I have been noticing that whenever I drive over 55 mph on the highway, my steering wheel and the whole car vibrates. Its not a super violent vibration but it is still noticeable and annoying on long road trips. I noticed it got slightly better when I got new tires but then the vibration came back. Before I got this car, it sat for about a year in a driveway. Is it possible that the rims have flat spots on them? I was wondering what could possibly be causing this issue?
Rims do not go flat. If the tires are new and properly balanced, you need an alignment specialty shop to examine the suspension components for wear and possible replacement.
You can always search Scotty's Youtube channel for videos like these
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKiztI4nE98
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rALfoFe-9-8
Does the steering wheel rock back and forth, or just shudders in place? Hope for something simple.
Few ideas:
- Brake calipers sticking and mildly warped rotors?
- Worn shocks/struts (may cause oscillation at some particular resonance frequency)
- Wheels keep losing balance weights (unlikely)
- bent half-shaft axles. (unlikely, unless some accident)
- If 4WD: u-joints
Does downshifting, but keeping the same speed make a difference? If it does, maybe the transaxle? This includes the "D4" button ON/OFF, if equipped.
BTW, does it matter if you apply the brakes while it's happening? Try to maintain speed.
My steering wheel seems to shudder in place. The vibration seems to get worse at higher speeds where my whole car will vibrate, I can even feel the passenger seat vibrating if I put my hand on it.
I was driving on the highway today and I noticed when I took my hand off the steering wheel my car would slowly drift to the left so I'm thinking it might be an alignment issue.
Could a sticking caliper also cause The car to drift to the left too?
So it turns out the reason my car was drifting to the left was because I was on a highway and there was a slight slope to the left for drainage.
On further inspection it appears the alignment is fine. I do notice that if I don't have my hands on the wheel when I accelerate the steering wheel shakes significantly more. It's still shakes when I'm cruising at 70 mph but it shakes significantly more when I accelerate. Also when I break the steering wheel vibrates a little bit.