Vibration through the steering wheel when braking

[BlackST]

When I brake at high speeds I get a vibration through the steering wheel.
Front discs and pads have been replaced.
The vibration is still there.
So next up i'm thinking is wheel balancing, cheapest first?

Is £9.50 a wheel the norm?

[dazren]

Also check control arm bushes.

[james_gt3rs]

If the wheels were unbalanced you would get vibration even when not braking?

[BlackST]

james_gt3rs said:

If the wheels were unbalanced you would get vibration even when not braking?

The car doesn't feel the best at higher speeds 90> but I hardly go that fast.
A mechanic has looked at the suspension and the anti roll bar bushes, cv boot and droplinks have been replaced in the time that the vibration has been there.

[chrisp84]

Sticky brake caliper?

[V88Dicky]

Uneven pad material transfer on the discs?

On a quiet road, try some hard braking from 70 - 30 a few times. Let the discs cool for a few minutes, then repeat.

[roboxm3]

chrisp84 said:

Sticky brake caliper?

+1

Give the wheels a good clean and see if one looks noticably more (brake) dusty after a couple of days. Had this previously and was a cheap fix with a caliper seal kit (few hours work).

[NoComment]

Had this on my M3 before, ended up being warped discs. New discs on and hey presto no more vibrations. Have you given the new discs a battering?

HTH

P.S. Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings if this is the case.


NoComment

[jdcampbell]

I think you can sometimes get this if the tracking is wrong. So I would have that checked as well.

[steveo3002]

wheel balance would most likley show up all the time over say 20mph

id say brake problem /worn bushes

[maxp]

roboxm3 said:

+1

Give the wheels a good clean and see if one looks noticably more (brake) dusty after a couple of days. Had this previously and was a cheap fix with a caliper seal kit (few hours work).

Or just go for a drive. Have a feel of the discs after you park up. If one is much hotter than the other than other then you have your culprit.

My focus had this problem last month and a replacement caliper fixed it.
Steering shake didnt occur until >50mph, and shook regardless of me braking or not.

[sparkyhx]

he says he's already done discs and pads.

Pad transfer could have happened again if you have stiky piston - gets hot, you sit at traffic lights with brake on and hey presto pad transfer.

I'd probably look at bushes as someone has mentioned

[Kawasicki]

It's simple why it happens when you brake. The bushes in your suspension control arms are put under extra load, so they squish a bit. In this squished state they will more clearly pass any vibration occurring due to your wheel/tyre imbalance/uneven roll or due to variations in brake disc thickness (which obviously you won't have as your brakes are new.)

To fix it...

a) check wheel tyre balance again.
If that doesn't fix it..
b) visit a garage with road force measuring kit. They spin the tyre up against a roller and measure how evenly the tyre rolls. The tyres must be just driven on for you to get reliable results.
If that doesn't fit it...it could be a bush in your suspension (as someone else mentioned)...some bushes have a cavity filled with a fluid (hydrobush)..the function of a hydrobush is to dampen vibrations in the suspension...so if yours is shot then the whole suspension/steering system can be likely to vibrate.

Are your discs absolutely new? Fitted recently?

[BlackST]

maxp said:

Or just go for a drive. Have a feel of the discs after you park up. If one is much hotter than the other than other then you have your culprit.

My focus had this problem last month and a replacement caliper fixed it.
Steering shake didnt occur until >50mph, and shook regardless of me braking or not.

Was it a rear caliper?
I think I will get the tracking done first. £15-25 seems to be the average price for tracking so I'll try that first.
I will whip the wheels off and give them a thorough cleaning next day off too.

[BlackST]

Kawasicki, thanks for the reply.
The brakes were fitted 6 months ago? The vibration was there before they were fitted however.

The car is 2007 registered, 109k on the clock.

Would it be worth taking the car to a garage to specifically look at the bushes then?

[Kawasicki]

BlackST said:

Kawasicki, thanks for the reply.
The brakes were fitted 6 months ago? The vibration was there before they were fitted however.

The car is 2007 registered, 109k on the clock.

Would it be worth taking the car to a garage to specifically look at the bushes then?

No problem.

Probably not worth bringing the car to a garage...though I suppose if you have the time and don't mind paying then it wouldn't do any harm.

Looking at the bushes only tells you so much. At 109k miles...they probably could do with a change anyway, so I would just change them...but hold up on that...do a little investigation...

Can I ask you if the vibration is always there, but at a much reduced level...but it only gets annoying when you are on the brakes?
Is there a speed range that you brake through where it is particularly bad?

The logic is as follows...vibrations have to come from somewhere...the two main sources are the brakes and the tyres....you've put new brakes on and it hasn't fixed the issue...so the next step should be tyres.

Even just swapping the tyres front to rear might show you that one (or both) of your front tyres does not roll evenly. I would check the balance at the same time.

Wheel/tyre vibrations come from two sources..simple wheel imbalance and/or force variation. No tyre rolls perfectly, they have stiff and soft spots...in three directions (laterally, longitudinally, vertically)...these feeds vibrations into the car...

Here's a simple example. I fit new new tyres to a car, it now vibrates badly (including the steering wheel). Just by changing the tyres! Check the balance...perfect! Check the force variation...sh!thouse.

A normal tyre fitter will usually (with some logic) blame your bushes (or sometimes they blame driveshaft imbalance, or warped brakes) for the fact that these new tyres are causing vibrations. They shrug their shoulders when you mention that it wasn't there before you fitted these new tyres.

So..

new(or refaced!) brakes
checked tyres..balance and force variation
and just in case your car is super sensitive...new bushes on your lower control arm.
If that doesn't fix it then it gets more complicated...

[BlackST]

Thanks again.
Will try and change the alloys from back to front.
All Goodyear Eagle F1's and have worn evenly. 5mm on the front and 4mm on the back.
So checklist is
-change tyres around
-get wheels balanced again.

Many thanks for the help. Hopefully it is a simple fix and not a steering rack or bushes fix.

[supersingle]

Avoid holding the brake on when coming to a halt. Use the handbrake instead. That cures most brake judder problems. Otherwise as stated above, most likely to be bushes or dodgy caliper.

[BlackST]

Wheels were balanced.
Wheels were then alligned correctly.
Had the discs fitted today and there has been an improvement.
When I had the wheels balanced I was told/seen that the passenger side alloy is buckled. So hoping to get that fixed and then no more vibrations through the steering wheel.

Fingers crossed.