Shaking steering wheel

My son, who thinks nothing is a big deal, has a 1988 Civic hatchback and he says his steering wheel is shaking really bad. Should I take it to a wheel alignment place? He is relying on hearsay to diagnosis it and I would like some more experienced hearsay! Thanks.

I bet he needs new brake pads and rotors... An alighnment would also be a good idea.

Ask him if this hapends mostly when he stops or when he is traveling at high speeds (50+ mph)

..if it happens under breaking... could also be upper ball joints.. jack the car up... grab the top of the tire and see if it moves in and out....

yes you need to tell us if it is freeway speeds or low suburb speeds anyway if it is freeway speeds it could also be that is his wheels/tires arent balanced or is missing one of the weights

turn the steering wheel and check the tires....could be excess wear on the inside/ outside of one or both front tires :dunno:

It better not happen at high speeds, he was convicted of reckless driving last spring by a jury of his "peers" (they were all about 80 years older than him).

Thanks for the suggestions, it helps to know what to look for even if we can't do it ourselves!

He says when he moves the tire with his hand he hears knocking noise, his friend says it is bearings?

heh could be suspension, could be unbalanced tires. could be front wheel bearings, could be axels, could be alignment, could be a bubble in the tire....damn it could be alot of things.

shit could be sooo many things but one thing to look at carefully is to make sure the calipers are properly greased and w/ the correct grease i have screwed up so many rotors and brake pads and caused my steering wheel to violently shake several times and i still have the problem i need to buy the $60 honda caliper slide grease, sounds like your problem is a little deeper though, wait for more expert openions i don't know much about knocking while turning try posting a thread mabey w/ the title need mechanic's help on stering vibration. or something like that.

well were not all incompetant when it comes to diagnosing....the hard part is that we cant see the car....so yes take it to a profesional in the area and have them pin point the problem.

:iagree: it's loads cheeper than just replacing the parts you think are wrong, one time i spent $300 replacing brake parts when it turned out all i had was frozen caliper slides and all i needed was either $15 synthetic caliper grease or $60 caliper grease, course i needed a full brake job due to my delay in pinpointing this problem.

i'd get the wheels balanced. as for the knocking sound, my guess is a bad CV Joint, usually fixed buy replacing the entire half-shaft. Take it to the Honda dealership, they should be able to diagnose the problem quickly :smile:

tires can be out of balance

to even further the amount of things that could be wrong with it, the tire pressures might be low on one side causing the shakes.

hmmm cv joint sounds like the problem if you let them get bad enough it can cause those problems check the boot, to do that turn the wheel all the way to the right and check the right side axel boot, and do the same w/ the left side boot. they might be broken if broken and he left them broken for a long time and i mean a long time it can cause those exact symptoms. but definately taken it to a professional.

Does the car have power steering?
When does it happen? acceleration, cruising, braking? What speeds - is it shaking all the time?

I would guess that it's a ball joint issue, but it could also so many other things.

no usdm civics came w/ power steering, hope he gets back on to give you more details.

no usdm civics came w/ power steering, hope he gets back on to give you more details.

i thought 4G4D's had powersteering :confused:

actually i only know that usdm hatchbacks and crex's didn't have it even as an option, however i would like to know if a 4g4d usdm had them, if you can find proof you'de be the man.

no usdm civics came w/ power steering, hope he gets back on to give you more details.

I dont think so. Some 4g civics DO have power steering while others dont.

OK I have this problem too!!! When I go to like 50+ miles an hour my steering wheel begins to shake!!! Not crazy shaking but it shakes. I changed my brakes because it also shakes when I brake. but brakes are good. I am also getting excessive wear on the inside of my tires in the rear of the car and some excessive wear on the inside as well in the front. I have metal show on the right rear!!! NOOO I need a new tire now!!! ARG!!!! I am also about to drop my car and I have a camber kit and my coilovers and I think I should change the tires cut the rotors and get an alignment before I am slammed...... Anyone know if I'm right or wrong? OHh and when I don't touch the steering wheel the car rolls to the left all the time. I have to keep the car from rolling left while I drive :(

Sounds to me like its an upper ball joint. I have the right front one on my car to replace here soon. It makes the car shake a little bit when I get above about 45mph and it shakes REALLY bad when I hit the brakes.

actually i only know that usdm hatchbacks and crex's didn't have it even as an option, however i would like to know if a 4g4d usdm had them, if you can find proof you'de be the man.

My 4g4d usdm came with power steering. I whipped out the dealer window sticker list thing and it did come STD, standard. My grandparents saved everything. Manufacturer's suggested retail price....$10,090 oops, sorry to get off topic.

You think that I should replace both upper ball joints on both sides???

OK I have this problem too!!! When I go to like 50+ miles an hour my steering wheel begins to shake!!! Not crazy shaking but it shakes. I changed my brakes because it also shakes when I brake. but brakes are good. I am also getting excessive wear on the inside of my tires in the rear of the car and some excessive wear on the inside as well in the front. I have metal show on the right rear!!! NOOO I need a new tire now!!! ARG!!!! I am also about to drop my car and I have a camber kit and my coilovers and I think I should change the tires cut the rotors and get an alignment before I am slammed...... Anyone know if I'm right or wrong? OHh and when I don't touch the steering wheel the car rolls to the left all the time. I have to keep the car from rolling left while I drive :(

Excessive tire wear will cause vibrations at high speeds, besides its just dangerous :grinno:
1. TIRES!
2. Wheel balance
3. alignment

If your vibrations are gona after that, then worry about the coilovers & camber kit - you we need another alignment after that stuff is installed.

Oh brother, my son neglected to tell me the metal was poking through the tires, then after he buys new tires and it fixes the shaking he says, "Well I better not drive it the way I was". Things a mom doesn't want to know, thanks for your help, I learn alot here.

lol that'll do it too.