I have got an issue with my car. The wheels shakes..Alignment off..?

Question

The other night, I was driving on the interstate. There was a biker that had stopped right in the middle of the lane, and I had to slam on my brakes. Almost hitting a semi truck, and losing control a bit until i finally came to a stop. I never hit anything. Although, now my wheel shakes when I get over 30-40 miles an hour. And my car makes a funny noise, almost like the tire is gonna fall off. Though its not. Also, it feels like I am constantly going over ruts in the road, no matter what speed I am going. I just want some sort of idea what is wrong, so I know where to take it. If any more details are needed, let me know.

Answer 1

Probably something related to alignment.

Answer 2

probably need to have the tie rod looked at or may need to have an alignment done.  you have to take it to the mechanic.

Answer 3

From what you have said I am guessing you were doing about 60mph and hit the brakes HARD, I am also going to assume you don't have ABS on the vehicle... Sounds to me like you locked up the wheels when braking, This will grind a flat spot on the tire which will then sound like you are driving over ruts, causing vibration and generally driving you nuts. Change the front tires, fit the spare wheel, see if that improves things, jack the car up, put it in neutral and spin the wheel, does the tire look to dip in at any point...

Answer 4

Check to see if maybe you have a bubble on one of your tires.

Answer 5

All the above answers are good answers. You should check your tires balance. It is possible that you lost a balance weight during the sudden stop.

But while they have the tires off to balance them, have then check the tires for knots-to do this properly they need to first check the tires while inflated and them check them again DEFLATED. You will need to watch and see that they actually do it. It is one of those things that a lot of places will try to cut corners on.

While the tire is off the car and deflated, just run your hand around the tire over the tread, if there is something odd or wrong with the tread you will generally feel it. I always try this  first myself and quite often find the problem. The last one was actually on my wife’s car-it was nothing more than a big wad of crack sealer that she had pick up off the road while parked at work.

Something else you might want to look at before going to the shop is the depth of the treads all around the tire. While it is not that common, you can "flat spot" a tire. This is where you have to slam on you brakes suddenly and while doing this you lock up the brakes on a wheel. When the wheel locks up it leaves a long skid mark on the pavement. This mark is nothing but a deposit of the rubber tread that has been scraped of the tire. It the tire is not spinning when the tread is scraped off the tire, then it all comes off the same spot. This causes the tire to be nice and round-except where the tire is missing the rubber-instead you have a "flat spot" that you can feel every time the tire goes around. Flat spotting tires does not happen near as often as it used to because of the new anti-lock breaking systems, but it is still possible. It will also feel EXACTLY as you described.

Good Luck

Answer 6

if the allighment is off your steering whell would be crooked. at least mine was. but sounds to me like you need to have your tire balanced. i hit a pot hole once and the same thing happened with the shaking and c**p.  

Answer 7

Sounds like your lug nuts are loose.  You say the wheel is not about to fall off, but have you checked the lug nuts?  If not that, could be something more serious with the CV axle or brakes.

Answer 8

Out of alignment?  Wheel bearing? Tire lost a weight and is no longer in balance?  Regardless of the cause take it in for repair.  It is unsafe.

Answer 9

most probably wheel alightment since you mention that you did not hit anything

another possiblity is your anti brake lock system is jammed

Answer 10

could very well be the alignment. i would get it checked out by your mechanic or get a diagnostic test done just to make sure.

Answer 11

You may have lost a weight on a tire, but from wot u describe I would guess  the wheel bearing went bad. does it make more noise when u turn the steering wheel? A way to check wheel bearings is to jack the car up and grasping the top and bottom of the wheel and checking for any looseness as you move the tire  in & out.