When you drive your car, you expect a smooth ride as you cruise down the highway. Lately though, you find yourself feeling like you’ve been through the spin cycle. Shaking and vibrating down the road is no way to drive to work every morning. It’s time to investigate what is going on!
Alignment
Vibration is usually caused by an out of balance or defective tire, a bent wheel or a worn driveline U-joint. You may find that the car shakes the car in an up and down motion. You may feel vibration through the seat, the steering wheel or even in the brake pedal.
Stop, look and listen
While there are many possible causes of vibration, observing under what conditions the vibration happens will help you and your mechanic find the source of the problem. Here are some things to look for:
Does the vibration get worse as the speed increases?
Does it happen only at certain speeds? If so, what speeds?
Does the vibration seem to be concentrated in the car seat?
Is there any abnormal noise when the car shakes?
Does the car vibrate while standing still with the engine running?
Does the movement seem to be concentrated on the steering wheel?
Let’s take a look at some of the possible causes of vibration.
Wheel and tire problems
The most prevalent cause of vibration is problems with your wheels or tires. The potential problems include improper wheel and tire balance, uneven tire wear, separated tire tread, out of round tires, damaged wheels and even loose lug nuts.
Many of these issues can be avoided by routine car inspections, such as a visual inspection of the wheels and tires, checking and adjusting tire pressure, and checking the tightness of lug nuts. Your regular maintenance schedule should include maintaining proper tire pressure, rotating the tires and balancing the wheels. Wheel alignment should also be performed at proper intervals.
