car shakes when I brake?

bigcletus94

Registered User
I dont get it. I installed all new pads and rotors recently and it still surges when I hit the brakes. It is mostly noticeable on the freeway. I thought that it must have been my rotors that were warped and that was causing it to shake but after replacing them with all new ones, it didn't really help at all. After doing the same brake job on my mustang, it stops smoothly now. What else could be the problem? Thanks.
 
Have you checked your upper and lower control arms? I had the same problems with changing out the rotors and pads with lil success. I'm changing lower control arms tomorrow, so I will post the result then!

Calvin
 
There's never any guarantee the rotors you bought were "true". If they aren't stocked properly, they can warp on the shelf. Did you have them checked for runout? I have purchased new rotors, stuck them on the car and had the same problem, and I had to go get them cut. I have also purchased new rotors that have been perfectly true, so...it's a crapshoot. If you have a dial indicator, you can find out for yourself.

That's my first guess, you could also have a caliper that's binding a bit. Good luck.

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Another thing is to check things such as ball joints, ect.

Jack up the front of your car and put on jackstands so that the front wheels are off of the ground. Then, with keys in ignition, turn whell 1/4 to3/4 turn then take keys out of ignition and turn steering wheel back so that the steering wheel locks in place. This may take a couple of tries, but the goal is to get your front tires pointing relatively straight ahead. (You want you steering wheel locked so that when you check for excessive play, you are not fooled by the wheels moving.)

Right, now try to wiggle the each wheel side to side and up and down. There shouldn't be any clunking or feeling like something is slipping when you do this. You can also get in there with a prybar and see if there is excessive play in the control arm points of pivot and attachment.

I would not be surprised if it was your balljoints starting to go. If the car gives a pulsing feeling, then it is probably a caliper binding or a rotor warped, but if it feels like the car is trying to do a little hop, then I would suspect the ball joints.
 
thanks for all of the tips. It definately feels like a pulsing; i have been in cars with warped rotors (my mustang for one) and this is exactly how it felt. The vibration shakes the steering wheel through out as well. I was just surprised that the new rotors didn't help any. I got them for 25 bucks a piece from a local parts store and maybe I should put a indicator on them to see how true they are. thanks again!
 
Did you clean them before you installed them? I put on 2 brand new made-in-china-bought-from-Autozone rotors last summer and cleaned them with brake parts cleaner before installation. Even then, the one on the right had a small almost invisible patch of oil/dirt/crud buried deep down in the almost microscopic grooves which caused a noise from the right front. It took 3 tries with a steel brush on a dremel tool and lots of brake parts cleaner to get that spot cleared up.

Hope this helps.
 
Also, you may want to check the inner tie rods, when those are loose or need to be replaced, you will get the same result as if it the rotors were bad! Trust me, it just fixed my problem.

I have replaced both rotors, the upper and lower control arms, outer and inner tie rods, which cure my shaking while braking.

Just a thought!

Calvin
 
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bigcletus94 said:
how much were the inner and outer tie rods? Was it a pain to install?
I believe I paid 30USD for both inners.....and around 50USD for the outer pair from AdvancedAuto......as far as how easy, I cheated and used a car lift.....but that way was very simple. Even if you use jack stands, it shouldn't be any more than 1hr to do the whole job with some working knowledge of the suspension components. Remember once you finished this job, you will need an aligment!

Cheers,
Calvin

[Edit] If I had a chance to do the inner over again, I would have bought a ReMan steering rack which includes the inner tie rods for around 125USD Shipped![/Edit]
 
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