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Gen 2 Body Shake After Complete Stop

58K views 307 replies 98 participants last post by  Dallas Vette 
#1 ·
I noticed on the two different Gen 2's I drove today, after coming to a moderate to light braking complete stop, each time you could feel a front to back shake as the car continued rock back and forth about 4 or 5 times. It wasn't crazy noticeable, but once I felt it, I felt at every stop. Something is definitely not tuned right with this suspension. I have never felt anything like it in a car or truck.

One truck had a quarter tank of gas, the other was on full, so I don't think it was gas sloshing around.

Keep an eye out for this on your test drive to make sure it wont bother you for 8 years.
 
#6 ·
I noticed on the two different Gen 2's I drove today, after coming to a moderate to light braking complete stop, each time you could feel a front to back shake as the car continued rock back and forth about 4 or 5 times.
:surprise:
Side to side or front to back? Can you get it on video?
 
#8 ·
Wonder if it's a weight distribution thing and the weight of the Pilot is different and the brake proportioning valve is either different or setup differently between the Pilot & the RL. If a brake proportioning valve was adjusted wrong or even an ABS issue, (which could be a computer issue) it could easily be a later TSB or the reason for the delay. I'm sure they will work it out, but the joy's of being an early adopter.
 
#11 ·
After a complete stop would have nothing to with drive shaft or proportioning valves....those things have completed their tasks. The dampers/strut inserts/shocks, however you choose to refer to them, could simply not be valved ideally for that particular scenario. Likely very close to static ride height they probably have very little compression and rebound dampening.

Those early adopters who have this concern, please complain often and loudly to Honda. I'd like us later adopters to have suspension with slightly different dampening and compression valving at low displacement. ;)
 
#18 ·
Test drove one today and specifically looked for this. Did I see it? Yes, but only because I tried really hard to induce it and was looking for it very hard.
I would not have noticed it at all if I had not read this thread first. If it is no worse than what I saw, I would call it a non-issue.

I liked the vehicle and am working on finding one not yet produced for pre-order.
 
#19 ·
Initially i scoffed at this thread after having drove mine for 400 miles already.. well last night i focused on it and payed attention, there is a little sway forward and back when you come to a stop.

Every vehicle i have does that though.
 
#20 ·
Test drove the sport the other day and this was after reading the first post. Tried to feel this sensation, nothing. We had a full tank of gas, I was driving, the salesman in the passenger seat, my wife and daughter in the back seats. I did light braking as one normally would and I even made a short stop on a little side road that no one uses just to see what happened. Nothing out of the ordinary.
 
#22 ·
I bought a Gen 2 BE a week and a half ago. It's funny I didn't notice this rocking on the test drive and probably for a few days after purchase. Now I notice it at every stop no matter how much gas is in the tank.
I stopped by my dealer and they said it was most likely normal. Great vote of confidence that is.

I've put almost 900 miles on her and the tires haven't fallen off yet, so...
 
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#23 ·
If its front to back have any one of you ever driven a water tanker or anything similar even with baffles in the tank. Its got to be the fuel tank no matter how much fuel is in it you still might feel it all depends on how full it is. Interesting......... and I would never buy one for that, i get motion sickness :wink:.
 
#24 ·
This is a real issue. I didn't notice it in my RL during the test drive, but I was driving conservatively. I have noticed it occurring several times since. Right now, my best guess it is that it appears to happen when the truck stops quickly. I'm still playing to try and ID when it happens. Apparently, I don't come to a complete stop often. :wink:

It rocks back and forward after you stop - several times distinctly (odd motion). It is not a small movement. Honda needs to look into it. I will be taking it in to the dealer next week to have them look at it and try and get it into their list of problems to resolve.
 
#26 ·
It definitely rocks forward and backward at a stop. I've become acclimated to it and don't always notice the motion after 900 miles. Some years ago I drove a Humvee (what a beast!) and when it stopped there was a pronounced rocking back and forth from the high sidewall, compliant tires. I'm guessing it's some suspension bushing compliance and maybe in concert with the tires.
 
#38 · (Edited)
Agreed - I also find that pretty suspicious.

Can anyone tell us what exactly constitutes a "problem" to be included in reporting for this survey? I could not find that information.

Does anyone know just how these surveys are done and what the possible sources of error are?

Are these problems ranked by seriousness? It would hardly be a fair survey in terms of making a purchase decision if a loose piece of trim counted the same as a defective steering mechanism, for example.

BTW, the bottom of the barrel was (accidentally?) cut off on the posted chart. This included Mini, Land Rover, Volvo, Fiat, and Smart (which is not all that smart, apparently).
 
#36 ·
I thought all modern upscale vehicles would have baffles in the fuel tank in this day and age. It is such a simple and inexpensive thing to do (within large-scale manufacturing) that adds so much quality to the ride/drive of the vehicle, speaking in terms of quality felt/delivered per dollar spent.

I find it hard to believe that Honda's engineers could overlook such a simple thing as that. If so, then they really do need a good housecleaning at Honda.
 
#37 ·
The porpoising (back-to-front see-saw motion) would seem most likely to be related to the fact that the Gen 2 has a plusher suspension than Gen 1, including the new type of shock absorbers (dampers). On the Gen 2 I drove, the sensation was not bothersome - just a nice smooth controllable stop with no "jerkiness", much smoother braking than my Gen 1. The sensation at the stop was similar IMHO to the very plush-riding land yachts of the 1970s - on vehicles with very long hoods and lots of mass way out in front of the forward wheels, that kind of porpoising during a stop was very common. It got worse as the shock absorbers wore out, hence the then-standard used car "test" of pushing down on one corner to see how many times it would oscillate.

With the Gen 2 though, there is not a lot of mass out in front of the forward wheels (comparatively speaking). Compared to Gen 1, the new truck has different shocks, presumably different spring rates, active engine mounts, and a more complex brake system. All of these could be potential contributors, but "generally" such behavior would point to the shocks and springs first. If the other components are involved, the additional complexity could make the problem challenging to solve. It will be interesting to see if the porpoising gets worse as the vehicles age, and whether Honda chooses to address it.

A final caveat - one thing that is much different compared to the old land yachts, is that the Gen 2's (most of them) have AWD, a lot will have plenty of safety nannies, and all will have anti-lock brakes. Is the suspension bounce properly accounted for in the vehicle's software, or will it cause nanny issues with limit stops in poor traction conditions? If I were a Gen 2 owner, I would be tempted to take the truck to a parking lot early some morning and do some experiments with wet vs dry stopping and maneuvers just to see if the safety nannies were discombulated by the see-sawing. One way to induce this would be to place a series of small bumps (strategically spaced) right before the brake application point so that the suspension is bouncing nicely during the brake maneuver. You would expect that the braking forces would load the suspension and quickly dampen any oscillatory motions, but you never know until you try.
 
#41 · (Edited)
I really have to question any data based on such a low number of owners. As we know here, there just are not that many yet. I would also point out that the same page on Edmunds give the RL an A rating. Of course, that too is based on early testing.

The bottom line for me is that my 06 is better than ten years old now and although it is working well and very low miles, it IS still ten years old and will inevitably have increasing numbers of issues in the next few years. I do not want another brand of pickup (been there, done that) so if I want a new truck the RL is really the only game in town. So do I wait or not? If I wait, I take a chance that mine will fail in some way (and w/o warranty, of course). If I buy, I take a chance that I will have issues with a new design/production (but probably cover by warranty). Then there is the matter of G1 old tech vs G2 new tech. G1 old tech is more tested but less capable than G2 new tech. Of course I could wait a while to get above the 10,000 but that is not a magic number - there is no guarantee that one would not still have issues at 20,000 or 30,000. The other factor is that before too long (to quote Jon Snow) "Winter is Coming" and I would like to get things done by then...

So I have decided to buy. Only time will tell if that was the right decision, and since I will probably not know the how my old G1 does with whoever winds up with it over the next few years, I may not ever know if it was the right decision.
 
#40 ·
I am guessing that it is confusion between reliability and quality. People confuse those two all the time. So they expect their RELIABLE Honda to also be a QUALITY Honda. Seems quality has slipped substantially over the last 15 years or so, hence the low IQS ratings (ultimately derived from what people have come to expect out of a brand). I am hoping that their reliability is still as good as ever....if not, I will be looking toward Hyundai for future vehicle purchases (no one expects quality from them!).
 
#42 ·
I am guessing that it is confusion between reliability and quality. People confuse those two all the time.
Exactly. As I suggested in my post IQS includes all sorts of trivial things that may or may not have anything to do with reliability. Reliability can only be determined by time and we simply do not have that information yet after only a few weeks.
 
#43 ·
Having read back through this thread, unless others are experiencing significantly more issues than I am, and based on the responses it does not seem that many are, this is starting to feel like the catastrophic, earth-shattering revelation that the rear doors don't open wide enough. In other words a complete non-issue. If you have to be told that it's happening, and turn off the radio, and stay perfectly still to even notice it, is there really a problem? If the ride wasn't so plush and quiet to begin with would anybody have ever even noticed at all? Can you imagine a Tacoma owner reporting this?

This isn't to say that it isn't worth mentioning. I very much appreciate shamrock taking the time to report it and bring it to our attention. But the more "problems" that people are reporting with the G2, the more I realize that I made the right decision in purchasing one. It's not like Tacoma or Colorado owners that don't know from one day to the next whether or not their transmission is going to work. Instead my biggest concern is this stupid, hideous, narrow, uncomfortable-in-every-position armrest. #firstworldproblems ... also I am not a fan of the armrest.
 
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#50 ·
It's called an NDA and Joe has posted before that he has one with Honda. Depending on what is in the NDA that he signed he could get sued by Honda for disclosing certain information.



Joe glad that you are still contributing here once in a while even though not everyone appreciates your input.


If that is the case that makes total sense why he can't disclose. Thanks


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