RynoSmellsDyno

First off I'll describe the problem. Between 50-65 there is a shake from side to side in the steering wheel. A real fast shake like vibration. Also as that is happening I can feel the entire front end of my car wobble/vibrate. It does this on and off in the 50-65 mph range. Now I have replaced breaks and rotors. And I had my tires balanced. What's going on? And does this sound like an expensive fix. I got a mechanic that won't charge much labor but parts wise what am I looking at? Thanks in advance!

Skirmich

Do you have a TL-S or TL-p? VSA could be going bad but since I don't know which car you have?

3.2TLc

Have ya tried rotating your tires from front to rear ? How old are your tires ?
Maybe a worn suspension component such as a tie rod end, wheel bearing or ball joint ?

When was the alignment last checked ?

Nicks2001tl

Did they bed the brakes in? Also, is it when your braking or just when your driving?

RynoSmellsDyno

I have the non s type, just the regular model. Alignment has been fine so I never got that checked. The front tires are only 4 months old. Back tires are over a year but we'll over 50 percent tread left. I have not tried to rotate tires. I have heard that could help but then what happens when I go to rotate back? Also I just literally had them balanced. Vibration used to be when I was breaking also due to very bad back rotors which made me do a break job. The vibration in the breaks are gone. So it's only doing this when I'm driving.

Nicks2001tl

It very well could be your wheel bearings but anything is possible. It wouldn`t be a bad thing to bring it to a shop and have them check it out for you.

skwidstyle2

...very similar problem on my 96 rl a few years back & it was the wheel bearings - but take the advice of taking it to a shop for proper diagnosis then if your friends a good mechanic just get whatever parts you need & have him install. 95% of parts i've needed for my last 4 acuras (96 tl, 91 legend, 96 rl & current 99 tl) i i get used from ebay & install or have a mechanic friend install & i've saved thousands.

RynoSmellsDyno

just got off the phone with my trusty local mechanic and made an appointment for thursday. ill bring up the wheel bearings. and ill let you guys know what the out come is. thanks for all the help. if anyone can think of anything else that would cause this with their acura feel free to post it! thanks guys!

Skirmich

Wobble at speeds can mean a lot of things to be honest..
I would check:

Shocks
Ball joints
Bearings
Steering rack
Steering links

^ That's all I can think if the Rotors and Tires have been ruled out.

acutee

It was tires in my case.

ErickUa5

Mines ended up being cheap rebuilt axles. Got new axles never again had the issue. Do a general check of the suspension for loose components such as inner and outer tie rods upper control arm ball joint etc....

Tosh

over-torqued wheel nuts?

RynoSmellsDyno

hey everyone, just had it fixed today! drives great now…ended up being the drivers side, front control arm. he said the joint in there had play. he replaced it in under an hour.

Tosh

Hooray for basic maintenance!

3.2TLc

Hey RynoSmellsDyno, thanks for following up with the solution for your car's front end shaking problem.
This is good info for others to check if having bad vibes.

The control arm's ball joint is replaceable and simpler than installing a new arm.

binary_10essee

This is something I'll have checked out, as I too have some shake in the steering wheel around 60 MPH. It seems to be only around there and up to 65 MPH. Other than that, smooth and quiet as can be. I'll keep this in mind when I have it checked out. May just need an alignment and/or rotate/balance for tires though. Gonna have the alignment checked soon. I just got the car a few weeks ago (2000 TL base) so I have to get a lot of things looked at.

MarcDavidoff

Was it the actual upper ball joint or the upper control arm bushings? Just wondering as I have a similar issue that has been bugging me for months. Some days I have no symptoms really, other days I have the shakes. Have tried different wheels and replaced axles to no avail. The upper ball joints feel tight as well as the upper control arm bushings but maybe I am missing something. I had a ball joint with play in my last TL that I replaced but that loose ball joint did not give me any shakes, just some noises at low speeds.

RynoSmellsDyno

I'll answer that the best I can... The whole control arm looks like a big "U" it was the middle bushing that had play. When the car was lifted he wiggled the wheel up down back and fourth and I can see that inside the rubber bushing that something was moving around and said that was play in there and that shouldn't be there. I hope that helped.

3.2TLc

"U" There's bushings on the left and right top side of the upper control arm.
The ball joint is located at the lower center part of the arm. So, it must've been the BJ !!!

MarcDavidoff

Ok yes as 3.2tlc states it must have been the upper ball joint. I checked mine again yesterday and both sides are tight as can be