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The first winter I ever drove in, circa 2004, I crashed my RX-7 into a snowbank. After a kind passerby pulled me out and we confirmed the car wasn’t bent or bleeding, I got rolling again, only to find the steering wheel vibrated like crazy. I got the thing into a buddy’s garage, and we found no damage—but the wheels were completely packed with snow. So much so that it’d thrown off the tire balancing. It was resolved with a little cleaning.
If you woke up to a lot of snow today and thought your car felt a little shaky or just “off” on your way to work this morning, there’s a good chance a clump of ice is caught in a wheel and refusing to melt. It doesn’t take much weight at all to throw off a wheel’s balance—when they put your tires on at a tire shop, the weights they use can be as tiny as a quarter-ounce. You can easily have an ice clump weighing more than that stuck in a wheel after a storm.
This isn’t like a “do this or your car’s gonna crash” kind of scenario, and there was no real harm done if you already drove a little with some snow stuck in a wheel. However, you also don’t want your tires to be off-balance, especially in winter when driving’s already a little more taxing than usual.
You’re much more likely to notice an imbalance in the front wheels, but check them all for optimal performance. Often, snow stuck in wheels will just melt before you can notice any change in driving behavior. But at least where I’m at in NY, it’s not supposed to get over 30 Farenheight for a while, so I’m guessing I’ll have to do my own wheel-cleaning. Our BMW F31 has already been out once today, and I can see some snow is still stubbornly clinging to at least one wheel (which inspired me to write this PSA).
One last thing: I’d recommend a thick work glove for wheel snow clearing. I really like yellow ones like this, myself—in fact, it’s good to keep a pair of something like that in your car all the time. They also come in handy in summer, for picking up turtles that take too long crossing the road (comically common scenario in my neck of the woods).
If you cram your snow duster into your wheels, it might pick up little rocks that could get transferred to your paint or windshield next time you go to clean the top of the car off. Wheels are always filthy, so work carefully and gingerly if you’ve got a nice jacket on.
Got any other good winter driving tips (or wild snow stories)? Leave a comment or hit me up at andrew.collins@thedrive.com
Automotive journalist since 2013, Andrew primarily coordinates features, sponsored content, and multi-departmental initiatives at The Drive.
