Since heavy snow fell across the Boston metro area this week, some drivers have been experiencing violent shaking while on the road.
Fred Fox is a service advisor at Audy Auto Center and says people have been calling five to ten times a day with these shaking concerns.
He said the shaking feels intense but what’s causing it is not as bad as it seems.
“It’s mostly from plowing. When they plow the roads, it pushes the snow against the vehicle so if you have open wheel spokes, it’ll pack into the wheel and then ice will freeze inside the wheel. It’s throwing the balance off so much that it’ll shake the entire car,” Fox said.
Fox also explained that just an ounce of snow or ice can throw off the balance of the car, leading to the shaking.
The good news is, what feels like the start of a mechanical nightmare, may just actually mean letting your car sit in the sun for a few hours.
“Ideally a heated garage, that way you’ll get all four wheels at once but if you can alternate sides facing the sun, that’ll also get it done within an hour or so, half-hour per side,” Fox said.
Jilian Young with AAA explained it’s been a while since our area saw a big storm, and with the cold temperatures sticking around, the ice hasn’t had the change to melt, making the issue more persistent and noticeable for drivers.
“If there’s enough sun, or it warms up a little bit during the day, which we haven’t seen much of during this week, that can be enough to just melt the ice and snow out so we had a lot of people feeling like they were crazy when their cars were driving fine in the afternoon,” Young said. “If you were scratching your head during your commute this week, you certainly were not alone.”
Persistent shaking on a vehicle will do harm in the long run so if the issue doesn’t fix itself after a warm up, you’re advised to get it checked out just in case.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW