• NAXJA is having its 18th annual March Membership Drive!!!
    Everyone who joins or renews during March will be entered into a drawing!
    More Information - Join/Renew
  • Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

shaking while breaking...

hangubus

NAXJA Forum User
Location
California
hey i have a 91 lerado, when breaking hard at higher speeds my jeep vibrates really bad. the faster im going and the harder i push the worse. im guessing its the roters? could it be anything else?
 
Yup, your rotors are 'warped' - ie: they have high and low spots... Depending on how thick they are they may be able to be turned. If they are below the machine to specification then new rotors are in order.

*You may be able to find new rotors for less than it would cost to have your current ones turned - if you have friends in the right places...

Will.
 
Just go for aftermarket rotors so you won't have to worry about warping rotors anymore. The more you turn the rotors, the thinner they get, and the faster they will warp when heat is present.
 
I just wanted to bring this back up. My brakes work great at slow to moderate speeds, but I feel a vibration in the steering wheel and the suspension, but not in the brake pedal, when braking at highway speeds. Should I still suspect the rotors?

I just swapped the pads on the front and rotated the tires. Didn't have this problem before doing those things.

TIA
 
frankenstang57 said:
I'd check your ball joints. Worn ones will shake like a @#%$ while braking.

Is just jacking up the front and seeing if your wheels have excessive play a good enough test for ball joints, or do you have to get more technical? Any visual checks I can do?
 
Fish'nCarz said:
Is just jacking up the front and seeing if your wheels have excessive play a good enough test for ball joints, or do you have to get more technical? Any visual checks I can do?

For ball joints, jack up one wheel and put a big lever under the tire. Push up on the wheel, and look for vertical movement in the ball joints, especially the upper. No movement is acceptable. They will usually go up and down a little before they can be seen to wobble in and out.

For braking vibration, check your tie rods too.
 
acrid said:
check it's not a broken caliper bolt, (does it pull to one side?)

Nope, it tracks straight. I still haven't figured it out. I didn't change or turn the rotors, they were working fine. My neighbor thinks that the ceramic pads might have heated them up enough to cause them to warp. Tomorrow I'll put it up in the air and check things out. Gotta go down to the cave and look for my dial indicator!
 
sounds like warped rotors to me, although it's been said before.... i've been using morse ceramics (autozone), but i always replace my rotors (generic) when i do the pads, they wear out about the same time now... they warp because the pad is too small to transfer heat evenly across the braking surface on anything pre-97 (if i recall correctly)... that is when they switched to a dual caliper setup....

good luck... btw, you can usually "see" the warpage, easy to see with a straight-edge against the surface of the rotor...
 
Back
Top