Autocar Self Repair Guides

If the brake vibration can be felt through the brake pedal or the seat bodywork of the vehicle then it is a rear brake rotor issue. Let me know if you have other questions.

Steering Wheel Vibrations When Braking Fix Youtube

A warped disc means the thickness run out across the face of the rotor differs.

Steering wheel shakes when braking front or rear rotors. The sensation may be felt in the steering wheel and or brake pedal. As such problems with the strut assembly can cause a shaking while braking. If you experience steering wheel shakes it is obviously the front rotors that are at issue.

Finding the location of the shaking is the first step to solving the problem however. Also the easiest way to determine if a warped rotor is in the front or rear is by where you feel the pulsation. The bad shake in the steering wheel can happen for many reasons but generally the unbalanced tires warped brake rotors or faulty suspension system parts are mainly responsible for causing steering wheel shaking.

A brake rotor or disc is the part that is squeezed by brake pads when braking. Run out is a deviation of more than 003 of an inch 08 mm or the thickness of a human hair or variation across a rotor s friction surface or it can be a side to side wobble when looking at the rotor from the front as it rotates. It may only be one of them.

It s generally recommended if you replace the rotors you replace the brakes and grease the guide pins. In most cases this issue is caused by warped or unevenly worn front brake rotors discs although there could be other reasons. Unevenly worn or warped brake discs rotors can cause the steering wheel to shake when brakes are applied.

In some cases worn suspension components can cause a shaking while braking. Dry guide pins worn brake pads and worn rotors. In order from least expensive to most they are.

If it is more in the steering suspect the front brakes. Rotor friction surfaces need to be absolutely flat. If you feel it in the seat or floor suspect the rear.

As the thickness variations on the rotor increase with wear or as the rotors heat up the pulsations intensify and travel through the suspension system to the steering wheel. As the brake pads move over a thinner area of the rotor when stopping the brake pedal will move up and down. Obviously you only need to solve the problem on the rotors that are causing brake vibration and not the other brakes on the vehicle or you could be back to square one with bed in times etc.

There are common problems that cause your steering wheel to shake when you apply the brakes. Additionally it is not necessarily the pair of rotors that are the problem. But to get to the root cause of the problem you will need to analyze that at what particular action you feel the vibration.

Badly rusted rotors can also cause the brake pads to grab or bind when stopping causing the steering wheel to shake violently. For example in a strut style suspension the brake rotor mounts to the steering knuckle which in turn mounts to the strut. A warped or damaged disc brake rotor or out of round brake drum can cause a steering wheel to shake.

If the steering wheel itself is shaking it is more likely to be the front whereas if the whole car and bodywork shakes it will probably be the rear.