Steering wheel vibation when braking!?!?

[madhatter]

When braking at any speed over 55mph severe vibration coming through steering wheel. Been informed warped dics strong possibility but they've only done 25,000 miles and look in good nick with no lip. Pads replaced 500 miles ago...any idea anyone??

[Foghorn Leghorn]

I'd get your discs checked, most likely cause, if you've got a DTI gauge you can check tthem yourself.

Fog

[munfred]

could be needing the wheels to be balanced.

[xplosiv]

Hi,

I have a similar problem, only not when braking. When i go above 70mph the steering wheel sort of vibrates. If you let go of thw wheel for a fraction of a second (done on clear road in good conditions) you can see the steering wheel moving left to right, any ideas ????

Wheel balancing (although new tyres)
Wheel Bearing (although i would expect some noise)
brakes catching the discs (something loose)
Suspention ( roll cage etc)

ANY HELP WOULD BE GOOD.

Sorry i am not tring to highjack your thread, just didi not see the point in starting a similar topic,

Your problem sounds like warped discs, does the car brake in a straight line?

Andy

[Playtime_Fontayne]

I have the exact same proble as xplosiv,steering vibration at 70mph plus. i'm thinking the wheels could do with balancing and maybe tracking.

I also had the braking vibration on my last car, a focus, turned out to need a new set of discs .

[munfred]

I had a problem with my saxo steel wheels where I had managed to buckle one of the wheels. My friend has also had a similar problem with an alloy wheel.
They balance fine and everthing, and in both cases we couldnt work out what was wrong, but by putting different set of wheels on we found it to be ok, then with further investigation we found the wheels were not straight.

Now it sounds a bit silly, but are the wheels rotating the correct way? and have they got the correct ammount of air in them.

[turbolag]

When braking at any speed over 55mph severe vibration coming through steering wheel. Been informed warped dics strong possibility but they've only done 25,000 miles and look in good nick with no lip. Pads replaced 500 miles ago...any idea anyone??

Yes, I have an idea.

Are you an avid user of your handbrake (remember, each time your vehicle ceases motion you should punctuate this with a handbrake application), or are you a naughty monkey that holds his car still at the lights with the footbrake?

When your brakes are hot they need to cool evenly to prevent warpage. By holding the car still with the footbrake the portion gripped by the disc cools a lot slower than the rest of the disc. The exposed part of the disc thus contracts much faster, and the disc eventually warps. Get some new discs and pads, use the handbrake assiduously and (track day abuse notwithstanding) you will not suffer warped discs.

Good luck.

[Foghorn Leghorn]

I'm a naught monkey


Ooohhh ooohhhh aaaah aaaaaahhhh!!

Fog

[Welly]

A few things can cause vibration and it's not always wheel balancing though:

Suspension top mounts
Anti Roll bar bushes worn
Lower arm bushes worn
Drop links worn
tracking possibly
tyre out of shape
differential bearings (worst case)

I get a VERY VERY slight vibration at 70 MPH but with no steering wobble, it is more pronounced when the car rises slightly over a crest in the road when the front goes light....I put it down to engine mountings becoming soft and transfering engine vibration through the chassis. Interestingly, I have noticed the engine 'turns' in it's mountings a bit when you rev it from idle as if the mounting can't hold it rigidly enough, although being a Diesel they may be softer anyway?