If you are driving on the highway and suddenly feel that your car is swaying at a certain speed, you should react immediately because it is a symptom of several unpleasant problems that can affect the safety of your vehicle.
In short, a wobbly car on the highway may mean you have problems with wheel alignment, wheel balancing, tire quality or condition, or some suspension problem. Also, the problem can be caused by incorrect tire pressure or bad wheel assembly. There are other problems as well. And I will try to cover all the most common reasons in this article.
Today I’m going to tell you why your car may be shaking on the highways and, most importantly, what exactly you can do to get it running smoothly again. I will tell you how to quickly road check your car and understand what is causing this bad problem.
The most common reasons why your car shakes on the highways
When driving around town we usually don’t go over 30-35 MPH and the car can be quite smooth although it can have some issues. But when you hit the highway and go over 50 MPH, all the problems come out and start to bother you, making your driving quality that much worse.
A shaky car is one of the fairly common symptoms that you should not ignore. In most cases, this could mean that your vehicle is experiencing one of the following problems:
1. Wheel alignment problem
Wheel alignment defines the position of your wheels and how they touch the road. If the alignment is optimal, the tire will touch the road with the entire working surface. But if there is an alignment problem, the wheel may lean slightly.
While this may feel fine in city traffic, you’ll definitely feel the wobble when you’re on the highway. When the speed increases, the wheel literally starts to shake from side to side and at some point it turns into a certain vibration.
It is almost impossible to see with the naked eye if a toe or wheel has been hit in your vehicle. You should plan to visit a workshop that can align car wheels and check it with special equipment.
But first, let’s look at some other possible reasons for a wobbly car.
2. Tire balancing problems
Unbalanced tires are another common cause of this problem. The problem is more or less the same as with badly aligned wheels. Your wheel has small weights on the inside of the rim. These weights are used to optimally balance the entire wheel and let it rotate without any vibration.
These wheels attach to the wheel when you change the tires. Sometimes small weights can fall off the steering wheel and the tire becomes unbalanced. This means that the wheel starts to vibrate at higher speeds.
Solving this problem is easier than wheel alignment. Just go straight to your nearest tire shop and let the professionals rotate your wheels to see if everything is in order. This is not that expensive and tire rotation should be done at least once a year.
3. Damaged wheel or tire
After hitting a pothole or two, your tire or rim can be damaged. A bent hoop will obviously lose all of its perfect alignment and begin to wobble. Tires can get various types of damage including lumps on them. These lumps can get quite large and will only get in the way of your smooth ride.
After hitting a curb or pothole in the road, carefully inspect your wheels to make sure there is no damage. Notice the inside of the wheel which is hard to see. Sometimes you’ll even want to loosen those wheel bolts to take the wheel off and see what happened to it.
Damaged tires are no longer good for use. If you want to buy a new tire, remember that the best solution is to buy at least two tires and replace them on the axle. If the set of tires is quite old, it is better to buy four new tires.
Rim damage can sometimes be repaired. The only problem that doesn’t need fixing is a cracked rim. If you see cracks, it is better to replace the rim with a new one.
4. Nesprávný tlak v pneumatikách
It’s quite obvious that tire pressure affects the quality of your ride. Regular pressure checks are extremely important. If you have TPMS in your car, just activate it and check if there is a problem with one of the wheels when your car starts to wobble on the highway.
If you don’t have a TPMS, use a wheel compressor that has an air gauge. You can try asking other drivers for help if you don’t have a tire compressor in your car.
But if the wheel looks fine and doesn’t look straight, you can keep driving slowly until you get to the next tire service. They will use professional pressure gauges to see if there is a problem.
If your tire continues to lose pressure after adding a compressor, the problem may be with the tire itself. Again, you should go to a tire shop and they will check it thoroughly and even repair the tire if necessary.
5. Loosen the wheel bolts
You’ll feel that your wheel bolts are loose long before you hit the highway, but this problem is still worth checking out. If one of the bolts on your wheels is loose, the wheel will start shaking like crazy.
You can easily check this yourself. In every vehicle there is a wheel wrench in the trunk, just under the floor covering. Take the wrench and try to tighten the wheel bolts. They are usually attached so tightly that you can’t even move them with just the strength of your hands. If you can, a particular wheel bolt is obviously loose. Pull it as tight as you can with your hands.
The next step is to drive slowly and carefully to a tire shop or garage and check all the bolts with a torque wrench.
6. Problémy se zavěšením
Another problem that can cause a rocking problem is a broken suspension part. If your suspension isn’t right, it can go crazy in a lot of different ways, including swaying on highways.
Among the suspension parts that can fail are the rack, spring, hub, suspension link, some bushings, steering rods, tie rod ends, stabilizer bar, etc. they will have to decide if it is safe to drive on. In any case, if you decide to drive, do it slowly and carefully.
Your next destination should be a workshop where you can inspect the vehicle.
What should you do if you feel a shaky car on the highway?
So, I recommend the following steps when you find that your car is wobbling at high speed:
- First of all, find a safe place and stop your vehicle immediately to avoid any loss of control and possible collisions.
- Take your time and review everything you can using the list of possible issues above.
- If you’ve found a problem, decide whether it’s safe to drive until you get to the nearest shop or not.
- If you can’t locate the problem, try driving the car carefully.
- Register that speed when you feel the rocking of the car.
- Drive much slower than you start swinging and be very careful — drive on the right side of the road.
- Plan a visit to a service workshop or tire shop near you.
- If you feel that driving is dangerous (lose traction or steering), stop the car immediately and call a tow truck.
You should not drive your car even at a very low speed if you suspect it is unsafe. The best solution in this case is to call a tow truck and have your vehicle safely towed to a dealership or a certified workshop. This will allow you to save your life and health, as well as save your car from a traffic accident.
How much does it cost to fix a wobbly car?
It is difficult to estimate how much you will pay for the repair, in this case. If the problem is a poorly rotated wheel, it will only cost you a few dollars to fix it. While a suspension problem can cost several hundred dollars.
But, in most cases, it won’t cost you a fortune to fix a wobbly car on the highway. Just go to a tire shop or service center and ask them how much they will charge for the job you are looking for. In any case, DIY repair is not appropriate here.
The condition of your wheels and tires is extremely important for a smooth and safe ride. This means that you should fix this problem as soon as possible.
