Car Vibrates At Speeds Over 80kp/h

[Jim's_a_Thai_Fox]

Hi,

Honda took off my front left alloy wheel in order to give it some necessary minor cosmetic surgery... (huhm, would like to blame the GF, but it was I who scuffed it on a kurb...)

Anyway, I get back the car and the thing is vibrating madly above 80 km/h.

i told Honda the next day, they said: "ah, you don't have the standard 16" inch Honda wheels, but some badboy 17" low profile ones. there's nothing we can do about the shaking. bye."

From experience back home in the UK driving bangers of old, I'm sure the shaking is down to the 'tracking' or alignment of the wheels. Personally, i wasn't aware that they would need 'balancing' again after simply removing one, but it is clear something is very much amiss.

So, fellow TVer's:

1) - is it the 'tracking' / balance that is causing the shaking?

2) If so, do you have any good places to recommend to eradicate the vibrating? Anywhere from northern Bkk, saraburi area around to nakhon pathom ideally...

many thanks

James

[Tywais]

Maybe they removed the lead counterbalances from the wheel before doing the cosmetics. If so, the tire needs to be put on a balancer and the weights added correctly. Strange Honda would make a comment like that, nothing to do with wheel size when it comes to wobbling.

[Totster]

Tracking is definitely the first thing to check

totster

[Mid]

and HOW hard did you hit the kerb ........................................................

[Tywais]

Also make sure they put all the nuts back on, and tight.

[paulsmithson]

You need wheel rebalancing and have the tracking checked easy minor tasks.

[goldfish]

Also make sure they put all the nuts back on, and tight.

Unfortunately this does need checking, this is thailand. Would never recommend balancing one wheel at a time, but you probably can this time. Still problem, check the other one. Still bad, check the tracking and make sure nothing is bent after kerbing it. If it wasn't vibrating before taking it to Honda then it is the balance, unless when they had the car...

[MarcoH]

Also make sure they put all the nuts back on, and tight.

Unfortunately this does need checking, this is thailand. Would never recommend balancing one wheel at a time, but you probably can this time. Still problem, check the other one. Still bad, check the tracking and make sure nothing is bent after kerbing it. If it wasn't vibrating before taking it to Honda then it is the balance, unless when they had the car...

Hello Lads

im modifying cars by my self

Like Goldfish said, this is Thailand,, but i might have hunch what it is,, as i had similar problem before,,

1st just a question when you driving, shaking start's on abt 80Km\h and is it stops when you reach on 120-130(If you are driving so fast)?

have you ever heard such a thing that they have in Thailand, they have 2 different ballansing settings for a car's, 1 for undr 90Km\h and 2nd for high speed, i driving currently Chevy Zafira and im speeding abt 140 (As i live in rice fields) and i got this problem so i went to ballistic to the chvy HQ in bkk as they told me that your car is ballanced for Granny spped(~90Km\h)

if you ahev this similar synthoms you might go back to your trusted garage and tell them that you want your wheels balanced for speed more than 100KM\H, they might look at you like a fool cos that make some extra work for them....

but that's what i think your broblem might be.

or Your Alloy is damaged real bad(Happent to me b4 also, drive 140KHM to the hole in the road, 3pin alloy and that was even after the fixing,, it was never the same...

hope it helps...

[Nomad97]

Check your tyre pressures too. Once I picked up a new car from a service and found bad vibration at 80 kph. A mechanic had inflated all tyres to 50 psi, same as the half tyre in the trunk. Never used the main dealer ever again. By the way, this happened in another country, not Thailand.

[warwick7735]

Hi

Was it just the wheel they removed, they didn't loosen the hub nut or anything. Wheel balance is the likely cause.

Could just be a coincidence that it happened at the same time, but if balancing doesn't stop it, it could be a drive shaft on its way out if front wheel drive. Jack each wheel up in turn and start the engine get the wheel turning upto the required speed, repeat on each wheel to find out which side the vibration is coming from, then inspect the shaft for play.

Tracking only effects the angle of the wheel to the road either toeing in or toeing out, most front wheel drive cars are set to toein slightly about 1mm. Wouldn't cause vibration just wear the tyres on either edge if too much of either (toeout wears inner edges, toeout wears outer edges)

Warwick

[Jim's_a_Thai_Fox]

Thanks for the replies,

the wheel, when (slightly) scuffed ran absolutely fine, even up to a short burst of 180. It was only when they took it off, smoothed out the scuff and replaced it.

I thought it could have been the balancing in the wheel. A different Honda guy did mention that, uit was him who told us to take it to the Eagle shop.

Yesterday I went to an Eagle Goodyear shop near Ekkamai BTS. They took off both front wheels (only the front left was taken off by Honda) and did something on a machine with them. I was unable to ascertain what they did - my Thai vocab concerning cars is non existent.

Today, everything is almost back to normal. There is an occasional, ever so slight vibrating of the wheel at higher cruising speeds (about 130kph).... so a lot better, but not perfect.

I would like to take it to a good quality place who know their stuff.

Any ideas?

Cheers

Jim

[Farma]

they have 2 different ballansing settings for a car's, 1 for undr 90Km\h and 2nd for high speed,

I think you've just solved a problem I have with the wife's car.

I've had the wheels balanced a number of times and still get shaking at 120+. I'll take it back and see if they do high speed balancing.

[elkangorito]

Thanks for the replies,

the wheel, when (slightly) scuffed ran absolutely fine, even up to a short burst of 180. It was only when they took it off, smoothed out the scuff and replaced it.

I thought it could have been the balancing in the wheel. A different Honda guy did mention that, uit was him who told us to take it to the Eagle shop.

Yesterday I went to an Eagle Goodyear shop near Ekkamai BTS. They took off both front wheels (only the front left was taken off by Honda) and did something on a machine with them. I was unable to ascertain what they did - my Thai vocab concerning cars is non existent.

Today, everything is almost back to normal. There is an occasional, ever so slight vibrating of the wheel at higher cruising speeds (about 130kph).... so a lot better, but not perfect.

I would like to take it to a good quality place who know their stuff.

Any ideas?

Cheers

Jim

Your problem is not solved. You should be able to drive a vehicle without any vibration whatsoever.

Contrary to what some other posters think, wheel balancing IS done individually to each wheel.

Since your 'other half' did hit a kerb, I would advise you have the front wheels 'aligned' as well as the damaged wheel balanced. This is the thing that cannot be done to just one wheel...both wheels must be done at the same time.

I will bet my left knacker that the problem is one of wheel balance. The balance is normally done on a machine that rotates the wheel (when removed from the vehicle) & then gives the point to place the weight on the wheel as well as the size of the weight. This process may need to be repeated a few times before the wheel is perfectly balanced (only takes 5 to 10 minutes).

Don't forget, a small wheel vibration can constitute a large concentric force on the wheel & other associated parts (tie rods, king pins etc) & can cause catastrophic failure if left unchecked. This failure could lead to a serious accident.

Also, if using alloy rims that have been damaged, it's a good idea to either buy new rims or have them x-rayed for cracks. It sounds like your incident was only small so your rims may be ok.

[Farma]

On the subject of wheel balancing.

I had an unusual problem after 4 new tyres were fitted. The wheels were dynamically balanced before fitment to the car. As soon as I drove off the car shook above 60kph.

Back to the tyre shop, rebalanced, checked for warped tyres etc, drove off same problem again.

They tried everything, static balance, still the same, on car balance still the same. Eventually they agreed to change and fit 4 other new tyres.

As the tyres were being removed the cause was found. The guy who fitted new tyres had been a bit generous with the soap mop.

The tyres had puddles of soapy water in them. The water would find its own position in the tyres due to inertia and no amount of balancing would have cured the problem.

Edited February 9, 2007 by Farma

[TLloyd]

Too much discussion of a very simple problem:

Shaking means the tire is out of balance, defective or axle is bent. Alignment only cures steering geometry & has nothing to do with a shake. A high speed balance with the wheel & tire on the car is, IMHO, the only proper way to balance. Not only do you balance the tire & wheel, you effectively balance the the complete suspension assembly (rotor, bearings, everything). If you notice in racing cars, no matter what type, each tire awaiting to be put on at a change,has a position noted on the tire: RF, RR ,LF,LR. All the tires were balance on the car prior to the race.

If you vehicle pulls to one side or the other, tires wear out unevenly, or the vehicle CRABS down the road you need an alignment. Alignment will not affect shake in any way shape or form. It will, however, tell you if you have bent suspension components, possibly caused by running your tire & wheel into an unforgiving curb.

If you pranged the wheel into a curb, you may have also bent the wheel as well as possibly damaging a strut, lower control arm and least likely the steering knuckle. Smoothing on a scuff may not have fixed the problem. If the shop has to add unusual amount of wieght to balance the wheel, it is most likely bent & will require replacement.

JM2C

Edited February 9, 2007 by TLloyd