My Steering Wheel Shakes at High Speeds - Why?
By Dirk Gibson

You are cruising around 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 person 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 available 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 vehicle and tires, the total area contacting the road may be as little 4 by 4 by 1 inch if you count all four tires. That small contact area will support a car weighing a thousand pounds or more. The key to getting a smooth ride is to making sure the car balances correctly on those four contact areas.

When the balance 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. Either the tire is out of balance or you’ve bent a rim. Let’s take a closer look.

Your tire is made of rubber. How’s that for an obvious 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 simple as low air pressure to a shape change from whacking a pot hole/curb/small tree. When this occurs, the balance 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 correct 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 people 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 enough 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, actually there is - buy a new rim. The problem 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 actually 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 simple 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 costly than fixing a steering system or suspension.

Popping Or Clunking Noise in Front End - Repair Tip Secrets!
By Dennis Bandy 

Finding clunking and popping noises are without a doubt one of the most time consuming jobs an auto technician has to face. Sure some noises just require a simple suspension and steering inspection to find worn bushings, tie rods or ball joints but many other times it’s not that simple. While driving, it’s important to notice when the clank or rattle noise occurs, this will be a clue. If the noise only is heard over bumps, it will most likely be something in the suspension. If the noise is only heard on turns, the problem will most likely be in the steering system.

Creak On Sharp Turns in Parking Lot

The most difficult noise that I had to find was several years ago, it was a creaking noise from the back of the car on sharp turns at parking lot speeds. This car had been to several other shops before I looked at it. Needless to say many parts had been installed without any success of silencing the noise. I first started by checking the torque on ALL of the bolts on the suspension. I knew it wouldn’t be that easy, but you have to start with the basics. By using an electronic listening device I was able to narrow down my search for the creak. It appeared as though it was going to be something with the uni-body. Uni-body noises are more likely to be in cars that were previously wrecked. Since this car was never in an accident, I kept looking. I removed the rear seat and went on another test drive. The noise was louder! Behind where the back seat cushion goes, there was two cross support braces bolted in. This was the problem; one of the bolts was slightly loose, allowing the uni-body to flex just enough on sharp parking lot turns to make the noise. 

Repair Tip Secrets - Look for the Following

1.    Worn bushings, ball joints or tie rod ends.

2.    Rust around bolt heads or washers (accelerated rust may indicate movement).

3.    Check and lubricate steering stops at control arms to steering knuckles. 

4.    Loose items in the car or trunk.

5.    Loose lug nuts.

6.    Loose battery hold down.

7.    Missing exhaust hangers.

8.    Worn motor mounts. 

 Lifetime Lube

Most older vehicles had grease fittings that were lubricated or greased as part of an oil change; that’s why we called it a Lube Oil & Filter. Most steering and suspension parts today are lifetime lubricated. Meaning they are not greased for the duration of their usefulness. If the parts start making noise they are just discarded and replaced. They can be good otherwise, so it’s important to know they don’t have to be worn out or have excessive movement to make noise.