Have rotated from front to rear. Any suggestions?

 

Are you using the correct hub rings with the aftermarket wheels? If not, that's what you need.

Btw, if you are already using hub rings, then the next step is to find a shop that uses "road force balance" mahchine to rebalance the wheels.

 

A friend works at a local dealership and they had one of those machines. He put all wheels on there and the wheel and tires were fine and round. Im just wondering what else it could be.

 

Do you have hub centric rings on your wheels?

 

put your oem wheels back on and see if it still shakes, that's probably the easiest way to determine if its your car or its the wheels

 

Another vote for hub-centric rings.

 

I had the same problem last year. Had an alignment done, wheels re-balanced ,and it didn't resolve the problem. I'm experiencing it again this year, but have yet to get an alignment. I'm beginning to think it's the tires. I have ronjons so I know hubcentric rings aren't an issue.

 

Same problem here: it feels like a wobble and occurs around 60-70mph and most notably when the engine is under load – such when traveling up-hill in high gear. It’s very strange and very annoying. I’ve even had a passenger comment on the vibration today – so it’s definitely the car. However, the vibration tends to go away once I hit 80mph or so. Initially, I thought it was the bent rim I’ve been riding on all this winter, but I’ve since had that replaced. I’m running on stock wheels, but I did have the tires replaced back in December 06’. Tire balance should be good and I’m fresh out of ideas, so I’m taking the car in to a mechanic next week. I’ll let you know what transpires once we drive it and get it on a lift. I’m hoping it’ll be a relatively easy fix.

 

So, do you have aftermarket rims?

 

No, I'm riding on stock rims.

 

An associate from my job races cars as a hobby. He’s offered the following advice: recheck for wheel balance, bent rim(s), proper tire mounting (tires should be mounted heavy side opposite of stem) – I’m reaching on that one, and proper wheel torque.

A speed-sensitive vibration might indicate an out-of-balance condition, while a wheel bearing issue probably will be consistent regardless of speed.

Here are some suggested checks:

Wheel Bearing: With the car parked on a level surface, tug back and forth at the top of the wheel/tire. If you feel any shifting/looseness and or hear any odd noises; it might indicate a bad bearing.

Steering Assembly: Next, grab the tires fore and aft and try to twist the wheel. Shifting/looseness and or noises during this procedure might indicate something is wrong with your steering linkages.

If all else fails, I will have the mechanic look at the motor mounts. The checks above can be done on your own.

One more interesting note I’ve learned: If you have any ramps, you can check your half-shafts by trying to rotate the drive axels by hand with weight on the wheels. Any play here indicates something is wrong in driveline components. Although, this probably doesn’t have anything to do with the vibration issue, it’s interesting info.

I’ll try some of these checks myself later this weekend.

 

Wow, you guys are having some of the same symptoms my car is experiencing currently except my car if far more advanced. My car started out with a weird sensation when going down the highway which turned into a clicking noise while turning. I replaced the tires and got the car balanced and had a couple shops test drive it, but they never noticed anything until the last shop drove it. I had a wheel bearing ready to replace the old one that I thought was bad, but he said if anything that is was something in the right driveshaft that was making the noise and to drive it until you really can hear the noise and notice it. Well its been 5k later and now the car has a major clicking noise while turning, and every time I'm accelerating it has a clicking noise coming from the right side at 45mph+ speeds. The shop told me to drive it a while and just replace the whole driveshaft when I was ready. I'm to the point where the car steering wheel is starting to get crappy again, so im considering replacing that right driveshaft.

 

Clicking while turning. Sounds like CV joints.

 

Well, I’m 99.9% convinced that the problem I’ve been experiencing is some type of imballance condition. The problem now is trying to establish the exact cause. Unfortunately, the mechanics in my area aren’t particuarly keen on troubleshooting. The dealer from which I initially purchased the car was next to useless when it came to diagnosing the problem as they immediately said that they couldn’t verify the problem even though I told them EXACTLY what to do in order to get the vibration to occur. Since the roads are often conjested during rushour and highway access at that particular dealer is somewhat limited, it turned out to be a big waste of time. The only good thing I got out of it was a free car wash. Ironically, not long after going to the stealership, I received a “last chance” offer for an extended warrantee. (I currently have 79k miles on the odometer). Man, what a rip! Apparently, that dealership charges $98 USD for an hour’s worth of “diagnosis” for cars not covered under warrantee. I was able to avoid the charge but I should’ve flamed them on their evaluation. Anyways, I have to find a good shop with the correct equipment that’s also willing to evaluate the problem. It’s either another bent or damaged rim, or something wrong with the tire. In the meanwhile I’ll dismount the wheel and check the condition of the hub mounts and flanges. Maybe something will show up there. Also, I’ll check the local shops for a ‘roadforce ballance’ machine (per JTso’s reply). I’ll keep everyone informed. - Great forum all. Thanks!

 

Mine ended up being operator error. Overlooked the fact that one tire was low on air.

 

Problem Fixed:
As it turns out, the vibration was due to a bad axle joint on the passenger side. The cost: $744 not including tax - as the car is no longer under warrantee. Per the quote on my envoice: "Vibration at 60mph under load. Only when you acell at 60mph - Excessive play in right side inner axel joint. Replaced right side axle assembly to correct condition. Road test ok." There’s a bit of mixed emotion on my part; the car now drives great - just like new, but the fix cost me a lot - which kills my plan to getting the Hondata ECU re-flash in time for spring. Hopefully, I’ll be able to save enough to get it done by early fall. Oh well…

 

sweet, I'm still waiting for my passenger side axle to arrive in the mail from driveshaft.com. The total came to 168 shipped for that one side complete. A big thanks to JTso for sending me that direction for aftermarket parts. 168 compared to 590 from the dealership was a big difference.
I'm taking it to some small shop to have them drop it in for a grand total of 243 out the door. I really let that passenger side go on my car, so im glad im replacing the whole axle.

 

Price of OEM replacement axle: $597.10.
Price of replacement axle from driveshaft.com: $168.
Good repair advice: priceless.
Good luck on the fix! Sheeze, I should have checked the spelling on that last post - too many bills, too many brews... Peace all.