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Obviously check all caliper pins and bolts. Make sure all the brake pads are in place and even wear, not one side of caliper clamping and the other not
Warped front rotors can cause a violent shaking in the steering wheel. Some pads are more prone to warp calipers than others, but driving style is usually the culprit. Riding the brakes on downhill, especially towing, adds a lot of heat to the brake components. Warping is covered under lifetime warranty.
Also check ball joints, tie rod ends, track bar bushings, etc for play as any of these things being loose multiples the shaking.
Warped rear rotors can often be felt in the brake pedal and seat more than the steering wheel.
Obviously check all caliper pins and bolts. Make sure all the brake pads are in place and even wear, not one side of caliper clamping and the other not
All items above will require flat solid ground for jacking and blocking. Got to visit a friend to confirm those items.
Originally Posted by FordTruckNoob
How old are your shocks and suspension bushings? Sounds like axle hop.
Stock factory 2001 for both items above. Bilstein front shocks are in my saved for later Amazon, as well as the steering stabilizer. Did the rears last year.
Originally Posted by Sous
Just throwing some things out there...
Did you check the brake fluid level? Yes, and good
Did you change the brake fluid when the hard parts went on? No
If so, all four corners bled? Yes
Do you have an IR thermometer to see if there is an abnormality in the rotor temperatures, hot or cold?Yes but didn’t check right after event. At all regular stops hub, rotor, and tire temps are consistent per axle.
Was the wheel pulling in either direction when the shaking was occurring? No pulling noted, but I may have been correcting without realizing. I will hands free next time.
Is your ABS light on or did it come on?No
Is your hydroboost ATF level good?Just checked, maybe down a couple of ounces. Topped it up.
Energy suspension bushings, and Bilstein 4600’s are on order as soon as I get home next week. Going to order the 5100 steering stabilizer as well.
We had the front end up in the air and everything in the brakes checked out. No warped rotors, even brake pad wear.
Hands free braking no pull, no pulse in pedal or steering wheel, IR temps consistent.
Did not manifest until very heavy braking. First thing my buddy said was shocks. Back to his place after recreating incident 3 times and started looking at bushings. Bushings in sway bar links are starting to come apart.
Side note…
Yesterday after driving my truck he offered me his lifted, studded 6.0 and cash on a trade. I graciously declined, and we both laughed.
We had the front end up in the air and everything in the brakes checked out. No warped rotors, even brake pad wear.
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How is it possible to check for warped rotors on the truck?
Its infinitely unlikely this (warped rotor) is not your problem based on your description. ALL of your bushings, ball joints, bearings, tie rod ends, etc etc etc could be loose and never shake when braking...
Your experience reminds me I need to look at my suspension bushings for play, or maybe ball joints. I also have a shake under firm braking when pulling the trailer, that I don't have when driving empty. All of my rotors have a runout of 0.002" or less now, after replacing 3 of them with 0.004" runnout, but I still get some shake.
Back when I did this job using a clamp-on dial indicator, I checked the front rotors. Both were at about 0.004" of runout. I've read 0.002" is the most you want. Checked the surface of the hub and the inside surface of the rotor for roughness/corrosion that might exacerbate the runout, but they were clean.
Might be good to get the runnout numbers and see where you are at.
Could it be death wobble? In my experience it's usually initiated during acceleration, not braking... but every truck is different.
Did you check the ball joints when it was in the air?
How is it possible to check for warped rotors on the truck?
It’s infinitely unlikely this (warped rotor) is not your problem based on your description. ALL of your bushings, ball joints, bearings, tie rod ends, etc etc etc could be loose and never shake when braking...
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Ross checked them for warpage with a magnetic base dial indicator.
I have driven a warped rotor truck, even felt the moment when the rotor warped.
This doesn’t feel like that.
Lifetime guarantee on the rotors though, so when I get back home to my stack of receipts the option is there should I need to.
Originally Posted by BWST
Your experience reminds me I need to look at my suspension bushings for play, or maybe ball joints. I also have a shake under firm braking when pulling the trailer.
Might be good to get the runnout numbers and see where you are at.
Not sure what they were but I trust Ross.
Originally Posted by kbeefy
Could it be death wobble? In my experience it's usually initiated during acceleration, not braking... but every truck is different.
Did you check the ball joints when it was in the air?
Everything up front is tight except the sway bar links. 22 year old shocks probably aren’t helping either.
There is no wobble felt in the wheel, nor perceived by the seat of pants.
It’s like leaf spring wrap and unloading under heavy braking causing wheel hop up front.
Similar to rear having the same effect under heavy acceleration.
At any rate I have a plan of action to address the issue. Just a matter of ticking boxes and road testing to confirm.
I won’t consider this a throwing parts at it scenario. Sway bar link bushings need to be replaced. Shocks were already on the list for this years maintenance.
