Now I have friends that ask me what’s wrong with their car before going to their mechanic. The most recent one that I can recollect was taking a ride with a friend of my, we were going to lekki on our way I notice is steering was vibrating but I pretended I didn’t see until he asked me about it. That’s why for this post I have chosen to talk about shaking or vibration of steering while driving.
So what causes shaking or vibration of steering while driving one of the causes of this is out of balance or out of round tire. As the tire tread wears out rebalancing is need to evenly distribute the weight of the tire and the wheel. This is done by adding a small lead weight which is attached to the outside of the wheel and a machine is used to spin the tire and wheel to check balance.
Tires should be balanced and rotated every 12,000 miles (approximately every four oil changes) to ensure even tire wear and extend tread life.
Out-of-round means the tire has worn unevenly and cannot be balanced. An out-of-round tire will have to be replaced.
Entering a lager pot hole can cause wheel weights to come off and sometime on top speed the weights comes off if they were not fits properly. Shakes and shimmies are cause by out of balance or out of round tire.
If you can drive out of a shake or shimmy by varying the speed of the car, it is a good clue that you have an out-of-balance problem. If the shimmy is present at one speed, but better or not present at a different speed, then a balance problem is likely. An out-of-round tire or a bent wheel will usually produce a wobble or shimmy at all speeds, and replacement of the tire or wheel is usually the cure.
Regular tire rotation is the best way to extend the life of a tire. Ask your mechanic which way to rotate the tires depending on how the tread is wearing.
A vibration or shaking that is felt in the steering wheel only when the brakes are applied is a brake problem. Have the brakes inspected and make sure to tell your mechanic about the shaking that you feel in the steering wheel when you apply the brakes. During this brake inspection, it would also be a great time to rotate the tires.
