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