Hey guys, I am just wondering if vibration on the steering wheel is normal when driving@75mph.....I am trying to figure out if its related to the drivetrain issue!? although I do feel some sort of vibration when I am in the 50-55mph range but the vibration at 75 is more pronounced....

Tires are supposed to be balanced but I noticed the steering wheel is not aligned perfectly maybe that's contributing to the vibration.

 

If the steering wheel is not straight that means somehow the alignment is knocked out of spec- the car is `pulling` as a tire is no longer pointed straight ahead
Can be from potholes or a minor curb scrape when backing out of a parking space with wall next to you...just about anything will do it. Any marks on the side of the front tires?
You say the tires are `supposed to be balanced`- what does that mean?
Normally:
If you know the tires are freshly balanced- then get it aligned and the prob should stop
Also have the alignment shop check the tie rod ends- ball joints and control arm bushings for damage or looseness- things happen ~

With severe heat hitting many areas this week- check tire pressure in the heat of the day- when the car is parked and tires ~cold~
you may be low by several psi

 

could be a number of things........

1. alignment is off


or


2. bent wheel. on one of the front wheels

 

Something's definitely wrong. I can cruise at 75 and the steering wheel will be rock solid.

 

01tl4tl:
I got the car not long ago and the salesman told me the the tires were balanced like 6k ago.....I dont know how to tell the difference between alignment or wheel balance when it come to vibration....when I am driving at 75ish I feel the steering wheel shake left to right.

when driving @75mph is the recommended psi for the tires still 32/32(my car is a 5AT)??

 

I cruise near the speed limit- saving my cash for track days instead of the city coffers!

But I can say the TL has been tested in controlled race track conditions, and it is rock solid stable, no shakes, at triple digit speeds- at full throttle - at max effort braking--

Anything else indicates a problem

 

balancing shimmy occurs from 30-60mph bet rim occurs from 60-85mph...unless the rim is really bad u can feel it when u start moving.

 

steering wheel starts to move left to right when I hit ~75....so you're saying that its the rims at those speeds??

 

when driving at 75-80 i dotn get like a serious vibration, just a small one

but i feel a slight pulse vibration(left-right) in the steering wheel that i did not before...

my tires are balanced, not 100% on the alignment

i had a service abt 2 months ago and the dealer said it did not need an alignment because it was fine, but im not sure so i am thinking of getting one done...

 

My car has the same problem, but i know the front left wheel is bent. I curbed checked the car awhile back. Steering wheel feels normal until i get to a high speed on the highway. More then likely its your wheel that is bent.

 

if that is the case...i can just put it in the back and i wont feel it...i am in the process of getting new rims in any case, but until i do...

how do you check for a bent rim? is it with the balancing or alignment?

 

I have the exact same issue you have.....I hope an alignment will cure my problem....

 

yea thats what the rim guys told me when i had em straightened....anything over 60mph if its rim related is bent....could also be a broken motor mount or tranny mount or even an axle....if u can put ur car up on a jack stand and get under it spin ur rim and fix ur eye on one spot to see if it spins straight all the way around on both sides you can figure it out....an alignment doesnt help wobble issues....it helps drifting issues.

 

Im not sure i understand, but could you explain how a broken motor mount could contribute to a vibration in the steering wheel...

i had a broken mount on my CL, but the steering wheel issue was def a bent rim...
on my TL i duno...

how can you tell if a motor mount is broken or not...which way is the engine supposed to move, and how does it move if the mount is broken?

 

ill take some pictures when I get home later....you guys let me know if its the rims........

 

swap a wheel front to rear and if it goes away you have found the problem

 

x 2

Any extraneous vibration, front end jiggling or movement of the steering wheel/column is NOT normal at ANY speed, absent a bad road surface.

Also, it doesn't matter if someone says a tire was balanced X weeks/months ago- things happen over time (potholes, curb checks, weights fall off, etc.). The question is whether the wheels & tires are balanced NOW.

 

Usually at higher speeds such as 75mph its more than likely a balance problem. Most Alignment proablems will be evident through out the mph range. As the problem is the same at 35mph and 75mph. But with balance the faster you go the more obvious the balance problem becomes. Now don't take this as gospel. This is only a general rule of thumbs. It could very well be a suspension related issue.

Also are there any noises related to this? The more infor the better people can help you.

D

 

i dont even know how to describe it......right now all my rims are straight and when i go over 70 the wheel jiggles just a lil because the side front n back mounts are broken.... and thats the reason i havent driven the car in about 2 months.....to keep the rims straight and get those new innovative motor mounts.....but i like what 01 said....take a rim off swap it and see which is bent.

 

Thx for the replies fellas, I am trying to eliminate as much things as possible in order to fix my issue. atm I am trying to figure out weather its the alignment(my steering wheel is not straight its a bit off), the rims or something else....no noise that I noticed, although I might of sensed something while I was taking a big long curve....nowhere neer the 75mph though but It might as well been related to the new break pads I just installed on my car....

I will pay close attention to the car later when I get home...I will also include pics of the rims, I wanna sort this asap.

 

its easy to bend a rim and knock the alignment out together-
you can also damage or have failure of the axle bearing at trans, or the cv axle bearings- many things can make it shake- but at 2 distinct speeds is the odd part here to diagnose

 

flat spots on the tires which u can only find using a roadforce balance machine..

 

here are some pics let me know if you find something weird

1-3 =fromt
2-4 = back

 

How do the insides of the rims look?

If one is bent, it may be pretty obvious. I've got a ding on the inside of the front left rim, probably from a pothole. Car has a slight vibration over ~45 mph. The damaged rim is pretty obvious visually.

 

yea 90% of the time its the inside of the rim thats bent.

 

if the weights are supposed to be visible, i cant seem to find them.....I looked @ all 4 rims witout removing the tire(just a visual inspection) and I saw just ONE piece of weight on the rear/right rim.....could this be the cause? or am I looking at the wrong place?! *shrugs*

 

About 2 weeks ago, I went and got my tires rotated and balanced as preventive maintenance at 15K miles at Tires Plus (FL). A day later, I went on the highway and got up to ~75mph and noticed the steering wheel vibrations....worse than before I got it rotated and balanced. Pissed off as hell, I took the car to a different Tires Plus location and got it balanced again and guessed what.....they told me they had to relocate some weights and add a couple. Now the vibration is gone!

Like someone said on here...not all balance machine are working properly or mechanics are competent.

 

correction:

2 back tires have the clip weights.
2 front tires i cant see anything from the from neither from the rear of the tire....gona have to lift the car to confirm 100%....I have an appointment to change the Power steering hose(Recall) ill ask the mechanic to check it out

http://www.in.honda.com/Rjanisis/pubs/SB/b07-061.pdf

 

well u know some mechanics seem to be under the impression that u add weights to one side of the wheel like back in the day on static machines....but now with the bigger offsets u need to do dynamic balancing i had a guy put a weight on the middle of my rim... when i got a tire plugged....i just asked him not to touch my rim and to move away til the manager comes in and does it..... Im always watching when it comes to that stuff i dont trust these guys. even if the sign says no customers im still in there watching them like a hawk.

 

after lifting the car I noticed front right rim is bent, and all other tires were not balanced...I decided to put the bent rim in the back and rebalanced all tires.

Final product = much less vibration.

In the near future ill invest some more money to fix the damaged rim.

thx for the support fellas

 

dude look on ebay u can get a rim cheap. or even on the black market listings

 

I have a 2004 TL. Same problems here as well; driving in the 65mph+ range -- vibration in the steering wheel. I took it to Boyland Acura here in Cleveland, OH yesterday and they told me my tires are worn out (in other words, buy tires from us and pay $1000 for tires, mounting and balancing etc. - I am like - 'yeah, sure ...'). I doubt it is a bad tires issue. I am planning on getting the tires balanced from another dealer here in Cleveland and will update everyone on how it goes.

 

Dam you guys complain to much, its the dam road that makes most vibration happens! Even if the road it really smooth like asphalt it will make the car vibrate alot, b/c the road isnt always perfect.

 

I don't think that's accurate- the above posts refer to vibration which did not originally exist in the car. Vibration should be very limited and almost undetectable as well.

It sounds like you might need to have someone check your car if you are getting constant vibrations from the steering wheel/front end.

 

yeah definitely

 

get ur wheels and tire balance.
after 3k or so miles my car would shake at highspeed..with a balance and rotate, its back to smooth as a baby bottom =P