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Ok thanks for the info. I will call them now. They had to order it from a local warehouse, so I guess I should tell them to have the warehouse check the tie rods before they send it to the store.
Update: I went back to the Honda shop, and they said they are 100% sure the vibration is caused by the wheels. Simply because they are aftermarket, and don’t center on the hub correctly, and can’t be balanced correctly because the weights can only go on the inside of the wheel.
Also, I inspected everything again, and found that my steering rack bushings are bad, causing the driver’s side of the rack to move up and down during steering. Could this cause a steering wheel vibration? I’ve heard it can, but the Honda shop said bad rack bushings won’t cause anything like that.
Also, if anyone has any advice on replacing rack bushings, that would be helpful. Like how many bushings are there? Do I have to remove the entire rack to replace them? Thanks again guys!
Ok, well I guess I’ll have to do more research on good places to get wheels/tires balanced and checked. The independent Honda shop (the one I really trust, and is knowledgeable and honest) is 99.99% sure it’s wheel/tire related. So, if I got all new tires, and the wheels are nearly new, it must be something about the wheel balance. Hub centric rings fit on the hub, but they don’t fit very tights. They wiggle a little on the hub.
I just went to Discount Tire because I got my wheels there, and they’ll do free rebalancing as long as I have this issue, but it doesn’t matter how many places I go, nobody gets it right. And I don’t go to Firestone anymore, because they cross-threaded a lugnut, then refused to take responsibility and fix it. Also have lifetime alignment, but they give me a hard time about it if I need an adjustment after replacing parts.
The wheels are nearly new, and both Les schwab and discount tire say they are good and true. I’m thinking they just can’t balance them properly. I’m going to find a place that has road-force balancing. Every time I get balancing done, they come out of balance as soon as they’re back on the car.
But I wonder if there are specialized tire shops that do things like this? Because I’ve had both les schwab and discount tire balance them and check everything for trueness. Both of them tell me they don’t see any issues with the wheels. But all they can do is eyeball it while they have the wheels on the balancing machine.
Sorry guys, I guess I spoke too soon. I replaced all 4 tires with the highest rated tires I could find, and the vibration is better now, but it’s still there at the same speeds.
I wonder if this could have to do with having aftermarket rims (put on a couple years ago). MB Vector wheels. I’ve heard aftermarket rims can cause issues like this.
Another thing that makes me suspect an issue with the rims seating correctly is the wheel balancing. I’ve had them balanced and rebalanced half a dozen times in the past year (because of the vibration) and I recently noticed that they seem to come out of balance pretty quickly. Nobody seems to be able to balance them correctly. And with these wheels you have to put the weights on the inside of the wheel, instead of the outside. I just got them rebalanced today, and now I can hear one of the wheel weights scraping on the caliper while I’m driving. I didn’t bring this up before, because the shop where I got the wheels kept telling me they were fine. Is there just a special way you’re supposed to balance these type of wheels?
The only other issue I have that I can think of is a small camber issue on the RF. Ever since I replaced all four struts (came with spring and all) two years ago, the whole right side of the car sits noticeably higher than the left. And the RF camber is off by -1 degree. Eric says alignment won’t cause a vibration, but I figure I should mention it anyway. I don’t know whether it’s the struts causing the ride height issue, or if it’s from having aftermarket control arms on the RF and RR.
Thanks again!
Thanks for the suggestions, guys. As I suspected, everything is working in the suspension and drivetrain. I decided to take my car in to a trusted independent Honda shop to see what they could find out, since the lead tech there is very experienced with older Honda’s.
He checked everything, and determined that all four tires are out-of-round. Discount Tire kept telling me (after having them rebalance and check three times in the last month) that all tires are good, so I’ve had that ruled out the entire time. So they were very wrong, apparently, because I got a second opinion at Les Schwab as well, and they TOO said I have bad tires.
So, I have cheap tires on the car (bought years before I knew the importance of quality tires).
So guys, now I’m researching tires. Any insight on good quality tire brands for this car? I’ve looked at tirerack.com, and the best ratings are for the Michelin Defender, General Altimax RT43, and some Yokohama, Goodyear, etc. But many of these tires tell mixed stories in the reviews, so I’m wondering if anyone has any advice/experience on good quality tires. Good on noise, tread life, traction, handling, etc.
Thanks again!
For the surging issue, many times it is the IAC, in my experience. Also, depending on how you do it, trying to clean the IAC on that car can make the surging much worse. I’ve seen guys try to clean it, only to develop surging issues as a result. Consequently, they ended up having to replace it.
I know it’s been a while and nobody has answered, but just in case someone could still use the info, the radius rod bushings on that car are not that hard. I have a 93, so I can tell you how to do it.
– Remove the splash shield (you’ll need it removed to access the front nuts
– Remove the wheels
– Remove the nut(s) at the front first (at the front of the car, where the rod attaches to the crossmember). If you don’t do these first, the rods will spin when you go to take the nuts off.
– Then you can remove the bolts at the lower control arm. A 17mm gear wrench is handy here.
– Once the bolts are removed, slide the radius rod out toward the rear of the car. You might have the turn it sideways to fit between the fork and the stabilizer link. After you have it slid out part way, slide the shim and plate off of the rod so you have clearance to slide the rod the rest of the way out.
– When reinstalling, lube the bushings with silicone paste wherever they contact metal. You should only use silicone, nothing else.
– I’ve found that jacking the suspension up really helps to line up the rod with the control arm when fitting the bolts in.
– Screw in the bolts first, then the nut. It’s also a good idea to jack up the suspension before tightening the nuts at the bushings.