Have you ever experienced your rear-wheel-drive vehicle start vibrating every time are using the accelerator pedal? If you wonder, what could be the reason behind, then here are the reasons we got to know from the experts with whom we had a chance meet at the Chevrolet Smelterville. They explained the two major causes of vibrations while accelerating or decelerating, especially in the rear-wheel drive vehicles.
Firstly it is because of the tires and the wheels that sometimes get off balance in rear-drive vehicles, and the other is, worn out u-joints. Universal joints or U-joints are components that allow the vehicle suspension to travel up-and-down as the road go down especially in a rear-drive vehicle. Although these parts don’t come with a definite lifespan, and usually carry through the lifespan of the car, with years of usage, they too can wear items off and need to get replaced.
In such cases, when these joints become loose or broken, or if the suspension components have started wearing off, they can also cause the car to vibrate during acceleration or deceleration.
How to Deal with an Out of Balance Wheel
If the tires and wheels of your vehicle are not balanced properly, like, if a wheel has lost some weight, it can cause vibration to the vehicle and if left unnoticed, it can get worse in the near future. Hence, one has to keep checking both the sides of the wheels of the vehicle to know if any weight is going missing.
U-Joints and their Roles
U-joints that are shaped like crosses connect the transmission or the rear end/differential to the driveshaft. The tip end of the cross that are finely ground out and polished are made to fit them inside the cups. These cups are usually lined up with small vertical rods called that are called needle bearings that help the caps to rotate mostly on the polished ends of the u-joint during the rotation of the driveshaft. As a result we see the vehicle moving up and down on the road.
In some cases you might see that the u-joints are sealed, while many others com with a grease fitting that needs to be greased on regular basis. Sometimes even after proper maintenance, these parts can fail because of long time usage. In such case, the u-joints exhibit a lack of lubrication that further make the needle bearings start wearing off. If this is what is happening with your cat, then the polished part of the U-Joints can start bouncing around and inside the cup causing the car vibrate as and when the car moves up and down.
Other Symptoms
The experts we met at the Chevrolet dealership Smelterville concluded that if the concerned car runs on an automatic transmission, there is a chance of u-joints wearing off early, if the early symptoms are ignored. Those early symptoms include a “clunk” sound each time the driver is shifting into the first gear or the vice versa. The only way out in such condition is to step off the gas pedal, slow down the car and pull aside, and check out if the wheels are in god shape.