Brake poping and Car shaking at high speeds..

[talonpunk831]

I just got a 2002 auto forcuz zts...

When i go above 55mph the car starts to vibrate and you can really feel is on the brakes..

going normal speeds you can feel the brakes poping kinda, as if the wheels were ovals or somthing, but not always, prolly about 90% of the time when you push the brakes...

Theres no leaks or sounds coming from the car...and the brakes have a good amount of pad on them, but i can check the back side....

The Car drives Straight down the road too...i looked all underneath it and the only thing i see funny is on the Passenger side, there is a pipe(if u will) that goes to the wheel base, and there is "threads" exposed, almost like its not screwed in all the way? heres a pic



Anybody wana help me out?

[Intuit]

Congrats on the purchase. The exposed threads are to the tie-rod end and this is 100% normal for any car. Mechanics actually use these threads to adjust one specific part of the wheel alignment by screwing the tie-rod end on further, covering more threads or out further, exposing more threads. That nut that you see is nothing more than a locking nut for the tie rod. You could remove that and wouldn't experience any immediate risk. (accelerated thread wear would eventually pose an extremely serious hazard however)

Current Escort owner and don't own a Focus so take what I have to say with a grain of salt. But if I remember right, there were some campaigns (manufacturer recalls) for the wheel bearings, specifically rear I think, for that vehicle. Any Ford Dealership will be able to tell you if the campaign has already been performed on that vehicle by running the VIN or some other piece of info from the vehicle. (which means you can just phone one or two different locations)

If you rotate the wheels/tires, does the noise change or move ?

Did they put new (cheapy) tires on the vehicle ? Can you get the owner to show you all four of the originals ? (which people rarely ever keep BTW) Driving straight unfortunately isn't the best indicator for problems that have occured as a result of abuse, such as hitting a high curb going to fast or other. It may bend a wheel, ruin a bearing and damage other parts, but can be temporarily hidden by simply getting another alignment (which won't last).

Visually inspect your tires for odd or uneven tread wear. Run your fingers acrossed the tread which should feel relatively smooth. If it feels like it has teeth then something may be wrong. Here's some random article on tire inspection: http://www.microlsaipan.com/align.htm Particularly bad patterns are "cupping" and "feathering". Uneven wear could be under/over inflation and/or alignment. Vehicle should never fall severely out of alignment unless abused (which includes hitting speed-bumps and curbs way too fast); part such as suspension or joint *severly* worn; maintenance part replacement; hit an object, repeatedly hitting deep sewer gratesss or really large crater (pot hole).


As far as "feeling it on the brakes," what makes me think this is rotor-warping is the "popping" that you describe. Ordinarily the calipers have what are called slide-mounts. If the rotor were off the vehicle, with the caliper mounted you should be able to manually push/pull it in and out; closer and farther away from the vehicle. However in operation those slide-mounts produce and experience A LOT of heat. (at least for the front-end) Over time they begin to seize-up when in use, then pop or break loose as they cool. May even feel as well as hear this when it occurs. Over many years a lot of build-up occurs so they may need to be honed-out and relubed before reassembly. If the rubber boots no longer seal then they need to be replaced. Any brake service will be *extremely* temporary unless this is fully (no skipping steps) performed when needed.
Rotors may warp a lot more quickly when the slide mounts aren't operating properly. I live in a valley with lots of steep, lengthy inclines and declines and notice folks riding the brakes all the way down a long hills all the time. This will also very quickly result in the problems described.