last week on the new jersey turnpike..... in a snowstorm..... at night... my fit began shuddering. pulling over was not an option. when i got to the exit, i was able to identify the problem (which i had already presumed). compacted snow in the wheel well was making contact with the tires.

i've had this issue before with the fit.

my question is, can this issue cause any unseen damage?

once i cleared the snow, all symptoms went away.
but the shuddering of the car, when it was happening, was significant.

 

The last time I had shuddering, the snow was packed into the wheel itself.

For your Fit to shudder with just snow in the well, I'm guessing (clearly, not an expert), that it had more to do with the wheel itself moving up and down a lot. The snow was preventing some upward travel.

While its true that the much of the point of the suspension is move the wheel up and down as needed to keep contact with the road... one has to wonder, is the road actually doing that with constant up and down motion... or is that a sign of something else?

I mean, if the road kinda "wavy," then the only issue is, the suspension gets wear & tear, but is otherwise, normal. Though, maybe if enough people complain, it may get marked for future repaving (and sometimes moved up a priority list).

If the road is flat, but the wheel is doing that anyway, it could be imbalanced. And that you are only noticing it with the snow.

When the snow was packed into my wheel, it created a massive imbalance causing the whole car to shake violently just from the wheel at highway speeds. Took the nearest exit to clear out the snow and all was well again.

 

I vote for snow packed in the wheels throwing one or more of them out of balance. I do that frequently with vehicles that I drive through deep snow and snow drifts like 4WD Blazers and Pick Up trucks. The problem happens more frequently in heavy wet snow rather than the lighter weight fluffy stuff.

If it happens again stop and try brushing the snow out of the insides of the wheels.

 

i get this all the time in my GE when driving in deeper sticky snow. my 09's been running fine since 08. i wouldn't worry about it.

also if one leaves the car parked for some time and snow accumulates on the barrel of the wheel on the inside, that will cause vibration while driving. nothing to really worry about, but if you have a scraper with you, use it to clean it out.

 

thanks for the comments.....
maybe snow was packed in the wheels, but i only saw it in the wheel well.

the problem went away when i knocked the snow out of the well.

it's definitely a wet snow issue, because ive driven in snow many times and the problem has only happened a few times.