Honda Odyssey Poor Handling

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

 

What in blaze are Peerless tires? Are you maybe refering to Pirellis?

 

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

 

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.

Paul

 

how about worn or hardened bushings in the suspension?

 

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.

Dan D
'07 Ody EX
Central NJ USA

 

It is absolutely and 100% those tires.

Try a good, name brand and see what happens. Peerless?

 

Yes.

 

I went to www.tirerack.com and I could not find any Bridgestone Insignia
200s listed. I wonder if your brand new tires are old tires from the
warehouse.

 

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.

-dan

 

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

 

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.

 

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.

 

Which Michelin and Goodyear models in particular? Both companies make good
and bad tire models.

 

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.

 

I put a set of Goodyear Assurance ComforTred tires on my wife's minivan (a
Dodge Grand Caravan), and they have been absolutely excellent. Very
highly rated in traction, comfort, and quiet. I've never put Michelins on
a minivan, but have had great satisfaction with their tires on passenger
cars. I think the "Energy" series may be what you want there. Both of
these manufacturers have excellent websites that help you pick the proper
tire for your vehicle. Go do some research.