| You are cruising around town and your car is | | | | as simple as low air pressure to a shape change |
| running fine. You jump on a highway and speed up | | | | from whacking a pot hole/curb/small tree. When |
| to the flow of traffic. Suddenly, the steering | | | | this occurs, the balance of the tire goes bad and |
| wheel gets a vibration and starts to shake a bit. | | | | it will wobble slightly at higher speeds. You will feel |
| Why is this? | | | | this wobble in the steering wheel as a shaking. To |
| Your car is an amazing vehicle. Talk to an | | | | correct it, get the tire balanced at a local tire |
| enthusiast, mechanic or sales person and they can | | | | store. |
| spend hours telling you about all the intricate | | | | The second cause of steering wheel shakes at |
| technology and gadgets incorporated into the | | | | high speed is the bent rim. This is much more |
| vehicle. This is true for even the cheapest cars | | | | common than most people would expect. How do |
| available these days. All of the technological | | | | you bend rims? It is pretty easy. You could hit a |
| advances, however, can't hide one key thing - the | | | | pot hole. You could hit a sudden upwards elevation |
| most important area of the car is where the tires | | | | change on a street that is being worked on. Hit it |
| meet the road. | | | | fast enough and you can bend a rim going over |
| Depending upon your vehicle and tires, the total | | | | steel plates...railroad tracks...the list is nearly |
| area contacting the road may be as little 4 by 4 | | | | endless. |
| by 1 inch if you count all four tires. That small | | | | The bad news is there is no quick and easy fix |
| contact area will support a car weighing a | | | | for a bent rim. Well, actually there is - buy a new |
| thousand pounds or more. The key to getting a | | | | rim. The problem is a new rim costs good money, |
| smooth ride is to making sure the car balances | | | | particularly if the dealer has an exclusive deal on |
| correctly on those four contact areas. | | | | the rims. You could try getting the rim re-finished, |
| When the balance goes out of whack, the ride | | | | but it rarely works and can actually weaken the |
| becomes rough. When it is the front tires that | | | | rim in some cases. In short, it is best to just pony |
| have a problem, your steering wheel will vibrate | | | | up and pay for a new rim if the shaking bothers |
| and shimmy. There are two common causes of | | | | you enough. |
| this. Either the tire is out of balance or you've | | | | If your steering wheel shakes at high speeds, the |
| bent a rim. Let's take a closer look. | | | | good news is your car is not falling apart. It might |
| Your tire is made of rubber. How's that for an | | | | be as cheap and simple a fix as getting a wheel |
| obvious statement? Regardless, it means the tire | | | | rebalanced. On the other hand, you might have to |
| is not perfectly round or will go out of round | | | | pony up for a new rim, but that's a lot less costly |
| slightly for a host of reasons. The issues can be | | | | than fixing a steering system or suspension. |