2001 Honda Civic just replaced the flat passenger side front tire, and got the car realigned. The lugnuts on the front passenger side tire are really hot after I drive, the front driver side lugnuts are less hot. The car at times seems to be pulling to the right, and shimmies/wiggles some at points, but not constantly. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks, Noelle
Have a decent repair shop pull BOTH front wheels and inspect the brakes…
Thanks for your quick response. The place I went to did actually replace both tires, and said they inspected the brakes, and that they were ok, but I haven’t used them before, so maybe I should take it to the place I usually use to get another opinion.
Caddyman is correct.
Have a competent shop take a look at your brakes.
(note: That does not include Midas, Meineke, Monro, Sears, AAMCO, or any other chain)
From the symptoms, it appears that the brakes on the passenger side are dragging.
In addition to putting a lot of wear on the brake pads for that wheel, the overheating brake situation may have warped the brake rotor, so don’t be surprised if you are told that the necessary repairs include a new brake rotor as well as new calipers and possibly new pads.
Also, if–as I suspect–your brake fluid has never been changed, that needs to be done at this time.
My thought is that you have a stuck caliper; binding caliper slide bolt(s); or a bad wheel bearing on the right side. Something is causing the wheel flange, lug bolts, and nuts to get hotter than the left side.
Mention the extra heat on the right side to the mechanic. That should steer him/her to the likely culprits. He/she might have to drive it until the problem appears before it can be diagnosed.
Hope this helps.
You have a sticking caliper.
The place that “inspected” the brakes when they replaced the tires only looked to see of there was sufficient pad thickness left to be not worn out. They were not being derelict, this would be the normal level of “inspection” performed when putting new tires on.
What needs to happen is for someone to remove the caliper and try to compress the cylinder piston. Inspection of both inside and outside pads may also be sufficient to diagnose a sticking caliper, as one should be more worn that the other.
You may also need new rotors, as the heat generaled by the draging pad can warp the rotor.
My opinion is that the shop could have over tightened the lugnuts as well when they put the wheels back on
Thanks for all of the responses… I took it to the place I use more regularly and spent significantly more money replacing the lower control arms on both front tires, the calipers, and rotors and got a brake fluid flush…it also had to be realigned, so I paid for that twice since I didn’t take it back to the first place that fixed it. It was pretty clear to me when I picked up the car and went a mile or two that something was still wrong with it, they told me they would test drive it when they were done, and I just don’t think that happened, so I won’t take it back to the first place. Its running well now… Thanks again for all of the advice.
Thank you for the post. I’m glad the problem is fixed.
I think so. My honda civic lug nuts at the front passenger is too hot after my wheel replacement. I am thinking maybe the mechanic had an over tighten it.