2005 honda accord steering wheel shakes upon acceleration

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

My 2005 Accord steering wheel shakes quite a bit when I start to accelerate. I had the tires rebalanced, and it’s still happening. The dealership indicated that there was “play” in both axles, and they both needed to be replaced costing about $1000.00… There’s 85,000 miles on the vehicle and it’s in excellent condition, could this shaking be caused by something else ?
Thanks

2

Yes it could be caused by something else, get a second opinion. But dealers are usually pretty good at a diagnosis. An independent may do the job for less.

3

Could be the “balancer” on the longer cv axleshaft

4

It wouldn’t be that unusual to need both axel shafts replaced at 85K. The CV joints probably got low and grease and have worn out. Those parts are designed to be replaceable. $1000? Seems a tad high. But if they are replacing with all new OEM versions, at a dealership that would probably be the cost.

For this type of work – by this I mean it isn’t a difficult to diagnose engine drivability problem – I think you’d get more bang for you $$$ by using a good inde shop for this. They probably do axel shaft replacements near every day. Ask the inde shop if they have been having good luck with rebuilt units for your car. If so, you can save some money that way too, instead of using OEM new parts. I should say that a while back there were quite a few complaints here about low quality in offshore rebuilt axels.

5

Some other possibilities could include loose wheel bearings, loose ball joint(s), loose tie rod or tie rod ends, loose control arm bushing(s), sticking brake caliper slider, or even an out of balance or faulty tire.

There’s also the possibility of an engine performance problem. Without torn axle boots it would be a bit unusual to have faulty CV joints at 85k miles but it’s also possible for halfshaft problems to occur at that mileage and hopefully the diagnosis is correct.

You might price this job around at an independent shop as there could be a significant difference in prices.

6

vibration stops when you let off gas? worn, broken motor mounts, trans mount?