Steering wheel wobble at 80 ish - wheels have been balanced twice

MilanoChris

Advanced Member
Messages
5,649
Picked the car up from TGM and I noticed that the steering wheel was wobbling at around 70 mph. I thought perhaps a weight had fallen off, so I took it to a local tyre place that I've been using for years. They said one wheels was 10 grams out and the other was 30. So they balanced them again, now I get the wobble at slightly higher speed, around 90 or so which wasn't too comfortable on track!

Apart from obviously the wheels not being fully balanced still (I find it hard to believe), are there any wear and tear items that can cause this or a common fault?

Thanks.
 

kwiatu

Advanced Member
Messages
204
Check inner CV joints, mine are loosen on shaft and make same symptoms :)
 

MilanoChris

Advanced Member
Messages
5,649
Cheers, just heard back from Rich at PA and he also thinks inner CV joints. Said he will only replace with OEM ones. Car is going in soon to have it looked at as well as some other minor things.
 

Rage_DC5

Advanced Member
Messages
563
My money's on the half shaft bearing...

...just so you know, you can use a half shaft from an EP3 ;)
 

MilanoChris

Advanced Member
Messages
5,649
Rich has had the car on the road, he doesn't think it's a driveshaft or CV issue. He's swapped the wheels front to rear and will go out again to eliminate a wheel/tyre issue. Will update when I know more.
 

LJFoley

Active Member
Messages
63
Please don't start replacing shafts etc before checking the steering rack adjustment screw. if all is tight on the track rods etc investigate adjusting the steering rack, i had the same symptoms as you, everyone said track rods, drive shafts etc. i got under the car adjusted the rack and its now night and day different it drives perfect. Turns out the shafts are 100% as are all the cv joints etc, took 2 hours all in (including breaks) to adjust the nut! And it was free!
 

MilanoChris

Advanced Member
Messages
5,649
Just had this from Rich.

I gave it a good run yesterday out to the dual carriageway so I could get on some smooth road with space to get it up to speed for a period.

So we swapped the wheels front to back to eliminate that, car is sweet as a nut until 80mph when the vibration starts. I have obviously previously checked over suspension, ball joints, driveshafts etc with no issues found (nothing you can really test on driveshafts unless they are physically seizing up).

Driveshafts normally give a lower speed wobble under load which then progresses to a vibration at higher speeds, I have tried everything to promote a low speed wobble but nothing. It could very well be a driveshaft issue causing this but I can in no way guarantee that it is as there is no physical evidence, likewise, it would be impossible to suggest which one it could be.

The way I see it, you have two options…. Replace both driveshafts with aftermarket items such as Insane driveshafts @ circa £500 (which may or may not cure it as we have had issues with aftermarket shafts on DC5 and CL7/9 Accords) or replace both inner CV joints with OEM Honda which is Circa £450 inc vat for the pair !!! )parts price only)

As I said, I can‘t actually guarantee that the driveshafts are the root cause, it could just as easily be the big brake discs. One thing that may be worth a try if you can find a company that still does it, would be an On Car wheel balance – this balances the wheels, brake disc, hubs and shaft all on the car via weights on the wheel. Only downside is that the wheel and studs then need to be marked and always refitted back in the same location and on the same studs.
Frustrating.
 

hondamad2204

Advanced Member
Messages
3,832
Yeah it certainly is. Ive experienced many vibrations over the years haha so feel your pain.

One thing I found though....i kept going back to the same garage to get wheels balanced etc, two or three times on my standard wheels 3 or 4 years ago now i think, due to an annoying vibration i had at 70.

Garage i used were adamant the wheels were balanced correctly, they showed me what they were doing etc and i had no reason after that to doubt them. I could see that they were weighted correctly in accordance with their machine....fine.

Roll forward 6 months after, and i had given up looking, (i was just goin to live with it for a year and try again in the summer months,) and my cousin got job at Aston Martin/ Jag in the Exeter marsh barton estate. I was up there giving the car a service with him one Saturday, and I asked if he could check he balancing just as the wheels were off, as a last ditch attempt. He ended up taking all the weights off, starting again, popped the wheels back on and since that point, i had no vibration atall! It had cured it.

All id done other than rebalancing was to change oils and fluids, whilst he re balanced the wheels on his machine. Marvellous! :)

It was only recently someone else had a similar issue... (Sylar something I believe) he had vibrations, etc but the garage saying they were all weighted properly, (on several occasions) yet like me, he took it elsewhere to try and they rebalanced and cured his vibes too.

Got to be worth a shot trying another garage and pleading ignorance, see what happens ;) you never know, you can either definitely rule out balancing, and get a second opinion..., or the problem goes. :)
 

MilanoChris

Advanced Member
Messages
5,649
Hmm maybe but I've been using the place for years without issue, and they've already been balanced at two different places.

Rich has suggested I get them balanced via the stud pattern instead of the centre bore, worth a shot I think.
 

Rage_DC5

Advanced Member
Messages
563
Honestly mate, for what it's worth I would remove the NS driveshaft and half shaft and check the centre bearing.

Please see attached video - this had your exact symptoms and wasn't visable until we removed it to inspect...



Ross.
 
Top