Steering Wheel Shakes When Braking

You may take your car in to get a tire rotation, or maybe you just installed new tires, and now you notice excessive tire vibration. How is that possible?  If you had your tires rotated, what could have happened is that you had a slightly bent wheel in the back, and now that has been moved to the front. You may never know if the wheel or rim is bent slightly as long as that tire is in the back. Once you move the tire to the front, you will notice excessive steering wheel shaking.  Oftentimes, car owners may notice steering wheel vibrations after a brake job. Make sure that the rear wheels don’t get moved to the front. Usually, rear wheels that are not balanced get moved to the front during a brake pad replacement and cause steering wheel vibrations.

If you had new tires installed, the cause in most cases is that one of the rear wheels may have been bent a little bit, and now it has ended up in the front with a new wheel. Because the front wheels are connected to your steering wheel, you start to notice vibrations that you wouldn’t notice when the rim was installed in the back. There are also a few cases when a new tire is defective and causes the steering wheel to shake, especially at freeway / high speed. If you had new tires installed, you should take the car back to the shop that installed the tires for reinspection.

Generally speaking, when the steering wheel is shaking, and the condition of the rotors has been ruled out, the problem may be with tires that are out of balance, especially if the shaking or vibration occurs at high speeds between 60-70 mph. When tires are placed on your car, mechanics will put small weights on the inside and outside of the rims to help ensure that the tires are rotating smoothly and in a balanced manner. They put the tires on a special machine that spins them at different speeds and indicates where weights need to be placed. As tires wear further, they may need to be balanced again. Also, sometimes in the event of an accident or some other collision with the tire, the weights can fall off, putting the tires out of balance.
ering wheel shaking at low or high speeds
Generally speaking, when the steering wheel is shaking and the condition of the rotors has been ruled out, the problem may be with tires that are out of balance, especially if the shaking or vibration occurs at high speeds between 60-70 mph. When tires are placed on your car, mechanics will put small weights on the inside and outside of the rims to help ensure that the tires are rotating smoothly and in a balanced manner. They put the tires on a special machine that spins them at different speeds and indicates where weights need to be placed. As tires wear further, they may need to be balanced again. Also, sometimes in the event of an accident or some other collision with the tire, the weights can fall off, putting the tires out of balance.
There are several reasons why tires can become out of balance, which ultimately causes shaking in the steering wheel. These reasons include:
Tires becoming out of round (taking on a more oval rather than perfectly round shape). This happens over time as the tread starts to wear down.
Wear and tear on front-end parts, including wheel bearings, ball joints, axles, etc.
Flat spots on the tire surface can be caused by repeated driving on unbalanced tires, hard braking, or if the vehicle has been sitting for a long time without being driven.
If you have recently driven through a big snowstorm or snowy roads, then snow and slush will likely build up within the wheels. This snow/slush mix can turn to ice if the car is parked overnight, resulting in unbalanced tires. In this case, allowing the ice to melt or knocking the snow chunks out of the wheel parts will solve the problem, and then if the shaking continues, the tires may need to be rebalanced.
Tires out of alignment can cause the car to veer to one side while driving straight and cause uneven tire wear on the inside or outside tread. Uneven tread wear can result in steering wheel vibrations. This is why it is important to get regular tire rotations – it ensures your tire tread will wear down evenly, preventing uneven wear and shaking or vibrating of the steering wheel or vehicle.