civic trying to steer its self


antvtec1

antvtec1

ekvtec
Joined
Feb 26, 2012
Messages
136
hi i know this probably should be in the steering section but i don't think there is one i couldn't find one anyway here's my problem, when driving either slow or fast it doesn't seem to make a difference the car suddenly jerks to one side so in turn making it look like i'm swerving it almost feels like the car is trying to steer itself and when i get up to speed lets say over 60 mph the car feels awful and very dangerous almost scary to go the motorway limit i have got 17" wheels on it could it be down to that? please help it scares me when my car starts turning into the opposite lane and i have to correct it not good at all help :angry2:
 
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Checked your tyre pressures?
Did you have the wheels balenced?
Have you had your tracking done?

1 Of the above would be my guess, Could be more serious id check above first though
 
Sounds like it could be the wheels.

Make sure they are correctly balanced and weighted. Failing that replace them as 17' on a civic will not be the best for handling anyway.
 
brilliant thanks alot i will get the above checked and sorted i had new tyres less than a month ago so i presumed they would of done the weight and balancing then but i have not had the tracking done so that's something to look into. if it is not the above mentioned what could be the more serious problem? 15" wheels or 16"s i will be boosting running around 300 bhp mark ?
 
Most likely to be an issue with the wheels or more seriously a fault with one of the joints. Get the wheels checked over in the first instance.

Also good idea to get the tracking looked at, but if the problem seems random then I doubt the tracking is entirely to blame.

As a general rule, larger wheels will have a detrimental effect on the handling on a civic. It just depends what you want from the car.
 
yeh true true well i live in the hills where i think my tax money is burned lol as the roads here are really really awful massive pot holes,raised grids, speed humps that look like they have just dumped the tarmac and left cars to flatten them lol, i cant describe how bad the roads are round here so in turn my tracking could most likely be out.

i just want a nice daily driver that when i want to give to it a bit it doesn't feel scary lol so scrapping the 17"s would you go for 15"s or 16"s ?
 
Sounds like you tracking mate unless you have serious differences in type pressures. The 17's will be fine and wont make a difference in the car trying to steer itself as you describe. have you hit or damaged your lower wishbone points? or subframe?

I damaged a wishbone on a VW polo and did the exact same as you described.
 
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o dear i will get the tracking done today as i want to be 110% sure as this is a new car so im wouldn't know weather it has been in a crash or not, everything looks straight but its easy to patch things up isnt it lol i have to say it does generally get worst the faster i go, its more erratic kind of thing
 
Tracking is my bet. Excessive toe out or a caster issue. May need a few joints or bushes replaced.

Does it happen more as you hit bumps or uneven patches of road?
 
KieranEG6 said:
Tracking is my bet. Excessive toe out or a caster issue. May need a few joints or bushes replaced.

Does it happen more as you hit bumps or uneven patches of road?
Click to expand...

x2 tracking issue or excessively worn RTA bushes.
 
Updated had tracking and balancing done 34psi in front 32 in back. I went for a thorough drive yesterday and I can confirm the car does get worse over bumps and on uneven roads so something is a bit more serious any ideas what kind of bushes or joints I should be looking for? There is no knocks on the car
 
What were the alignment results? Do you have a print out?

Also is the car lowered?
 
17's def not good on a 9 on any kind of B road imo.. I reckon they'd be the cause.
 
Go with 15's mate. Got some bad roads round here & my ek9 copes better than my dc5 used to.
 
Check your anti roll bar drop links, mine failed a few months ago and I had to drive with it home about 10 miles and it was awful, the steering just felt so weird!
 
What suspension have you got? It could be a snapped spring or if they are standard shocks, a prev owner may have replaced one individually instead of as a pair to get it through an MOT or something. Thats what happened with our Eunos Roadster, we worked out we've got 3 original shocks (possibly 23 years old!) and one 2 year old shock. It behaves in exactly the same way as you've described so may be worth checking
 
its got cheap coilovers at the moment not had chance to check the springs as its my daily driver atm and ive got an eg on the drive so no space. ive had the tracking done and a new set off alloys all been balanced it has got a lot better but still get the swerving at speeds so i think there must be under lying problem somewhere im going to check the arb links and springs and go from there will check back once sorted
 
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