[lilchubs]

2000 Honda Accord LX
Brand new tires, all four tires balanced, alignment, new pads and rotors up front, new calipers. Usually the car is fine, but occaisonally at highway speeds I get a (sometimes violent) shake. I can feel it in the car and in the steering wheel. I am at a loss as to what it could be. any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[RacerRik]

Are the wheels OEM wheels? If not, I would suspect the wheels do not fit tight on the hubs. Honda cars all use hubcentric centering for the wheels. The lug nuts alone will not center the wheels well enough to prevent shake and vibration. If they are non-OEM wheels they need to have hubcentric rings that fit tight on the hub and tight in the wheel center bore. The plastic rings are usually junk. Aluminum ones are good as long as they fit tight.

 

[lilchubs]

The wheels are OEM. I noticed today that the lugs on the front tires are getting super hot. Also, my brake light (the one on the console for when you use your parking brake) will occasionally come on.

 

[RacerRik]

It sounds like your brakes are dragging if the lugs are hot. Perhaps the brakes have gotten so hot that the rotors warped.

 

[lilchubs]

The Rotors, calipers, pads, and brake lines are all brand new.

 

[RacerRik]

That does not mean the calipers can't be defective. Or might have been installed incorrectly. Or might have been the wrong part. Did the vibration exist before the tires and brake parts were replaced? If the lugs are super hot when you are just normally driving the car (not heavy braking) that is certainly not normal.

Another source of vibration can be a bent half shaft or bad CV joints.

Yet another source can be a bad tire. I have seen brand new tires that cause shaking. You could swap them front to rear and see if the shake goes out of the steering wheel.

 

[lilchubs]

It was shaking before the brake job and new tires. These were done in an effort to stop the shaking.

***Update 1***

I had both of the CV axles changed out today. I haven't had a chance to drive it around yet, but hopefully that fixed it.

***Update 2***

Still shaking after replacing the cv axles. The shake does not start immediately either. It is almost like a part needs to heat up a bit first.

 

[MikeyThumbs]

Did you ever wind up finding the cause of your shaking? Were the axles you used remans, new OEM, or aftermarket?

 

[salcuta]

What tires do you have on? Try and rotate them. I have cheap front tires and rotated them when I had my shaking. It fixed it. I guess a buble developed inside the wall or something.

 

[MikeyThumbs]

What tires do you have on? Try and rotate them. I have cheap front tires and rotated them when I had my shaking. It fixed it. I guess a buble developed inside the wall or something.

I have the same issue as OP, changed everything short of the CV axles.. I have Michelin Primacy tires, so not like I have garbage rubber on and this issue was there before I swapped the wheels/tires.. Tried rotating and issue is the same in my case.. I am about to jump into replacing my axles and trying to decide between OEM or Raxles...:crying

 

[salcuta]

I have the same issue as OP, changed everything short of the CV axles.. I have Michelin Primacy tires, so not like I have garbage rubber on and this issue was there before I swapped the wheels/tires.. Tried rotating and issue is the same in my case.. I am about to jump into replacing my axles and trying to decide between OEM or Raxles...:crying

How many miles on your Accord? Could be axles then. OEM are very expensive. I'd look into other reputable brands. Yes, many here are against aftermarket axles. If you have the money laying around, then go ahead with OEM.

 

[MikeyThumbs]

I have 99,500 and climbing since I drive it daily.. Don't have money "laying around" but don't want to spend money on the cheapo $60 a side axles from the local auto parts stores.. been there, done that on my 04 accord and wound up putting back the bad OEM axle because the problem got worse after the aftermarket was installed.. Does it make sense to change 1 side at a time when trying to figure out a problem like this, or just bite it and replace both at the same time?

 

[AITC]

I had the same problem, and it ended up being a motor mount. My engine wasn't sitting right, and it would shake.

 

[MikeyThumbs]

Hey AITC, thanks for the reply! I am going to check the mounts this weekend.

 

[greg1c]

Axle issues are generally noticed accelerating, from about 40 to 75 mph. When you let off the gas the shaking stops.

 

[MikeyThumbs]

Axle issues are generally noticed accelerating, from about 40 to 75 mph. When you let off the gas the shaking stops.

This is pretty much exactly what I am experiencing.. not only from 40-75.. it is noticeable at lower speeds as well. Generally notice it when the tach is around 2000-2500 rpm range

 

[PMitchell08]

Still shaking after replacing the cv axles. The shake does not start immediately either. It is almost like a part needs to heat up a bit first.

To me, this along with the hot lug nuts both point to potentially bad wheel bearings, but usually people describe a failed bearing as more of a repetitive howling or grinding rather than a vibration. The only things I can think of that make a hub heat up too much are dragging brakes or failed bearings.

2000 Honda Accord LX
Brand new tires, all four tires balanced, alignment, new pads and rotors up front, new calipers.

You might ask the shop that mounted and balanced the tires to check the balance again (which they should do for free if you got the tires there). I have had to rebalance freshly balanced wheels and tires more than once because the first balance was no good, even at reputable shops with "state-of-the-art" equipment. Sometimes the weights just aren't attached well and fall off before the wheel even gets to the car. They can also check to make sure that the wheels straight and true, which they don't always notice if they're not asked to look for it, but should be easy to see while the wheel is mounted to the balance machine. If the wheel is not true, the shake will remain even when balanced.

Also, make sure the lug nuts are being tightened to the correct torque specifications, over-torquing can warp the rotors and contribute to the shaking problem.

When you had the alignment done, did they mention anything about the condition of your tie-rod ends, ball joints, or control arm bushings?

When you had the calipers replaced, did you do a complete brake fluid flush? If they are new calipers, but the fluid is old sludge, they could still drag just as badly as old calipers. This would also fit with the "Needs to get warmed up" part of the problem, since you would have to use the brakes a few times before they would start to drag again.

If you have a bad motor mount you will probably notice some clattering when you start the engine, and when accelerating at low RPM's.

Hope you get it figured out, good luck!

 

[MikeyThumbs]

VERY happy today! So I finally got around to replacing both driver and passenger side CV axles and CURED MY SHAKING PROBLEM! I decided to cough up the extra cash and go with genuine OEM Honda parts and glad that I did, wound up costing me just under $600 for both sides but worth it.. I also replaced both front calipers, rotors and pads and she's riding and braking smoother than ever!!