When I bought my X, the front end would periodically shake and pull to the right.

I recently redid the front brakes on my X. Replaced everything except the rotors; they looked okay. That fixed it pulling to the right and fixed the shaking somewhat, but it still shakes when I apply the brakes.

I don't feel it through the pedals. It's all up front, too. You can see the steering wheel shaking really bad.

What I'm thinking is maybe it's my tie rod ends? I think my front brakes were locking up and causing the shake to happen all the time. I think when I fixed that, it made it to where the shake only happens under braking. This makes me think it's the tie rod ends, or something else loose up there. I recently replaced the ball joints, too.

Or could it be the rear rotors? I just want to make sure I'm close before I start throwing parts at it!

Thanks everyone in advance!

 

If it only shakes when you brake and you feel it in the steering wheel, it is most likely the rotors are "warped" which is really a build up of pad material and distortion from heat cycles during hard braking. I bet if you re-surface or replace the rotors it will fix it. Good luck!

 

Warped rotors...

 

Well, that's an easy enough fix.

I always thought warped rotors were felt through the pedal. Also, if I'm going slow, it doesn't do it.

 

Earlier this year, even after replacing my front pads my brakes would still shudder. On a road trip I had some horrible metal on metal sounds. My rear brakes (the originals that came with the truck) were completely worn out and replacing it fixed the shuddering. I wouldn't rule out it being your rear brakes.

My truck still pulls to the left slightly when braking (funny it didn't at all after the rears were done for about a month). That's even after replacing the calipers/rotors/pads on the front and pads/rotors or the rear. Replacing the brake lines will probably be next.

 

Throwing my vote to the rotors being warped...

 

Don't forget that rubber brake hoses will deteriorate with age and be come clogged. Braking on one front wheel because the other one had a clogged brake hose caused a wreck on my father in a 1979 Chevy van. I had it happen in a 1984 Lincoln Town Car too, but no wreck. After a few years, it is wise to change the hoses.

 

The problem is your rotors. Odds are you have cheap rotors on there to begin with and that is no insult as most people buy those and why not...they have made the prices on cheap rotors low enough. Turning rotors is all but a thing of the past because the cost of new rotors being as low as they are.

You should have changed the rotors when you replaced the pads. The cheap rotors have basically made it mandatory to replace the rotors when putting new pads on.

Get some new rotors and sadly get some new pads again. That will take care of your shaking.

Good luck.

 

Also the pulling to one side could be a frozen caliper (went through that one myself.)


As Fordboy67 said what most people call warped rotors are usually just deposits from the non-asbestos brake pads. This can usually just be sanded off with the proper equipment. The upside is that it is a little bit cheaper. The downside is that if the rotors actually are warped then you have to pay again to get them turned