Annoying vibration

[probmxstyle 10+ year member]

I am in the process of looking for new tires. But can old tires cause a small vibration in the steering wheel that starts at 60 mph? I got some old Yoko AS430's that are starting to wear down and show stress cracks on the edges. Also during the summer I was gettin a creak uder acceleration from the right front wheel while making slow right hand turns. All the boots look fine. I grabbed the right axel and its got a little jiggle to it but not much. Can a CV joint be bad even tho the boot is fine? So what you guys think? Axel, tires, or what? Its on a 03 Acura TL-S btw.

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[22mountaineer 10+ year member]

Whatever you do, please find out the problem before you go much farther. A friend of mine just 2 weeks ago was going down the interstate and his tire flew off his truck and went into oncoming and hit a motorcycle. It was a miracle but they survived.. I have heard horror stories about wheels coming off.

 

[95BlackGA 5,000+ posts]

I am in the process of looking for new tires. But can old tires cause a small vibration in the steering wheel that starts at 60 mph? I got some old Yoko AS430's that are starting to wear down and show stress cracks on the edges. Also during the summer I was gettin a creak uder acceleration from the right front wheel while making slow right hand turns. All the boots look fine. I grabbed the right axel and its got a little jiggle to it but not much. Can a CV joint be bad even tho the boot is fine? So what you guys think? Axel, tires, or what? Its on a 03 Acura TL-S btw.

MANY things can cause vibrations on a car starting at ANY time. A CV joint CAN be damamged even though the boot is still intact, there's metal in there, and ball bearings, so they can easily wear down quickly. When you turn while you're going pretty fast (60+ in you case.), I.E. on the highway and there's a slight turn to the left, does the vibration stop? What about to the right? Tires can cause the vibrations, from torn belts in the tires. Turn the wheel to where the wheels are pointing straight ahead. Look infront of the car, look at the right wheel, is it goin' straight, what about the left one? If one of them is not pointing the same way, or not pointing the same way as much, you need a front end alignment. Feel the treads on the car, does one of them feel different? Is there more wear in on particular spot on the tires? This 'creak' could be a bad wheel bearing. Most people don't know it, but these are suppose to be maintenced every 30,000 miles. If one has gone bad, you'll get a slight vibration. You said it was a noise from the right? Check the right side. I highly recommend taking it into your local mechanic and getting it fixed, also consider buying a new drive axle, 'cause they're not suppose to have any play/jiggle in them.

 

[probmxstyle 10+ year member]

There is alot of old grease around the right side axel, kind of leads me to believe it had a bad boot befor I bought it and the dealer just put a new boot on to pass insp. instead of replacing the whole axel. The vibration actually gets a little worse while taking small turns on the highway. And that left and right turns. Almost feels like I am just getting alot of road feedback thru the steering wheel. And the creak was only while making sharp right hand turns from a stop which point back to the axel I think. I did jack it up and had no play in the wheel what so ever.

MANY things can cause vibrations on a car starting at ANY time. A CV joint CAN be damamged even though the boot is still intact, there's metal in there, and ball bearings, so they can easily wear down quickly. When you turn while you're going pretty fast (60+ in you case.), I.E. on the highway and there's a slight turn to the left, does the vibration stop? What about to the right? Tires can cause the vibrations, from torn belts in the tires. Turn the wheel to where the wheels are pointing straight ahead. Look infront of the car, look at the right wheel, is it goin' straight, what about the left one? If one of them is not pointing the same way, or not pointing the same way as much, you need a front end alignment. Feel the treads on the car, does one of them feel different? Is there more wear in on particular spot on the tires? This 'creak' could be a bad wheel bearing. Most people don't know it, but these are suppose to be maintenced every 30,000 miles. If one has gone bad, you'll get a slight vibration. You said it was a noise from the right? Check the right side. I highly recommend taking it into your local mechanic and getting it fixed, also consider buying a new drive axle, 'cause they're not suppose to have any play/jiggle in them.

 

[Ferendon 10+ year member]

No play in the wheel leads me to believe that the suspension is, at least for the most part, in decent shape. I'd hope so on an 03. I'd definitely start eyeballing the axles... As the innards of the joint begin to wear, they start developing room to move around, creating the vibration. Any axle is going to have a slight amount of lateral movement, but it's pretty easy to tell what is too much. Also, if you grab the yoke end of the axle, close to the differential, and then grab the actual axle shaft itself, they should be pretty tight. If you can rotate them separately, at all, then you're getting some wear on the parts inside the grease cup. Sometimes, it can be impossible to detect a bad axle, without actually removing it from the car.

 

[probmxstyle 10+ year member]

Thanks, first I am goin to replace the tires since they need to be anyway. If that doesnt help I am goin to get that passenger axel replaced and see if that helps. Anyone have expierence with a roadforce balance?

No play in the wheel leads me to believe that the suspension is, at least for the most part, in decent shape. I'd hope so on an 03. I'd definitely start eyeballing the axles... As the innards of the joint begin to wear, they start developing room to move around, creating the vibration. Any axle is going to have a slight amount of lateral movement, but it's pretty easy to tell what is too much. Also, if you grab the yoke end of the axle, close to the differential, and then grab the actual axle shaft itself, they should be pretty tight. If you can rotate them separately, at all, then you're getting some wear on the parts inside the grease cup. Sometimes, it can be impossible to detect a bad axle, without actually removing it from the car.