Intermittant Steering Wheel shake when Braking

[Romer]

Coming back from Ouray towing my camper I developed an intermittant issue. When I brake sometimes, my pedal pulses and the steering wheel shakes quite a bit

There are no shimys or shakes when driving, this only happens when I put my foot on the brake and speed doesnt matter.

Sometimes it drives perfect with no issues

Sometimes when it's doing it, I can stomp on the brakes and it wont do it again for a while

Because its intermittant, I am guessing its not tire balancing or wheel bearings.

My personal guess is a bad brake caliper

I did the front axle last about 2 years ago or 10K miles.

Again, this problem didn't start till I was coming back from Ouray, towing going down hill having to use the brakes a lot.

If it was constant, I would think warped rotor.

So I have new rotors, pads etc for the front axle service.

I also have two reman'd calipers.

Debating on just replacing the calipers or digging in and doing the whole axle, rotors and everything.

What shall I do hmmmmm

 

[96Cruiser13]

may be a very overheated rotor. Take a look, any spots look like a "blued gun barrel"?

 

[canucme]

Bad fins in rotor.

I had the same problem with my 94 LC. What mine turned out to be was the cooling fin's in the rotor had rusted to the point where when I applied the brakes they gave in the bad area so it felt like a warped rotor. I pulled the rotor's and they looked good but then I used a screwdriver and found the bad fin's.
Replaced the rotors and problem was solved. I could really feel it when I hit the brakes hard felt like I was loosing a wheel it shook so bad.

 

[darwink1]

Mine was shimmying and I found it to be loose wheel bearings. Tightened em up and the problem went away.

D

 

[Romer]

may be a very overheated rotor. Take a look, any spots look like a "blued gun barrel"?

I had the same problem with my 94 LC. What mine turned out to be was the cooling fin's in the rotor had rusted to the point where when I applied the brakes they gave in the bad area so it felt like a warped rotor. I pulled the rotor's and they looked good but then I used a screwdriver and found the bad fin's.
Replaced the rotors and problem was solved. I could really feel it when I hit the brakes hard felt like I was loosing a wheel it shook so bad.

Mine was shimmying and I found it to be loose wheel bearings. Tightened em up and the problem went away.

D

Where these all intermittant? Meaning some times no issue and others it's bad.

 

[MARKTLC80]

Hey, it sounds to me that the ABS sensor could be going bad.

 

[kerrye]

Same thing happened to me coming down Vail Pass a few weeks ago. Very bad shimmy. Problem went away. I wondered if it was two slightly warped rotors that got in sequence with each other exacerbating their warps. That's the only explanation I could imagine that explained it being intermittent.

 

[NLXTACY]

Holy crap, talk about timing. This happened to me LAST NIGHT!

Taking PCH home and Topanga Canyon was backed so I took the scenic route going up Pacifica Rambla. Its straight up and then down with tons of turns. Rode the brake the whole way down. No problems at all. Got to Kanan Road and on the way going down hill, on the very first time I had to use my brakes (not a panic stop but not gentle either) and all of a sudden the front wheel(s) shook so violently that I started pumping the brakes and slowed to a stop so I could inspect. I found nothing. No blueing, no strange smells, no brake dust. All looked normal. Started driving again, very carefully not to go downhill too fast, and it hasn't happened again since.

 

[landtank]

had this problem and it was a soft front right tire. It had a leak but still allowed it to hold some air so it wasn't obvious to me it did.

 

[Nemo]

Ken, I just had my rotors replaced due to the same issue. Intermittent pulsing which resulted in a steering wheel shake. I thought bad bearings, tie rod ends, castor et cetera. Took it to slee and all checked out. Ended up being the rotors. Being in Colorado and pushing these big trucks seems to kill the lifespan of the rotors. I also had the Slee aftermarkets which I believe you have?

 

[kerrye]

If it is bad rotors, why is it intermittent? Wouldn't bad rotors by themselves be more consistent?

 

[Weatherman]

I had a similar problem. Going downhill with heated brakes/rotors, mine would shimmy, especially when the brake was lightly applied. It would not do it on the same hill under the same conditions with cool brakes, only when they were hot. I did a full front axel service including new rotors, wheel bearinigs, and 100 series pads. Problem solved. I suspect it was a bad rotor.

 

[kerrye]

My brakes were probably warm when it happened to me. Why is it only showing up with warm or hot brakes? What is bad about the rotor to cause it to warp under those conditions?

By the way, like the OP, mine occurred when I was pretty heavily loaded with 4 people, 2 canoes and all the gear for a 4 day river trip.

 

[Trapper50cal]

Same here, a month ago...downhill after heating them up all weekend at a Rally in Ouray. Warped front rotors. Had all of the rotors inspected...back ones had been milled beyond spec. Bought 4 new Powerstop rotors from Slee and all new pads. Good to go.

 

[Romer]

Thanks everyone. I have everything to redo the front axle and will replace the calipers and rotors as well. I have time this weekend to do just the calipers, but will have to wait a while to do the whole axle. I'll just wait till I have a long weekend and be done with it.

Rick - Tires are good on pressure