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“My car shakes when I hit 60 mph, and I don’t know the cause could be.” Quite many drivers have experienced this scenario – a situation whereby their car vibrates when they hit higher speeds.
Well, this can be caused by different faulty components but not unconnected to your tires, wheels, and braking system.
As little and insignificant as the fuel filter may seem, when it goes bad, it could affect your engine’s performance and also cause vibration – unusual shakes while driving. Well, if you could detect the cause of the shakes early, the repairs would cost less.
However, if you ignore and continue driving your car every day, in its current state, you may end up dealing with a costlier repair.
My Car Shakes When I Hit 60 mph | How To Fix It
If the shakes seem intense and happen frequently as you keep driving, it is best to turn off the car, pull over at a safe place, and call on a mechanic to fix the loose component or replace the broken ones.
It is not safe and advisable to drive when the car shakes constantly. When my car shakes when I hit 60 mph, below are some of the few causes I found:
1. Faulty Braking System
There are a lot of components that make up the braking system in a car. This includes the brake rotors, brake pads, and brake calipers.
These components can break down due to rust or irregular maintenance, and when that happens, one of the signs you’d get is a shuddering/shaking vehicle.
When your brake caliper is bad, your car would shake at high speeds, especially when you try to apply the brakes.
The same scenario is liable to occur when your brake pads or rotors are bad. A faulty brake system can be the reason why your car shakes at 60 mph.
2. Your Tires/Wheels
Many drivers would just inflate their tires and that’s all; they’re not bothered to check for wear or defects, which are likely to happen to tires.
Well, uneven tire wear can cause a car to shake or vibrate at top speeds. In the same way, when your tires are not well-balanced, your car is likely to shake at certain speeds.
Coming to the wheels, when your wheels are not properly aligned, or some of the small components used to fasten the wheel have loosened up, you could experience serious shaking when you drive.
Furthermore, low tire pressure can also cause shaking at top speeds. In fact, when something is not right with your wheels or tires, shaking is quite inevitable especially at top speeds.
3. Clogged Engine Components
The engine in modern cars comprises a lot of components, which include the fuel filter, delivery lines (hoses), and other little stuff.
If the filter gets clogged, it’d restrict the proper flow of fuel into the engine, which could lead to engine misfiring. When an engine misfires, you are likely to experience a shake or vibration.
More so, faulty spark plugs can be the culprit here; since they play an important role in deciding how the engine works.
When the spark plugs are faulty or broken, it could cause the engine to malfunction, and that can also cause vibration.
4. The Axle
Another thing that could cause your car to shake at 60 mph or higher speeds is the axle. If you had previously suffered a collision or an accident with the vehicle, it could be that the axle was not fixed or replaced during the time of repair.
A bad, broken, or damaged axle will affect your wheel balancing, which in turn can cause the shakes you’re experiencing.
Working on axles is a core responsibility of auto mechanics; ignore whatever DIY practices you may have learned online and ensure to have a professional mechanic fix your car’s axle problems.
Conclusion
When next you hear someone say, “My car shakes when I hit 60 mph,” or your own car shakes when you hit such speeds, simply lookout for the possible cause in the areas mentioned above.
If you’re finding it difficult to detect where the error is coming from, use an auto-diagnosis tool and troubleshoot.
More so, it is important to have a maintenance plan and stick to it – that would help to detect minor problems at their early stage so you can fix them quickly before they grow into costlier damages.
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