Car shakes when braking?

Jaswir · Sep 14, 2005

Just got all my tires balanced to see if i could get my car to stop shaking when applying the brake... its just the steering wheel that shakes and not the car... unless it shakes bad... havent had a alignment done in awhile but i dont think that would cause it... anyone have any ideas!?

slow93 · Sep 14, 2005

brake rotors

Mavrick · Sep 14, 2005

Yep, sounds like your rotors are warped. You could have them turned, but they'd most likely warp again in no time. New rotors should fix your problem.

Jaswir · Sep 14, 2005

hard to change?

CoupedUp · Sep 14, 2005

slow93 said:
brake rotors

A lot of troubleshooting requires deductive reasoning.

If it does it when you brake, that should lead you to start investigating the brakes.

And like stated above ... your brake rotors (discs) are the problem. Mustang brakes from the factory are inadequate and when you have to use them hard and for an extended period they warp fairly easy.

Good Luck

slow93 · Sep 14, 2005

Jaswir said:
hard to change?

they arent hard to change at all...thats considering you do have a little bit of mechanical knowledge.shouldnt take over and hour or two in the back yard.you could also replace the old wheel bearings while you are in there anyways.

CoupedUp · Sep 14, 2005

Jaswir said:
hard to change?

Only as hard as you want to think it is.

I suggest stopping by your local autoparts store and picking up a repair manual for about $18. All we can do is write how to do it, but the manual will have accompanying pics to guide you.

bubba-dough · Sep 14, 2005

Jaswir said:
hard to change?

Not at all. Very simple. It takes longer getting the tools out and jacking the car up. Good luck.

Btw change the pads too. Its also a good time to replace the wheel bearings and seal.

Mavrick · Sep 14, 2005

They are not hard to change at all. With the right info (ie a manual or tech article), I wouldn't hesitate to take this job on, as a beginner.

Euphoric306 · Sep 15, 2005

yea, itll be good to familiarize yourself with the front suspension/steering and wheel/hub assemblies

i kind of look forward to things breaking on my car, because there's a lot of systems that i really dont know about (how they work, what they look like, which parts are where) and its cool to learn new things

example... id like to take apart a rear end and see how everything fits together and such, but ill wait on that one hehe

almost positive its brake rotors, but if there's no vibration or pulsing in the brake pedal it may also be your outer tir rod ends, but less likely than the brakes

Shakerhood · Sep 15, 2005

You MIGHT get lucky and just need to repack your front wheel bearings. More than likely if it is just when you apply the brakes the rotors are probably warped.

tunedin302 · Sep 15, 2005

Change the rotors ...

babygurl2000 · Sep 15, 2005

how are your brake rotors?

crazypete · Sep 15, 2005

I've driven on warped rotors for 3 years and they work just fine. I had chance to regularly reinspect them when doing the tubular front end, the 73mm caliper upgrade, again at the hawk pads and there is no cracking or any reason to suspent they will fail other than a little chirp chirp sound when the brakes are slightly engaged.

I strongly suspent that the rust and scale in the vanes blocks the heat dissipation of the rotor and this causes them to overheat and then warp.

I was kinda hoping the metallic pads would "sand" the rotor back to flat but no dice.

bubba-dough · Sep 15, 2005

crazypete said:
I've driven on warped rotors for 3 years and they work just fine. I had chance to regularly reinspect them when doing the tubular front end, the 73mm caliper upgrade, again at the hawk pads and there is no cracking or any reason to suspent they will fail other than a little chirp chirp sound when the brakes are slightly engaged.

Man you are lucky. My G/F warped the rotors on her car and finally told me it was making a weird sound and vibrating (I never ride in her car). Anyway I am not sure how long this had went on but when I changed them it had feathered the inside tread on the tires. And after it was fixed the tires had a bad hum in them. We then took it to get new tires and an alignment. The alignment was fine so I know it was the rotors that caused it, plus the tech said that'll do it.

Pod · Sep 16, 2005

Mavrick said:
They are not hard to change at all. With the right info (ie a manual or tech article), I wouldn't hesitate to take this job on, as a beginner.

I'm a beginner and I'm going to replace my rotors soon.
I've got the rotors themselves already. I'm also going to order new pads.
What other parts would I need to order?
I've seen bearings and seals mentioned, but no idea on the actual parts I'd need to buy. Anything else? bolts, tools?

Thanks very much for any help.

Mavrick · Sep 16, 2005

Pod said:
I'm a beginner and I'm going to replace my rotors soon.
I've got the rotors themselves already. I'm also going to order new pads.
What other parts would I need to order?
I've seen bearings and seals mentioned, but no idea on the actual parts I'd need to buy. Anything else? bolts, tools?

Thanks very much for any help.

You may or may not need new bearings. Each rotor rides on two bearings; an inner, and and outter. If you buy new bearings (i'd recommend it, but it's not always necessary), you may want to purchase a bearing packing tool ($40 maybe). You can pack bearings with grease in your hand, but it's messy. There is also 1 seal on the back of each rotor, which seals the inner bearing. I would highly recommend going ahead and buying new seals, as your old ones are more than likely toast.

You will also need new cotter pins for the spindles.. other than that, it's as simple as swapping pads and rotors. Flushing your braking system with new fluid isn't a bad idea either.

As for the calipers, aslong as the piston retracts OK (with a C clamp or channel locks), all you need to do is service them by lubricating the pins with anti seize. You may want to put some "anti-squeek" stuff on the back of your brake pads as well, but thats optional.

BLKGT · Sep 16, 2005

Brake rotors or a loose strut

Car shakes when braking?

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