Shaking Of Steering Wheel When Breaking At 50mph +

[sebastor]

Shaking of steering wheel when breaking at 50mph +

below 40mph not at all.

I have recently changed brakes for ceramics and in begining i though that new breaks had to be broken in. But its been few thousand miles and it did not stop. It's not horrible but after all it's lex....i can't have anything annoying going on in my lex so i dealt with it but now i'm kinda getting frustrated.

Are my rotors bent from overheating ? what's the scoop ?

[VMF]

yeah the did, and the bent. go to the shop and have them mashined. do front ones first. it might be enuff. and dont brake hard for first 500 miles

[sebastor]

machined....sound cheap...which is good but who does that ?

what is the proper term for fixing them ....what type of place does that

name ? ...thanx for your help bro

[UCF3]

sebastor:

Take your front wheels off and feel the rotors with a dry towel. If they feel grooved(pad marks) and not warped(bumpy) then they're fine. If they're warped then get them machined. While you're at it check your pads out too. If they're grooved, it's most likely the wheel balance or pressure. Had the same problem on the parent Honda. The ones in the back aren't that important because they do15% of the job.

[SKperformance]

if you feel a shake in the steering wheel when brakeing

then it is the rotors on the front only

feeling a groove will not help as grooves do not cause a pulsation associated with warpage of the rotors

there are 2 possibilities you have warped rotors which only get worse

or

the wheels were not properly seated and torqued causing the wheel to vibrate

you can get tehm machined meaning a small tool bit is held to the edge of the rotor

the machine spins it and cuts off small amounts of metal to return the surface of the rotor to become true or a flat surface again

any shop that does brakes usually have a brake lathe

[VMF]

wheel balancing and pads have nothign to do with that. i had the same problem, the brake pedal kickin back while braking and this is onlyy rotors, nothing else, just get them mashined and dont brake hard for 500 miles.

[bartkat]

The term would be "turning the rotors". Anyone who installs brakes should have a machine to do that.

[VBdenny]

My brother told me that there is a new system where they turn the rotors while they are on the car. Suppose to be better because it gives a perfect balance. You might try to check it out.

[UCF3]

wheel balancing and pads have nothign to do with that. i had the same problem, the brake pedal kickin back while braking and this is onlyy rotors, nothing else, just get them mashined and dont brake hard for 500 miles.

He mentioned that his steering wheel was shaking--not his brake padel. Wheel balance may very well be the problem.

[denvergs300]

I have the exact same problem. Steering wheel shakes when brakes applied at +50MPH. This has also caused my tranny shifter to shake, but that may be due to the transmission mounts issue.

All this happened after hard braking and pulling over the side curb to avoid an accident in rainy weather. This might have knocked my alignment off too and my guess is warped my front rotors. I'll keep everyone posted.

[914lps]

There are only 3 things that can be the cause of this.

Most likely Warped rotors. Could be warped from hard braking or over heating or over torqueing of bolts.

Next would be out of balance or out of round tires. Even with anti-lock braking if you do a panic stop, you can still flat spot a tire. If so, the tire is gone. It can almost never be balanced. If you are real lucky you may be able to find someone that can "shave" the tire back to round.

Last and least likely, the suspension.

[maxed_out]

Agree with prior post. Could be wheel (tire or rim) or suspension-long shot. I suppose a broken belt in the tire could fake us all out. I've seen a broken belt make a flat spot.

You have got to elimate something to get to the bottom. The rotors are easy. Do both sides.

I had same exact thing on my 91LS. Took the rotors off the car and over to midas they machined them and problem gone. In the process I redid the pads too. I'm kinda fussy so I re-lubed the slides (sorry dont know the tech term) that allows mechanism to move laterally. Found out that anti-seize works good for that, in and around the pins. They have a rubber seal so I cleaned that up too.

Maxed

PS only problem with the rotors if you find out they are too thin and you need new ones and they can cost $.

Anybody try slotted rotors and see a difference?

[cruznroadking]

If the steering wheel shakes only when applying the brakes it's the rotors. Before you have them turned be sure to measure them with a micrometer to see if they are within factory thickness. If they are too thin they need to be replaced. Rotors that are too thin do not dissipate heat well & will cause brake fade when they get hot.

[nc211]

Can a rotor get so bad that it will graze the pad when the car is moving? And if so, would the effect be worse at slower speeds? I'm trying to pin point a wobble, of which I'm sure most of you wish I would just shut up about! The slower the car, more noticable the wobble. It goes away at highway speeds, but 40 and below, it's there, and especially in a turn. So, can a rotor get so bent out of shape that will actually hit the pad in travel? Is this rare if possible?