Bad vibration when slowing and stopping

[david-b]

Hey again,

When I'm slowing down from rather fast speed, the steering wheel and the car likes to vibrate massively. The wheel shakes all over the place, making it kinda hard to control. The brakes also seem to not work as well (but don't hold me to that). I get it everyday coming home from work on an expressway... usually doing 90+ and its a gradual downslope and turn to the left. I start slowing down and BAM, it shakes all crazy style. I really don't know much in the way of drive-train and tires, but could this be off-balanced tires/wheels? Misaligned? I believe it is getting worse. Any suggestions. Thanks


Dave

[Sluttypatton]

Warped rotors. Remove them and have them machined, scuff up your pads with sandpaper and reinstall. Machining rotors usually costs about $20 a rotor.

[david-b]

Warped rotors sounds like a BAD thing...

Machine them how? Most shops do this? Estimate price?

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by david-b

Warped rotors sounds like a BAD thing...

Machine them how? Most shops do this? Estimate price?

Warped rotors are causing the vibration. To fix it properly you should overhaul your front brakes.
Brake shops will machine the rotor by taking them off the car and putting them on a brake lathe which scrapes off a thin layer of the friction surface. This makes the rotor 'straight' again, and with a new surface for the pads. A garage will charge $10 to 20 per rotor for this.

But the rotor needs to be professionally inspected for cracks, rust, wear and damage. It may be too badly worn or damaged to re-use, and new rotors are required.
Finally, unless your pads are close to new, consider new pads so your brakes are all - new and will last longer before new brakes are required again.

[INF3RN0666]

Hmmm, although I don't want people to yell at me for this, I still am inclined to say this since I've had enough brake problems in my life time.
It could be a suspension problem or something different. I use to have the same vibration before I fried my brakes, and had the entire system replaced. That included 4 new rotors, 8 new pads, and a master cylinder. My dad believes it's a balljoint problem (or however you spell it. LOL, he's an immigrant so he doesn't say the word properly).

BTW, just for the heck of it, have your tires inspected for internal damage as pressure on the tires from braking can cause this vibration. If the internal wireframe of the tire cracked, you get this type of vibration. However, it's usually there on bumps too, and not only braking.

[david-b]

It turns out it is the front rotors. Getting the front ones done for $40. My mechanic is doing it. Also replacing front control arms and fixing leaking tranny.

Total price: $616

[INF3RN0666]

OUCH, atleast your tranny didn't have to be swapped. Some are as expensive as $2800 (Chevy Impala). Good thing it was fixed ahead of time.