What is the problem with my car?

[schlepsnort]

Ok disboard mechanics, what is the problem with my DH's car?
He has a 04 Dodge Neon, when you accelerate past 59 mph the steering column shakes violently. As long as you do not accelerate past 59 it's perfectly fine, but 60+ the steering wheel shakes really bad and it freaks me out!

Any ideas what could cause this?

Thankfully the roads he takes to work have speed limits below 60!

 

[IWannaBeTink]

Sorry I don't have an answer for you, but I am curious what causes that because I have a Dodge Stratus - mine shakes pretty bad too. Doesn't seem normal, anyway

 

[sunshine1178]

Ok disboard mechanics, what is the problem with my DH's car?
He has a 04 Dodge Neon, when you accelerate past 59 mph the steering column shakes violently. As long as you do not accelerate past 59 it's perfectly fine, but 60+ the steering wheel shakes really bad and it freaks me out!

Any ideas what could cause this?

Thankfully the roads he takes to work have speed limits below 60!

My parents used to have a Corsica that did that, too! I took it on the interstate one day, and at dinner Dad asked me if it was still shaking at 60. I said, "yes, but it smooths out when you hit 85." Not exactly what they wanted to hear from their 16 year old!

If I remember right, getting it aligned solved the problem.

 

[POOHDRMR]

I had that problem on my t-bird and it was something with the alinement.My husband recently bought a used sonata and it happened and it was a wrong sized back tire.Good luck.

 

[DisneygirlTeacher]

I had a Volkswagen that did that years ago (still miss my little bug..lol) It was the shocks that somehow affected the steering column and it would happen when I went over a very bumpy brick road. Got the shocks replaced and it was fine.

 

[pipervali]

It sounds like it's the alignment. Does the wheel pull to one side or the other? Take it to a local garage and they can usually fix it fairly cheap. They'll re-align it and the shaking should stop.

 

[mike_r]

Not a mechanic but when I had a Ford Contour that did the same thing I told my mechanic and all he did was have the front tires rebalanced and it drove great.

 

[Steffi]

My car was doing that, too. It stopped after DH had the tires balanced.

 

[Maddle]

Yes - most likely it is the wheel alignment or the tires need balancing.

Maddle

 

[disneymarie]

Could be as simple as a weight falling off a tire, to needing an alliengment. Do you remember hitting any good potholes, or curbs? Get out of the car stand in front with the wheels pointinf forward and see if any look like they turn inward or out the opp way. Also, I had tires that a belt broke in it and it shimmied when I got some speed on it.

Check the inflation too, Balance and allignment, strut. In order of cost
di

 

[mum4jenn]

Could even be seperating tires. A couple of years ago I had my tires balanced and rotated and then when I got to a certain speed the shaking thing happened to my car as well. I took it back to the tire dealer and it turns out my tires had been recalled and three were seperating so they gave me three new tires and problem stopped.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

Search here: http://forums.neons.org/
Any time I had issues with our 98 neon, I consulted their boards. All are fellow neon owners/drivers.

I remember seeing this posted as a common problem with "1st Gen" neons, but I don't know what the answer is without looking it up. Alignment is probably a good place to start checking, but search or ask over there to get more definitive answers.

 

[Skatermom23]

Have the tires balanced and it should take care of it.