I've got a problem w/ my mini-van that I have not been able to resolve.
The symptoms are
noisy ride - When new, the ride was nice and quiet. For the last 40K miles or so (now at 80K).
bumpy ride - it feels as though I can feel every slight bump on the road.
drift - Sometimes the car feels like its briefly drifting (or lurching) sideways. Everyday on the way home from work, i hit a couple of patches on the groved highway that makes it feel like my car drifts several inches to the left when the wheel hit these slight bumps. This also happens when I hit a slightly bumpy patch on a turn. It feels like the wheels are jiggling so much that they are leaving the road and causing me to drift on the dry pavement. It feels a little like hydroplaning.
30K miles ago I had a trusted mechanic look at it and found nothing. This week we took it to the Honda dealer. They said that the struts and shocks are fine. They want to run diagnostics but I'm reluctant.
Tire info:
I suppose its possible that the ride started to deteriorate w/ my first set of Peerless replacement tires.
I'm currently on a brand new set of Peerless tires.
When they replaced them this summer they said that I had unusual wear on them. The ride did not improve with the new set of tires.
You might see some of those problems if your tires were seriously overinflated. That happened to me recently when I had some work done on my Accord. Have you checked your tire pressures?
If you end up replacing your tires, FWIW, I like the Goodrich Traction T/As on my '01 Odyssey.
I'm not sure what diagnostics they could run that would help them determine what is the issue with the suspension or tires.... It sure sounds like bushings/tie rods/etc. Did you have an alignment done when you got the new tires? An out-of-alignment condition could definitely cause uneven wear. You may also want to rotate the tires around, see if perhaps an out-of-round tire or wheel is the cause. You didn't say if the condition persists with the new tires; I'm assuming it does.
Why on earth would one put Insignia's on an Odyssey? I have those on my Civic, and they are only average. I don't expect them to be any better on an Odyssey. Insignia's are Bridgestone's cheap entry-level tire.
it could be tires, but before you do anything with them, check the suspension thoroughly. a broken bushing or frozen ball joint can affect handling just like you describe.
Thanks for you feedback Gentlemen (Ladies?). Here's what I've learned
1) Its most likely my cheap tires. I honestly didn't know that tires made that much of a difference.
2) Its possible that I have tie rod issues or worn bushings.
3) The dealer's request to run diagnostics would likely be a waste of money
4) Check for under or over inflated tires - I'm actually pretty good at keeping the tires properly inflated.
Its true that the ride started to deteriorate around the time that I swapped out the original tires 40K miles ago. I'm going to strongly consider putting better tires on this thing and sell my cheapos on Craigslist (fully disclosed, of course). I'll follow up on this thread after I switch.
I'll look at Consumer reports before I select my new tires.
I am not entirely sure, but I can tell you about my experience with tires on Honda vehicles. I also had a 2001 Odissey. Here in Ontario, Canada, it came with Firestones. I believe certain vehicles had a recall regarding tires, but my did not. It was a great tire. Drove it to 89,000KM at which point, I traded (new lease) the car for a new
2003Pilot. In the winter the Firestones were absolutly horrible. I suffered a spin on one occasion going around a curve in a showy conditions. I soon bought Michelin Alpine winter tires. They were much softer and had a very good grip in the snow. They were just as quiet as the all seasons. I have not experienced the problems that you have mentioned. The 2003 Pilot came with GoodYear Integrity. This was also a very good tire in terms of ride quality and durability. However, it was not that good for snow and ice. The tire ware was faster than the tires on the previous Odissey. I had contacted the Honda dealership that I go to on occasion to let them know that the tires are more worn at approximately 65,000Km than Firestones at approx 90,000Km. They gave me no good comments because they claimed that anything above
50,000Km is phenomenal. I now have a 2006 Pilot with Bridgestone tires. They are very comfortable, quiet, wear quickly, and are very dangerous in the winter. I have racked up 35,000Km on them and they are half way to the thread limiter. These tires I would not reccommend. In the winter I switch over to Toyo Observe G02 - Plus. This is a very good tire for deeper snow and ice. It is also very quiet and a very soft tire. I put about 15,000K on them and I could not notice much wear on them. My tire experience on a 2003 Accord (4 cyl) is quite different, and very much like the experience that you have on your van. The 2003 Accord came with Michelin MXV 4 S8. This is a V-speed rated tire. These tires were amazing on dry i.e. very good grip, very low noise, very low resistance thus higher gas milage. They were absolutely horrible in rain and snow. I would classify them as dangerous in snow. I drove with this tires until 218,000Km. They wore down to the thread limiters, but they never went out of balance or showed any signs of noise or material failure. I then got Nokian i3 by reading technical material. My first impression was that is is a much noisier tire than the OEM Michelins. That was normal I suppose since the UTQA for i3 was 620 I believe (compared to 440 for OEM Michelins). It was an H-rated tire. The performance in wet was superior to that of the OEM tires. I drove with the i3 for over 95,000Km. They are only
50% worn but they make an awful motor-like noise. I tried balancing them again, rotating them. They are so twitchy on the road. They amplify road bumps. They also started to show signs of weathering, yet they are not even one year old, and I did not even use them in the winter. The sidewall claims that they were engineered in finland, but that they were made in China. I in fact contacted the manufacturer to complain. In the mean time I bought a new set of Toyo Versado LX. This tire is even more quiet than the OEM Michelins. The wet traction is also very good. So I hope that this long winded answer gives you some ideas. In most cases if your car has a very low milage, the problems that you have described are caused by the tires. When buying tires it would appear that one has to do alot of research. Don't buy tires that are made in China. At least not until they have perfected the technology.
Do you mean the rubber bushings? If yes, then I would have to say that the vehicle is too new. If the rubber weathered and broke off, one would hear alot of banging while going over every bump.
It always amazes me how many people spend extra money to get a good car and then put on the crappiest rim protectors they can find when it needs new rubber. The only thing holding the car on the road is the grip of the tire on whatever random surface it may be in contact with. This is not the place to compromise quality.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.