Does anyone know why a steering wheel will suddenly start shaking/vibrating while driving?

There are 2 things that cause steering wheels to "suddenly start shaking" as your speed increases.

First, as all wheel/tire combination are normally out of balance. The wheel and tire are balanced by dealers by adding little lead weights at the appropriate points around the tire.

If you had hit a bump or got to close to a curb, you may have knocked one of those weights. These weights sometimes fall off by themselves. Look around where the rim meets the tire. You will see them. If you see a mark but nothing there, that may have been the weight that got knocked off.

Second, going back to that bump in the road. You may have "Knocked" your front end out of alignment.

Thirdly, I know, I said 2, you may have a front tire with a separation in it. This is something that you can easly check for.

First, look for obvious bulges. Next, feel around the tire. Sometimes you can feel the bulge even when it is so small you can't see it.

I have had snow and mud through the balance of a tire out to cause this wheel vibration. I am not ruling out a mechanical problem like wheel bearings but I find those don't come on suddenly.

And now, the disclaimer. It is hard to make a good diagnoses with out touching a checking. These should help though. If your not sure of what your doing, please take your car to a qualified mechanic.

Hope everything works out OK for you.

WOW

It is usually an indication of something like a loose/worn trackrod end or Bush
If its violent and occurs at a certain speed then it's a wheel bearing (cheapish to replace) Or a Kingpin/strut (expensive)
Need to be checked over very carefully
May need to buy a tire as well if this has been going a long time the tire will have uneven wear patterns
Another cause is the road wheel itself is damaged /out of balance
Best place to check all of these things out is go to a Tire center where they fit tires and ask for an "on the Vehicle balance check" for your front wheels and tell them about the vibration. This check may cost an Hours Labor or a fixed price? But they do pinpoint any problems in this area

Honi, does this typically happen between certain speeds? (It's always something conveinent for the highway like "only between 55 and 75 mph" )

This could be a balance problem. However, the last time it happened to me there was some internal damage to one of my tires. Balance, of course, is less expensive to correct!

If, alternatively, this happens when you are braking, then you may want to have your rotors checked.

Best to discuss this with a reliable mechanic and have him diagnose the problem. The "run of the mill" brake and tire shops seem to deliver mixed results.

Thank you both. This only started yesterday after I had had a flat tire in my driveway. I used fix-a-flat to get it up enough to drive it to a service station to air it up.

After reading your posts, I believe it could be something about the tire. Does it sound like a new tire would solve the problem? I had no idea that the steering wheel could be associated with the tire in any way.

Fuse, I just read your post and you also mentioned the tire. Now I believe this is somehow due to the front tire that I aired up.

You said you used "fix a flat"... Is that the stuff that puts in a solution into the tire and seals the leak ?
If so, then it is probably in one area and you created the tire to be out of balance....
If the tire is still good, have it taken off of the rim , cleaned out and rebalanced.. That should cure it....

Those Fix a flat repair kits are supposed to be to good to get you home at a reduced speed and B) They do not give the same PSI as an airline!
If you have driven at your normal pace 50 mph or above with this then there will be vibration due to the uneven tire pressure..
You did not say if your car was pulling to one side when braking? and I think Don is on the money when he said the tyre will be out of balance because the tire bead will have slipped when subjected to heavy stops only by an inch or 2
Check this out everybody, a correctly fitted tire has a Balance pointer(normally a painted triangle) This is positioned directly opposite the tire valve unless the tire maker has another system?

Yes, get a new tire and have them balance ALL of them for you as well.

Depending on the wear on the tires you might what to get two new ones - Put those on the front, the older ones on the rear. At the same time rotate your spare - if your spare is older and more worn than the second tire you replace.

Tire companies like, um, Big-O, Firestone, Good Year, Good Rich - (that deal exclusively in tires) have package deals, a few of them have very good credit systems which allow you to pay for the full price of tires over a long time - good if money is tight.

At the same time as you are having the tires changed, you might also want to have the balance and the alignment checked/done/ both of these processes will extend the life of our cars, and could extend your life as well.

Honi, my steering wheel use to vibrate especially after I got up to 50 mph. Took it to my friendly mechanic and it turned out that I needed to have both struts replaced in the back --- and because of this one tire had a flat spot on it so I had that replaced also. Then everything was okay.

OK, I have to get in on this one! My steering wheel shakes and vibrates when I'm braking while travelling at a fairly good clip. WTH???

Tree
How long has this been happening and how old is your vehicle?
This sound like a warped brake disk fault

My car is a 1990 Subaru. I had a friend of a friend do the brakes on my car ... then a few years later I took it to the dealer and they told me I had the wrong brake parts in it!!!!! They changed it all around and everything seemed GREAT! Several months ago, we stopped on a bit of an incline and (I wasn't driving) I put the emergency brake on. When we got out and drove home... there was a horrid smell of burning something.... when OMG, I didn't release the emergency brake - didn't think of it, since I wasn't driving.

I know! If I wasn't driving, what the hell was I doing fussing with things????

Nothing seemed too terribly wrong after my brake parts cooled down.... but it was awhile after that - that this problem developed.

Could THAT have anything to do with it????

The last time I experienced a vibrating steering wheel..both my front tires were so bald the metal parts were worn through.

Someone told me that was a bad thing?

quote:

Originally posted by shelster:
The last time I experienced a vibrating steering wheel..both my front tires were so bald the metal parts were worn through.

Someone told me that was a bad thing?

Thats a wee bit beyond the legal limit Shelley?
Your Vehicles handling would have been interesting to say the least!

That's a very bad thing.

I visually inspect my tires monthly, along with opening the hood to see if there are any leaks, give the wires a gentle tug, and the belts to see if they are snug. I also check all the fluids every two months, changing them out depending on which vehicle. For instance the Mercury which gets 100 miles every week day gets her oil changed every 2 months, full fluid change (I insist) every 6 months, like power steering, radiator, windshield fluid. The Beast (suburban) gets that annually or like this month before a thousands mile long road trip.

Last weekend I had the tires rotated and even the spare inspected. The weekend before we leave I will take her in for a full lube job, oil change and I already purchased the new air filter which I will switch out just before we get in to go. This week-end I will be draining the radiator, flushing and refilling – not because it needs it, but because we will be traveling a long distance and I want fresh coolant in her – I will also top off the battery.

Last weekend I spend the better part of the day checking transmission, power steering, brake (fluids) I also opened up all the light compartments, inspecting the wiring, switched out a few bulbs that I know are old, bought another head lamp an extra bulbs – just in case one of them goes while on the road. I also tightened bolts and screws, inspected the rubber hoses, switched out one of the radiator hoses because it was questionable in my mind. I even lubed up the jack – just in case. For a lark I changed the windshield wipers.

Yes I am anal when it comes to things like this. However in the past the things that have gone are things like a thrown rod – one can not inspect for that or see it coming. Since I have taken over the maintenance and care of the In-laws vehicles and Danny’s vehicles they have had far less problems with emergency car care.

A stitch in time saves nine….

quote:

Originally posted by bedstor:

Thats a wee bit beyond the legal limit Shelley?
Your Vehicles handling would have been interesting to say the least!

I am actually surprised it wasn't worse. It only shook when I hit 60 mph. But I discovered the bad tires at work when I got there, and I lived 50 miles from work at the time, so I drove across the street to the service station and they put my spare on the worse of the two.

Guess how many lectures I got about that?

Thanks everyone, this has been a very educational thread. I got a whole new set of tires because mine were really worn, anyway. So far, no more vibrating.

David, I really need to keep my car up to date on things like you do but I just don't take the time. I usually wait until a message light comes on.

Forgot 1 more thing
It could also be a loose road wheel that produces this symptom
I've been in a car where the road wheel& axle sheared off (only doing 30mph) when I was a kid
And a few years ago a car travelling towards me
lost a wheel and it bounced across my path.Suppose I arrived perhaps 1 or 2 seconds earlier? There would have been impact! Did not have time to react
Seen other wheels in various repair jobs fail because of simple things overlooked like not tightening the wheel nuts