Re: Honda Odyssey Poor Handling
 

djh wrote:
> 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.
>
> Thoughts?
> -dan
>

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.

Re: Honda Odyssey Poor Handling
 

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.

-dan

Re: Honda Odyssey Poor Handling
 

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.

-dan

Re: Honda Odyssey Poor Handling
 

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.

-dan

Re: Honda Odyssey Poor Handling
 

Before I buy new tires, I will certainly check my bushings and ball
joints.
-dan

Re: Honda Odyssey Poor Handling
 

Before I buy new tires, I will certainly check my bushings and ball
joints.
-dan

Re: Honda Odyssey Poor Handling
 

Before I buy new tires, I will certainly check my bushings and ball
joints.
-dan

Re: Honda Odyssey Poor Handling
 

On Aug 1, 12:44 pm, djh <danjhi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> My mistake. My tires are Bridgestone Insignia 200s.
> Peerless is name of the tire store.
>
> Do you think tires could be a key factor here?
> -dan

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.

Dan.

Re: Honda Odyssey Poor Handling
 

On Aug 1, 12:44 pm, djh <danjhi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> My mistake. My tires are Bridgestone Insignia 200s.
> Peerless is name of the tire store.
>
> Do you think tires could be a key factor here?
> -dan

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.

Dan.

Re: Honda Odyssey Poor Handling
 

On Aug 1, 12:44 pm, djh <danjhi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> My mistake. My tires are Bridgestone Insignia 200s.
> Peerless is name of the tire store.
>
> Do you think tires could be a key factor here?
> -dan

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.

Dan.

Re: Honda Odyssey Poor Handling
 

On Aug 1, 1:52 pm, Jim Yanik <jya...@abuse.gov> wrote:
> djh <danjhi...@gmail.com> wrote innews:1185986671.134694.315890@l70g2000hse.google groups.com:
>
> > My mistake. My tires are Bridgestone Insignia 200s.
> > Peerless is name of the tire store.
>
> > Do you think tires could be a key factor here?
>
> Possibly.
>
> > -dan
>
> how about worn or hardened bushings in the suspension?
>
> --
> Jim Yanik
> jyanik
> at
> kua.net

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.

Re: Honda Odyssey Poor Handling
 

On Aug 1, 1:52 pm, Jim Yanik <jya...@abuse.gov> wrote:
> djh <danjhi...@gmail.com> wrote innews:1185986671.134694.315890@l70g2000hse.google groups.com:
>
> > My mistake. My tires are Bridgestone Insignia 200s.
> > Peerless is name of the tire store.
>
> > Do you think tires could be a key factor here?
>
> Possibly.
>
> > -dan
>
> how about worn or hardened bushings in the suspension?
>
> --
> Jim Yanik
> jyanik
> at
> kua.net

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.

Re: Honda Odyssey Poor Handling
 

On Aug 1, 1:52 pm, Jim Yanik <jya...@abuse.gov> wrote:
> djh <danjhi...@gmail.com> wrote innews:1185986671.134694.315890@l70g2000hse.google groups.com:
>
> > My mistake. My tires are Bridgestone Insignia 200s.
> > Peerless is name of the tire store.
>
> > Do you think tires could be a key factor here?
>
> Possibly.
>
> > -dan
>
> how about worn or hardened bushings in the suspension?
>
> --
> Jim Yanik
> jyanik
> at
> kua.net

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.

Re: Honda Odyssey Poor Handling
 

On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:28:50 +0000, djh wrote:

> 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.

If there's one thing you *never* scrimp on, it's tires. Get rid of those
crappy ones and get some good ones. I recommend Michelin or Goodyear.


--
"Bother!" said Pooh, as Christopher Robin pleaded to be spanked again.

Re: Honda Odyssey Poor Handling
 

On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:28:50 +0000, djh wrote:

> 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.

If there's one thing you *never* scrimp on, it's tires. Get rid of those
crappy ones and get some good ones. I recommend Michelin or Goodyear.


--
"Bother!" said Pooh, as Christopher Robin pleaded to be spanked again.