Steering shakes under braking

[DeLo360]

Just as the title states. When i hit the breaks at high speeds the whole steering column vibrates like crazy. The faster i am going the worse it is. I'd say its noticeable after 50 or 60mph. I dont know if its the pads or if i have warped rotors. The pads are getting a bit old though.

Dave

 

[GSX93DSM]

I would check both sounds like to me that could be the problem.

 

[1badtsi]

warped rotors!


and with new rotors youre gonna want new pads of course =)

 

[DeLo360]

Thanks for the response guys! How can i make sure the rotors are warped... is it something i can check by looking at them? If i find the rotors are warped, i might as well upgrade my calipers to the AWD ones since i have to get new rotors and pads anyway.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[Old Mitsu Tech]

It's only a slight amount. Turn the rotors. If the pads are less than 50% replace them. If not, re-use them. Waste not want not.

 

[Defiant]

B R A K E S .

​

 

[fourreGsixty3]

First take the tire off and merely looking at it you cant tell if its warped, or take a straight ruler and place it upon the rotor to see if there are" hills and valleys", also what I had wrong with mine was "uneven" tread wear in my front right tire compared to the left, and this cause shaking of the steering wheel very bad under braking and shaking when 50+mph,the worst at 75mph, but no shaking under 40 mph, slight between 40-50mph. Hope this can help. When you upgrade the rotors go with a set of slotted. If less then 50% tread on the pads change them, wouldnt want to go low on those new rotors and gouge them up. If you have the extra $$$ the 2 piston awd upgrade is a good choice.

 

[DeLo360]

Thanks guys. Yeah i'm looking for an excuse to do the 2 piston upgrade. Machv right now has a sale on Mitsubishi OEM awd rotors for $90 a pair, so i cant pass that up. I'll check to see if my rotors are warped with the ruler as well, thanks for the info. The funny things is my car's shaking characteristics are exact to your's with the uneven tire wear. However, when braking i can totally tell i need to pads at the least. Either way i'm probably goin to do the brake upgrade.


Thanks again,
Dave

Oh and yeah....

 

[fourreGsixty3]

If your tires are unevently wearing like mine were, then the shaking wont go away until you replace that front right tire. I replaced all 4 rotors, rear calipers, new pads all aroung, and had my car aligned and the shaking still persisted. Then I rotated the front right to the rear right just to see if that was the problem, and blam the shaking was gone, so I ordered a new tire to replace the one I smoked off. So your shaking problem will continue until you replace or rotate that front right tire.

 

[b00stedeclipse]

It could also quite possibly be a wheel bearing. I had the same situation on my 2g. First thought it was warped rotors as well, but I put them on my 1st gen and they were fine. I couldn't go above 60-70 without bad vibrations. Jack up your car in the front getting both wheels off the ground at a time, grab the rim and see if you can shake it back and forth. If there's play, then your wheel bearing is shot. Do that for all 4 wheels. Usually it's the fronts that go bad.

 

[wret]

Thanks for the response guys! How can i make sure the rotors are warped... is it something i can check by looking at them? If i find the rotors are warped, i might as well upgrade my calipers to the AWD ones since i have to get new rotors and pads anyway.

Thanks,
Dave

The term "warped," although used pretty much ubiquitously, doesn’t really describe the condition that causes brake/steering wheel pulsation. Lateral runout, over time, can cause differences in thickness of the rotor braking surface. As the pads slide along the rotor, they will be pushed back by a thick spot, causing pedal pulse and possibly a tug on the wheel as one side experiences greater braking. You can’t see it and I doubt you could even detect it with a straight edge. You can measure it with a dial indicator. You can get one fairly cheaply these days and it is a good idea to run it across new rotors every time they are installed.

 

[daren_p]

On a fwd "worped" rotors or lateral runout is very common, IMO not worth buying replacements of the same size as they are just to small for the weight of our cars & you will be back in the same situation in the near future. Your correct, defently a good time to upgrade to the awd or other bolt on setup depending on budget.

 

[DeLo360]

Thanks for all of the info guys. I will def be doin the awd upgrade. If that doesnt fix the problem then i'll move on to the other suggestions.

Dave

 

[fourreGsixty3]

The term "warped," although used pretty much ubiquitously, doesn’t really describe the condition that causes brake/steering wheel pulsation. Lateral runout, over time, can cause differences in thickness of the rotor braking surface. As the pads slide along the rotor, they will be pushed back by a thick spot, causing pedal pulse and possibly a tug on the wheel as one side experiences greater braking. You can’t see it and I doubt you could even detect it with a straight edge. You can measure it with a dial indicator. You can get one fairly cheaply these days and it is a good idea to run it across new rotors every time they are installed.

Hmmm, good to know, guess mine was one crazy extreme case, cause when I bought the car both rear calipers were frozen, huge gouges, and you could see the rotors were messed from the heat, if you looked at them they looked hilly, maybe that was just do to the pads rubbing in certain places and not in others to give that hilly look.

 

[DeLo360]

UPDATE: Did the break upgrade... shaking has stopped. Thanks for everyone's help.... it was def a good $370 spent.