Why can I feel vibration through my steering wheel?

It's not uncommon for us to receive a phone call from a customer in one of our covered areas explaining they are experiencing vibration through their steering wheel. There can be many reasons for this, a few of which are explained below.

Reasons for vibration through your steering

Defect tyres

If your tyres have been wearing unevenly this could cause vibrations and cause the car to pull more to one side. The reason for this uneven wear could have come from misaligned wheels or incorrectly inflated tyres. We offer a fully mobile Wheel Alignment service here at Hometyre and are able to carry it out at your home, work or any location of your choice, saving you a lot of money in the long run!

The tyre shown below was the result of a customer having worn the inside edge of their tyre down to the wire and chords, rendering the tyre illegal under current UK legislation , this is incredibly dangerous for both the driver and other motorists on the roads.

Not only could this have led to a blowout and a potential accident but if she was found with this level of, or lack of, tread, it may result in up to a £2,500 fine and 3 points on their license for EACH tyre in this condition.

InnerEdgeOfTyre

Wheel Balancing

Wheel Balancing - our mobile tyre fitting vans have full balancing capabilities, they are fitted with computerised electronic wheel balancers, and it is done by applying weights to the wheel to even out any uneven distribution of weight. In the wheel rim and tyre Failure to balance will often result in vibration through the steering wheel so is a good place to start!

At this time of year with the temperatures dropping, your balancing weights have an increased chance of coming loose if the wheels had not been cleaned properly which results in the adhesive not sticking correctly, therefore when it's colder they could possibly fall off causing the weight of the wheel to be unevenly distributed.

Damage to the wheels

If there are cracks, breaks or bends in the rim this could also cause the cars transmission to detect vibration, this is something that would need to be fixed immediately. If you continue to drive on the damaged rim it will not only cause damage to the tyre but can affect the suspension and potentially the body work of the car.