Steering Wheel Vibrations: What can be the Causes?
Do you have the impression that your steering wheel is shaking when you are driving? Do not worry, this is a fairly common problem, but not trivial, usually due to a fault or wear in the steering or undercarriages. But how do you know what to change? Follow this article to find out what is wrong with your car right away!
Parallelism Fault:
In the event of a parallelism fault, it is necessary to check and correct the front axle alignments. If the fault persists, the result is rapid and abnormal wear of the tires, but also poor functioning of the steering components. On the other hand, a lack of parallelism results in random handling.
The easiest way to spot a parallelism defect is to check the wear of your tires, if they are only worn on the outer or inner edge, for example, this means that there is indeed a lack of parallelism. and that your tires are not parallel to each other or that they are not perpendicular to the road.
In order to correct the parallelism, all you have to do is remove the wheel and then unscrew the ball joint nut located at the level of the shock absorber. The patella must then be adjusted by turning it towards the inside or the outside of the arm, depending on the correction to be made. Then all you have to do is reassemble the wheel and check the parallelism again, making sure that the flywheel is correctly positioned.
Poor Wheel Balance:
The factors that can cause vibrations in a car are many and varied, but often the problem is simply poor wheel balancing. In this case, to locate the origin of the vibrations, all you have to do is drive at a sufficient speed to feel the vibrations: if they come from the steering wheel, the front wheels must be balanced. If they are felt in the seat, it is the rear wheels.
For a wheel to be balanced, it is necessary that the mass is perfectly distributed around the axis of rotation, that the center of gravity of the wheel is at the center of the axis of rotation.
Riding with one or more poorly balanced wheels is not only detrimental to comfort. Some mechanical parts wear out due to this defect, in particular the parts that make up the suspension and steering, or the wheel bearings, which are subjected to intense and constant shaking. Furthermore, the rubber of the tire can also suffer from poor balancing.
Unfortunately, rebalancing a tire is not something you can do alone at home, it is mandatory to have a very precise balancer. Thus, this correction can only be done at the garage.
Deflated Tires:
If one or more of your tires is deflated or punctured when you are driving, it is very likely that this is the reason why your steering wheel is shaking. Indeed, a deflated tire causes vibrations throughout the running gear and which can reach the steering of the car and therefore the steering wheel. To solve the problem, nothing could be simpler, just change the faulty tire (s) .
