Shake when breaking

[dp213]

Odd situation, right before we hit cold weather my car started shaking when I hit the breaks at higher speeds. Did that for about a week then we hit freezing or close to freezing temps and it quit. It's been perfect for the last 2 months, but now the temp has warmed up and it started shaking again.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks

[golucky66]

By chance, do you have a dirt driveway / drive in dirt frequently?

[dp213]

I have a very long dirt driveway. Almost 1/8 mile.

[golucky66]

I have about a 1/4 dirt drive way. Same thing happens to me. I know it may sound a little like "how can that happen". But because it's getting warmer, the dirt/earth is really soft and muddy. So mud gets in your tread, the bead area, in the rim and all that mud throws off the balance of the tire. Grant it this normally would occur all the times not just while breaking....

 

When it shakes, does the steering wheel shake or your seat?

 

if the wheel shakes, the vibration (if actually from breaks) is coming from the front end. If your seat, then usually the rear is the issue.

[dp213]

The wheel shakes

[dp213]

I figured front rotors, but why would it quit in cold weather if rotors were warped

[golucky66]

So I was doing further research about this topic. And there are some less obvious thing that could be the issue. The few things that come to mind when a temperature is affecting pulsation is that the grease in the caliper slides and wheel bearing are thicker and may be causing the caliper to not be sliding correctly, or even the wheel bearing could be putting a slight amount of force and causing the rotor to pulsate. 

 

Try checking the wheel bearings in the front and the integrity of the front calipers. 

Also, how long ago were the brakes pads + rotors done?

 

Here's a link to a quite helpful page (http://www.brakeandfrontend.com/10-of-your-top-brake-pulsation-questions/)

Edited February 2, 2016 by golucky66

[idosubaru]

it's usually the front rotors.

have them turned

or replaced.   you can replace only the one that needs replaced, no need to replace both rotors.

 

the slides are routinely problematic with sticking or being seized.   on 00+ stuff i throw away the pin bushigns that can swell - they're useless. 

use Sil Glyde or similar quality grease - it's an order of magnitude better than the standard brake caliper grease - and actually it's necessary if you have pin bushings because regular grease will cause them to swell. 

[CNY_Dave]

Rotors rarely warp- you can look at them to see if pad material has been deposited on them, making a 'stickier' spot, this is fairly common.