It’s normal for your car to vibrate slightly when you’re driving thanks to the rotation of the crankshaft, transmission gears and other moving parts in your engine. But, when these gentle vibrations feel more like shaking, it’s time to investigate the reasons why.
How to check your car for vibrations
The most common reasons for your car to excessively vibrate are a problem with your tyres, wheels, brakes, steering, suspension, axle or engine. Sounds like a lot of reasons, doesn’t it? Don’t worry. We’ll take a look at each in turn to see what the potential problems could be.
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First, try to determine where the vibrations are coming from and when they start. Are the vibrations only noticeable when you start and accelerate the car? Do they only occur when you turn and brake? Do they only happen when you drive at high speed? Or maybe they increase in intensity as you accelerate?
Now you know when the vibrations start, let’s look at the possible reasons for the shaking.
Tyres
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The most common reason for your car to shake is due to a problem with your tyres. These problems include:
- Out of balance tyres
If you notice that the shaking is minimal at low speeds, but intensifies as you accelerate to 90km/h, there’s a good change this is due to your tyres being out of balance. The easiest way to check if this is the reason behind the excessive vibrations is look for flat spots on your tyres. Depending on the amount of damage, you might be able to solve the issue by simply getting your tyres rebalanced. However, if there is too much damage, you will need to replace the tyres.
- Underinflated tyres
Underinflated tyres can cause your car to vibrate excessively when you drive at faster speeds. If you don’t find any flat spots on your tyres, it’s a good idea to check your air pressure matches the recommendations in your owners’ manual. Underinflated tyres can cause your tyres to blowout.
- Uneven tyre wear
Tyres can be easily knocked out of alignment by various road hazards. This causes them to wear unevenly, for example, cupping (a wavy surface on the tyre thread) or excessive wear on one side. This can be solved by checking your tyres for damage and replacing and/or realigning your tyres (depending on the amount of damage on the tyres).
- Tyre defects
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An out-of-round (i.e. misshapen) tyre, or one where the tread or internal belts have separated from the body of the tyre, can cause your car to vibrate at low speeds (under 30km/h). While these types of problem could be due to a manufacturing defect, it can also be caused by severe road hazards.
- Worn-out or bald tyres
If your tyres have little or no tread, your car will have poor traction, limited stopping ability and reduced cornering power. You will also be skidding around in poor weather conditions. The shaking is an additional warning that you need to replace your tyres.
- Car rims
Another possible tyre-related reason are your rims. This could be caused by rough driving or hitting large bumps or potholes, causing the rims to bend, damaging your tyre.
- Low rolling resistance tyres
Also known as low profile tyres, this type of tyre is increasingly common on hybrid and EV cars as they reduce drag and resistance, boosting their environmental credentials. However, they are harder than most drivers are used to, and offer less driving comfort as they don’t absorb as many of the imperfections on the road. This means that if your car has low rolling resistance tyres, it could be the reason for the vibrations, but it’s best to check other potential causes.
Source: https://t-tees.com
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