Bought a 2009 Honda Civic, it's very nice, trouble is I seem to be experiencing some sort of crabbing or tramlining.
The steering is off about 20 degrees to the left when driving in a straight line but seems to centralize when coming to a stop. It had the tracking set yesterday and still the same problem, The garage were unable to correct the steering and had a poke around, but could not find anything out of the ordinary, although they admitted they didn't know much about Hondas. When you let go of the steering it doesn't pull to either side, but the whole car sort of feels like it's driving at an angle, if that makes sense
I feel like it may be something about the rear axle - it really is a bizarre sensation. The tyres fitted are Bridgestone Potenza S001 and have very even wear.
I've had a good look through the site, but cant find anything that relates exactly to my problem.
What you describe does sound like an alignment issue - If it is the rear beam that is badly out of alignment, it's bad news, as the alignment can't be altered as it is a trailing beam; so the entire beam will need to be replaced.
What you describe does sound like an alignment issue - If it is the rear beam that is badly out of alignment, it's bad news, as the alignment can't be altered as it is a trailing beam; so the entire beam will need to be replaced.
I've booked another alignment with another garage, I'm not convinced they even touched it. No print out unfortuently
How do I know the rear beam is ok? I've had a good look underneath, nothing sticks out, all bearings are ok, bushes look ok, suspension looks in very good nick :serious:
Have a look for somewhere with a proper laser alignment rig; You'll probably get some more sense out of them.
Does the suspension all look new? Wondering if it's been knocked back together after a crash and is out of shape!
As for steering, the Honda suspension is fairly simple:- Just a regular McPherson strut in front, with a trailing beam at the back (For 8 / 9G); I'd hope they could work that out!
May be worth having someone follow you to see if the crabbing is visible from the outside? I'd also suggest finding somewhere to safely practice some firm stopping, to get an idea of how it handles under heavy braking, both so you're aware should the need (To emergency brake) arise, and to see if it pulls in any directions.
Firstly, I'd go LOCK TO LOCK on the steering, and make sure it's an identical number of turns. That would indicate the WHEEL is mounted in the correct place.
Next, try 2mph in a carpark, and see if it goes straight. Holding the wheel straight, try accelerating / braking, does that make it go one way, then the other...
If it's ALWAYS off, then it's tracking, so simply to resolve.
If it pulls one way under acceleration, one under breaking, it's likely to be ball joints worn.
Rattle, is likely to be DROP links or top mounts (but you'll need to be 100k for tops, drop links can fail after 30k).
So, can you elaborate on symptoms, or test the above?
Tried the lock to lock, does appear the steering wheel has been off at some point. I'm suprised as it has full Honda service history.
As embarrassing as it sounds I think the tramlining is in my head, I really enjoyed driving it coming back from work this evening. Trouble is I've had my old car for around 5 years and I guess I was used to the way that one drove.
Just need to get the steering wheel off and move it one spline to the right. From reading reviews on interweb, these particular tyres are noisy anyway.
Just need to get the steering wheel off and move it one spline to the right. From reading reviews on interweb, these particular tyres are noisy anyway.
You may even find its been adjusted wrong in that the tracking has been adjusted on one side instead of equally on both sides, just a thought but seems to happen a lot these days.
I would get it tracked again and see if one side has toe out/in more than the other side, they must be done equally or the steering wheel is left out of straight....
Get a 4 wheel alignment on a Hunter machine. If nothing else it will give you peace of mind and in my experience, the guys who operate them seem to actually care that the alignment is correct with the steering wheel straight.
Had the alignment, this time at a Honda specialist - the 'crabbing' wasn't in my head it seems, they had a poke around and the rear axle bushes are kaput - At least they found the problem I guess.
They told me you cant get the bushes from Honda, they would rather sell you the whole axle for an eye-watering sum and I'd rather not put aftermarket rubbish in there.
Not sure where to go from here as it's such a kick in the balls - although I have managed to locate polyurethane bushes
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