Steering wheel shake at freeway speed

[RonJ]

I was hoping that Civic experts here might be able to provide me with some helpful advice. I have a 1997 Civic DX with ~100k miles. When traveling at freeway speeds (65-75 mph), I recently noticed that the steering wheel shakes or vibrates. This is not associated with braking or with any recent incident with a large pothole. Also, replacing the two front tires with new ones and balancing all four wheels has not solved the problem. I also tested whether the tie rods might be loose but they were not. Last year, I replaced both front drive axles. Based on this information, someone at O'Reilly speculated that my problem might be due to loose motor mounts or a bad front wheel bearing. However, my front wheels don't show any obvious play and seem to turn freely.

Does anyone have a helpful suggestion?

Thanks in advance,

RonJ

[timber]

You might want the dealer or qualified mechanic to check the rear trailer arm bushings. I had the same problem on my 98 civic at 80000 miles. My steering shook bad at freeway speeds and could not solve it. I had multiple rebalances on my wheels, had the dealer check all the front end suspension parts, even changing to new tires and wheels did not fix it. I finally had to go to a honda specialist as the dealer could not solve it(one dealer said my bushings were completely shot, the other one said they were still ok. It is ridiculous that the dealers cannot even agree). Anyhoo, the one dealer said that the bushings go out on civics alot so i mentioned that to the honda shop that i went to. While test driving it, they noticed the car swaying alot and immediately zeroed in on the rear bushings as they assist in the handling. The shop explained to me that since the bushings were completely wore out, the car was swaying in the back and the resulting vibration and shaking was transfering to the front and making the steering wheel shake. Or something along those lines. I had them replace the bushings and the car drove like new. Absolutely no vibration even at 85 plus an hour. So if all else has failed, have someone check the bushings in the back as the problem might be coming from the back and not the front. Just a thought as this was the solution for me. Good luck.

[RonJ]

timber -- thanks for the suggestion. Based on your experience, I will definitely check the condition of the rear trailing arm bushings.

[RonJ]

Well, I didn't detect any play in the three bushings associated with the rear trailing arm. They also look fine visually.

[timber]

Perhaps they are fine then. But if your car has 100k plus it is doubtful. Before i had them replaced i had four opinions: The first honda dealer said they were completely shot. The second opinion was from Pep Boys. They said they were ok and they showed them to me in the stall. They looked ok to me too. But i am not a mechanic. The third opinion was from the second honda dealer. They said they did not need replacement yet. Due to the fact that the dealers are usually on a time limit and do not always have time to properly diagnosis a problem, it is not surprising that i got different opinions. As for Pep boys, i do not consider them real mechanics. It was not until i went to a reputable honda specialist outside the dealer that i found out the problem was the bushings after all. Many things can cause steering wheel shake and for this reason, unless you are an expert mechanic, i highly recommend that you find a honda specialist in your area and describe your problem and what exactly is going on and the things you have already tried. If you do this and perhaps leave your car at their shop for a few days like i did, i guarantee that they will find the problem. Also, the tire shops do not know enough to help as they are not mechanics either. Good luck.

[RonJ]

timber -- Thanks again. I agree with all of your comments. I wanted to see if I could identify the problem. This may not be possible as the cause may not be obvious. As you say, I may need to have an expert mechanic troubleshoot the problem.

[RonJ]

The problem is now resolved. I took the Civic to my local trusted mechanic, who found that all four wheels were in fact out of balance, despite having NTB "balance" the wheels twice. The wheel balancing done by my mechanic completely eliminated the steering wheel vibration and returned freeway speed driving to normal. NTB refunded me their original charge for wheel balancing, and also replaced one of the two tires I purchased from them as my mechanic found that the tire had a "high spot." The lesson I learned from this situation is to never again trust my car to NTB.