Many factors could make your car shake at high speed. Shaking at high speed is a common sign (often among the first warning signs) that will develop to bigger (very expensive) problems. If not diagnosed and fixed earlier on.
Your car shakes when driving over 70 mph, which is different from whenever the car shakes when accelerating low speed. Therefore, you’d want to know when exactly the vibration happens, so you can trace who’s to be blamed, and fix it on time.
What if your car shakes at high speed? Low speed? On idle? Constant speed? Or does the vehicle vibrate when braking? The causes of vibration are a myriad at every phase.
Where do you diagnostic? In this article, we’ll discuss what causes vibration in the car, and how to fix it.
What causes a car to shake at high speed?
Unbalanced tires, loose lug nuts, bent inner CV joints, lousy spark plugs, a bad engine mount, a damaged CV axle, and a disconnected vacuum hose are some common culprits.
#1. Unbalanced tires.
If you drive on new tires and feel vibration at high speed, blame it on an imbalance. Imbalanced tires will make you feel uneasy in the cockpit. Cruising along through town at a leisurely pace, the tire might feel slightly out of character.
But as you let your baby ride fly down the road like a beast, the vibration would ramp up. As the wheel spins fiercely, the shaking will get worse until the steering wheel begins to vibrate.
If you feel this vibration at a steady speed and notice that it feels worse when tearing at high speed, then bad tires might be the issue.
#2. Loose lug nuts.
This is another common problem that occurs most often after having a mechanic’s shop do work on the vehicle. If you, a technician or whoever, forget to torque the wheel nuts, after replacing parts or doing maintenance on the suspension it’ll cause a minor, or worse, a significant wheel wobble. It’s like the whole vehicle is shaking.
If you don’t tighten the lug nuts on time, they can loosen up and fall. This can turn catastrophic and can lead to a collision. You surely don’t want this to happen. After you’ve tightened your vehicle wheels cross-check the lug nuts prior to setting out. Make sure the size you used is the correct one.
Use a torque wrench to tighten wheel lug nuts to the specifications of the manufacturer. If you won’t use a torque wrench, a sizeable socket, and ratchet or the vehicle’s wheel spanner will do just fine. Don’t overlock the lug nuts so it’s easy to remove the next time.
#3. Bent or damaged inner CV joint.
Each axle there are two CV joints. The inner and the outer CV joints. When the inner front CV joints wear off, the front end of the car vibrate at high speeds.
A failed or damaged back inner CV joint will also vibrate at the vehicles rear end. If ignored, the little shakes will become violate shakes.
One common cause of CV joint failure is worn boots. The CV joint boots prevent water and dirt from getting inside the axle. When the boots tear, it allows water and contaminants to wash out the grease on the axle.
The grease prevents metal-on-metal contact and provides a smoother ride. If there is little or no grease on the CV joints, it will cause it to fail.
#4. Lousy spark plugs.
Dirty/fouled spark plugs can cause engine misfires. If your car vibrates when idle, this problem can be traceable to foul or dirty plugs. It can also make the vehicle vibrate when you are driving.
If you haven’t changed the is spark plug for a long time, maybe this is just the right time to clean or change it. Whichever way you go – as in cleaning it or changing to a new one, do it for all the plug.
If you remove one and it looks okay, don’t stop there. Chances are that it may be oil leaks on well, other plugs are damaged or dirty.
#5. Stuck brake caliper.
A sticking, stuck brake caliper could make your vehicle vibrate. With this, you won’t feel the vibration itself. But the vibration will be noticeable on the steering wheel as you throttle the car to 40-50 mph.
As you give more gas to the vehicle, the steering wheel will keep vibrating. The wheel may emit burning-like smells.
If you suspect a sticking brake, sniff all the wheel in turn to detect which one is emitting burning-like smell it. You may see it causing some little smoke at the caliper area. Don’t touch the wheel with your bear hands or the skin may burn off them.
Brushing and lubricating Caliper pins, sandpapering rotor, cleaning brake components may be some of the things you may need to fix this problem.
#6. Broken engine mount.
The main role of engine mounts is to assist in connecting the engine to the body of the vehicle. Another function is to serve as a damper. This means that they reduce vibration of the vehicle such that drivers and passengers won’t rude on constant vibration when traveling.
A broken engine mount causes a vibration in the car seat at highway speed. It can even cause misalignment on other parts since the weight of the engine is not properly resting where it is supposed.
Faulty engine mounts can cause shakes in the car at low speed but not high. The shaking becomes worse when you speed up the vehicle since the engine is working harder.
Whenever one engine mount fails, the other ones are left to compensate by carrying the load of the vehicle. This would cause them to break in no time. The car owner would notice the damage when one engine mount has broken. Sometimes damage of the engine mount affects that of the transmission.
#7. Bent Axle.
An axle is a strong piece of metal. Strong doesn’t necessary mean the metal is invincible and cannot bend.
If you hit a big rock or were involved in a minor accident, the axle can bend. When such situations arise, don’t assume that everything is A-okay as damage can occur undetected until it begins to present nasty little problems.
A bent axle will create a noticeable vibration when cruising at around the 40-50 mile per hour mark. When the vehicle speeds up, the vibration will worsen. Ignoring the issue and leaving it will cost you dearly in related damage.
#8. Bent driveshaft.
Driveshaft, aka propeller shaft, sends power from the front wheels to the back wheels. Rear-wheel drive (RWD), all-wheel-drive (AWD) or four-wheel drive (4WD) cars feature driveshaft.
These parts can bend in time, shaking the car when accelerating at slow speeds. The vibration will grow as you step on the gas and get worse as the car bursts out speed on the road.
A worn-out spacer bearing on the driveshaft joints could be causing this problem. And a worn-out bearing is often why technicians replace a complete driveshaft.
#9. Disconnected or torn vacuum hose.
A dented or ripped vacuum hose can cause air leaks that will send the wrong signal to the various car sensors.
Over all these sensors will forward this false signal to the computer in the car, which will try to correct by altering the air/fuel ratio mixture. This results in car backfires, misfires in the engine, loss of engine power etc.
Rich or lean running of the engine is something you do not want to experience. That’s why you need to make sure the engine runs with the correct air/fuel mixture.
How do you fix a shaking car at high?
Since drivers experience car vibration at a high speed for a myriad of reasons, the possible ways to solve these problems are just as numerous. Here we will spell out some of the ways to stop vibration at highway speed.
#1. Get a wheel balance.
This one is simple – if you don’t mind going to a mechanic/alignment shop that will then put the imbalanced wheel/tire on a balancing machine.
#2. Tighten loose lug nuts.
This is another easy fix that you can do without visiting the mechanic’s shop. Just roll your car over onto a good flat patch of pavement. Block off two wheels with wedges and go to cross-checking the lug nuts with the torque wrench.
Torque the vehicle to the manufacturer’s spec or if you don’t have an available torque wrench, use the vehicle wheel spanner. Definitely don’t tighten too hard because you risk the lug studs in this case.
#3. Replace defective or failed inner CV joints.
As we said above, one of the causes of bad inner CV joints that will give rise to DV is the presence of torn CV joint boots. The only cure for this would be to replace the affected joint with new boots.
#4. Clean or replace spark plugs.
A fouled or dirty spark plug is like a drunk on the steering wheel. It will not give out the spark that is needed to keep the engine thrumming as it should. Get this problem sorted out by cleaning those old sparking plugs or having them changed for new ones.
#5. Service calipers.
If the inspection shows that it is indeed your calipers that are to blame for the shakes at the highway, then it follows that it may also be the point to service the caliper by cleaning it, as well as smoothing the pistons.
Begin by checking the caliper pins and see that they are working as they should. The next thing is going for a new caliper and assembly.
#6. Replacement of broken engine mount.
Most engine mounts are not worth repairing. But you can repair some of them by not changing the bushing inside the side.
Once you discover a broken engine mount, you want to ride straight to a mechanic shop. I prefer to take off all the engine mounts and to inspect them on the floor.
Two have damage, for example, out of 3. In inspection, you can only identify 1 that is broken. When you have come down and have closer view, you will see how many are defective. Don’t wait too long to replace the mounts that have chips that are not deep on them.
#7. Straighten or replace bent axle.
A car axle is relatively expensive; therefore, if you suspect one, ride it straight to mechanic shop and properly straighten or replace it.
#8. Replace bent driveshaft.
Rarely does a driveshaft bend, unless, of course, the pressure is significant during a collision. The problem however with those parts is the spacer bearer on the joints.
Normally, those components aren’t designed to survive the life of a vehicle, so they are termed not durable; they are bound to fail; once they do, go get new ones and replace.
#9. Replace torn vacuum hoses.
The easiest shin to fixing this problem is to trace where leak teem from, and rejoining or replacing it.
FAQs.
Q: Why does my car shake at 70 mph?
There are several reasons a vehicle could shake at 70 miles per hour. Maybe it’s an uneven tire wear, unbalanced tire, worn-out driveshaft bearing, bad brakes components, and a host of other reasons.
However, the common reason cars shake at higher speeds [within 70 mph and above] is unbalanced wheel tires. The tires have scalloped or cupped wear pattern on them.
These issues usually arise after installing new tires. It also happens after hitting bridge expansion joints, potholes, curbs.
If the shaking is felt on the floor and seat, you’ve got unbalanced rear wheel tires. If there is a vibration on the steering wheel you’ve got unbalanced front wheel tires.
Q: What does it mean when your car shakes at a certain speed?
Typical reasons vehicles shake at certain speeds would be traceable to imbalanced tires, suspension issues, loose steering components, engine or brakes problems.
Sound like there are many reasons? The above sections explained the cause of the vibration at different speeds and how to fix them.
Q: Can a bad alignment cause a shake?
Components of the vehicle suspension system work in perfect synergy to keep the tires aligned, helping them adapt to different road pavement conditions.
As the tire rides on different road pavements, over time, rough driving, road turbulence, and road hazards can cause the tires to rest at skewed angles or go out of Alignment.
So, back to the question, “can a bad alignment cause a shake?” Even slight alignment issues can result in car shakes or vibrations.
Aside from these, alignment issues can cause mistakenly accelerated and uneven tire wear. An alignment service can resolve this problem and its symptoms.
q: Why is my car wobbling?
Suspension problems and unbalanced tires are the most common causes of vehicle wheels wobbling. For an ominous sign, these could cause the vehicle to run into a collision.
If the wobbling is so evident that you can sense it from the steering wheel and you find it hard to keep driving in a straight lane, the vehicle can leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere. You need to visit a mechanic shop.
Some of the things that make a car to wobble include misaligned suspension; damaged suspension; Loose lug nuts; Unbalanced wheels,
Q: Does a bad tie rod cause a shake?
One of the telltale signs of a bad tie rod is car shaking or vibration feeling in the steering wheels. And you’ll hear rattling and clunking noise from the wheels especially on slow speed moves.
This sound is a protrusion of a failing tie rod. The tie rod will break free emitting obnoxious loud rattling noises.
A tear in the tie rod dust cover can also cause rattling noise, shaking, and vibration feeling. This is a sign that we have to check on the tie rods and replace them if need be.
Q: How much does it cost to fix car shakes at high speeds?
This depends on what the culprit is. If we’re so lucky it’s simply a wheel alignment or tire that needs balancing. So it’s just a matter of ‘all’ the few bucks to get that fixed.
If it’s tire related then $20 should fix it, something like a very bad engine mount will cost you anything between $200 and $600 to fix it. The actual repair cost depends on what the origin of the problem is.
Final words
A car vibrating at high-speed is not good, even if it’s an old car. If your car shakes at high speeds, then you need to brace yourself for the impending problems in the vehicle. You should fixate on the speed at which you can cruise the car, if only to solve a problem.
Fix it the moment you notice it. Quickly check out the causes we’ve outlined in this article and do as we say to rectify it. If you do not have the slightest idea of the underhold working principles, seek professional help.