Vibration coming from rear

progressprogress Wagonist
in Engine & Drivetrain
Hi everyone. Hope the following makes some sense to you guys.

This is a continuation from my post in quarters thread in the Suspension, Braking and Wheels forum here, http://www.hondacivicwagon.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=6046. I didn't want to hijack quarters thread any more than I already had.

I had all my wheels balanced today and after mounting them and going for a spin, I expected the drive to be nice and smooth. Nope, not even close. It still vibrates but the balancing helped a little. I think the vibration is coming from my rear diff and the MacGuyvered driver's side mount my dad and I did. I posted about a similar problem I had in another thread here... http://www.hondacivicwagon.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3239. Scroll down to see photos of the rusted out mount and our fix for it.

I'm contemplating removing the rt4wd setup altogether as it is most likely the root of my bad vibrations. It's not doing me any good being disengaged all the time and I could possibly sell it to the guys at the shop where I had my wagon inspected (they want to build a rt2wd hatch like the Epic Tuning one). What all do I need to remove? Driveshaft, rear diff, rear mounts, etc? Would it be easier if I bought the whole rear setup from a 2wd wagon at the salvage yard?

I dunno. In the morning I'm going to see if tightening up the fabbed up driver's side mount will do any good.

Can a FUBAR'd rear suspension cause the vibrations as well?

EDIT: Could removing the propeller shaft alone solve any vibration problems? If I'm correct, don't these spin even when the rt4wd is disengaged?

Comments

  • HaydzHaydz Moderator
    On the USDM model the driveshaft shouldn't spin when you disengage 4WD on the gearbox.

    On the JDM INTRAC model the driveshaft is moving with the front wheel no matter what.
  • JakerJaker familEE
    The section of driveshaft between the rear diff and the viscous coupler will turn even if you have the drive to the rear wheels dissengaged at the transmisssion. It's a mechanical connection in that area. There's no way to stop that part turning, unless you unbolt it from the diff. It may turn the whole driveshaft as well. I'm not sure how the viscous behaves in this configuration.
  • HaydzHaydz Moderator
    I'm trying to find the post about this but not having much luck. Will have another search soon but someone tested it out when they were looking at putting their RT4WD on the dyno.
  • RockVegasRockVegas New Wagonist
    Did you eat 'The Homewrecker' burrito from Moe's? Wait... what are we talking about?
  • progressprogress Wagonist
    RockVegas wrote:
    Did you eat 'The Homewrecker' burrito from Moe's? Wait... what are we talking about?

    lol! i have actually had the 'homewrecker' from Moe's and it is my fave thing there! but that would cause a low rumbling and would be accompanied by a stink. infortunately, my problem is a whole car vibration with no peculiar smells.
  • progressprogress Wagonist
    Getting under my car this evening and looking at my mounts for the rear differential, it looks like they may need replacing. Perhaps replacing these will calm my rear vibrations? Where can I get these mounts? I'm assuming my local Honda stealership won't have them, ya? And what would I be looking at paying for them?

    If new mounts don't fix it. I'm guessing I will completely remove the rt4wd and store it until I can weld in some sort of upper mount for my rear diff. Perhaps something like how Epic Tuning mounted their rear diff onto their hatch (which by the way is up for sale btw). Or sell it to the shop that did my state inspection. They've apparently been looking for an rt4wd for a hatch build they want to do. Decisions, decisions.

    Until then, I'll be rolling in the Geo Prism. At least it has A/C!
  • progressprogress Wagonist
    Attention anyone who has ordered the three rear diff. mounts...

    Where did you get them from and at what price? I want to try to replace these first to try to fix the crazy vibrations from the rear before removing my whole rt4wd system. Oh, and has anyone done the polyfill method of making new mounts? Is this easy to do? Thanks!

    James aka progress
  • stampernstampern Senior Wagonist
    have you looked on Majestic Honda. they have a lot of honda parts (oem stuff) that you can get cheaper than the dealer most of the time. Just google "Majestic Honda".
  • progressprogress Wagonist
    stampern wrote:
    have you looked on Majestic Honda. they have a lot of honda parts (oem stuff) that you can get cheaper than the dealer most of the time. Just google "Majestic Honda".

    Hondaautomotiveparts.com has the 2 upper mounts for $15 each and the rear mount for $34. Sounds about right eh?
  • progressprogress Wagonist
    So what began as a "Hey Pops. Let's remove the driveshaft and the rear diff cuz I'm getting a mad vibration in my rear end" turned into a "Hey, maybe it's because your rear driver's side cv axleshaft is broken" kinda day.

    So, in trying to take off the rear driver's side cv axleshaft, we managed to snap the lower arm bushing bolt, mangle one of the lca's upper bushings which in turn disintegrated, and the metal bearing thing is rusted to the bolt so it will not come out.

    It looks like I won't be driving my wagon anytime soon. :(

    At least I can keep the rt4wd part of my wagon. At least I think I can if the broken axleshaft was the correct diagnosis.

    How was your Father's Day?
  • pandorasboxpandorasbox New Wagonist
    I feel your pain bud. My Wago is also doing the shimmy, I have found a bad u-joint and I'm assuming that is helping to cause some vibration. After repairing my axle problem up front I will be digging into the rear driveline and hopefully resolving this issue and maybe just maybe seeing if the age-old U-joint BS can be resolved thanks to a local shop.

    As far as the jacked up bolts go just snap em, get the shocks out of the way then burn out the bushings and hammer out the bushing's metal surround and install new ones. That's what I have had to do with my front suspension.

    Tip: toss your new bushing in the freezer, it will shrink just the tinyest bit and after removing all the bushing and metal surround use a wire brush to clean inside the lower control arm bushing hole, then take the torch to the metal, it will expand a little, then, smack that new bushing into the lca! Worked great on mine. Lol
Sign In or Register to comment.

© Vanilla Keystone Theme 2025