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Steering Wheel Shaking While Applying Breaks

S

SamSVT18

CEG'er
Joined
Nov 25, 2007
Messages
326
Location
Puyallup WA
Hey, im pretty sure this is may breaks, but i just wanted to hear what you guys thought... So while driving my CSVT my steering wheel wobbles some what, but when i apply my breaks the wheel begins to jerk violently:eek: :eek: :eek: scaring the *@#%($ OUT OF ME! lol but it feels as if a wheel is completely almost falling off! ... i have checked my lug nuts and they arent the problem... so im guessing that i need to get my breaks checked and possibly have my disks checked out. what do u think?:help: :help: :help: :help: :help:
 
If you steering wheel shakes while moving with out applying the brakes, you have an alignment issue.

When you press the brakes and it shakes violently, you have warped brake rotors. You need to have them turned/replaced. Looks like a time for drilled and slotted!:laugh:
 
Check your front control arm bushings. If the rear of the two bushings is really bad, it will cause the brake shake like that. Otherwise, you have something grossly wrong that you should be able to see visually.

And don't waste your money on drilled or slotted rotors on a street car.
 
If they are that bad, then don't bother getting them turned, just replace them. Remember, rotors are almost never warpped. It's just a generic term.
 
Matt R said:
If they are that bad, then don't bother getting them turned, just replace them. Remember, rotors are almost never warpped. It's just a generic term.
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Maybe not for our platform, but rotors do warp.. for example the Intrepid is notorious for warping rotors.
 
morbid said:
Maybe not for our platform, but rotors do warp.. for example the Intrepid is notorious for warping rotors.
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It still isn't actually WARPED rotors, generally its uneven wear, leading to a variation in disc thickness. It takes a ridiculous amount of heat and offset pressure to warp a cast iron rotor. Plus, think about it, if the rotor was only warped, you wouldn't get the pulsation in the pedal that people feel that they call warped rotors. Think about how the piston and caliper body slide together.
 
Big Jim said:
Much more likely to be a WHEEL BALANCE issue than an alignment issue.
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It could be, but generally wheel balance issues show up at speed as well and not only under braking. My money still says control arm bushing.

Edit - doh, just reread the OP, and it could be wheel balance, even a bent wheel, but I'd still bet on the control arm bushing if there is no visual damage to the wheels.
 
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Rara said:
It could be, but generally wheel balance issues show up at speed as well and not only under braking. My money still says control arm bushing.

Edit - doh, just reread the OP, and it could be wheel balance, even a bent wheel, but I'd still bet on the control arm bushing if there is no visual damage to the wheels.
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I agree that it is most likely the bushing issue that he has identified. I was only addressing the "alignment" issue. Don't forget that lateral imbalance (not the more common radial imbalance) can cause a side to side shake that shows up at a much lower speed than a radial imbalance. This kind of shake is common when tires are worn into the cord or when there is a bent wheel.

Alignment won't, in and of itself, cause a shake with the very rare exception of extremely excessive positive caster on some steering designs. Even then, it often takes worn tie rods or worn control arm bushings to trigger it. I still have not figured out how Mercedes (and the Chrysler 300 group) controls it with their extremely high factory caster settings (about 10 to 12 degrees).
 
So ive had my alignment checked already and they said it was fine... but im also hearing some squeaking when i apply, and dont apply the breaks... so maybe it is the rotors and they are catching? or the break pads themselves?:shrug: :shrug: :shrug:
 
A dragging brake on a disc brake is an indication of a caliper sticking. It may be the piston, of just the pad not properly sliding when released due to sticky caliper slide pins or rusted channels (or unlubricated channels) where the pad backing plate slides across the caliper.

On a drum brake it might be a sticking wheel cylinder or the lube where the shoe contacts the backing plate all dried up.
 
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