Brake shimmy at high speeds

[Guy]

Hey all, I'm getting bad brake shimmy when braking from 60 down to about 45mph. I've just jacked a front wheel, there's no top to bottom movement but it definitely moves left and right. There's no distict 'clunk' as it moves but you can hear something moving. Is this the tie rod ends? The car's got 101,000 miles on her so something's probably worn out...

 

[frank]

i find its usually a disc problem guy i,ve just done mine lol
if you use a scissor jack to gently hold the pedal down, you will probably find tight spots as you turn the roadwheel

 

[Baz]

Warped discs or track rod ends(Y)

 

[Guy]

Cheers guys, weird thing is, I NEVER leave my foot on the brake which could warp them and they should be decent quality as they're EBC. I just turned the car on and wiggled the steering wheel very gently both ways, there's definite steering wheel movement before the wheels themselves start twitching and you can feel a very subtle bumping through the wheel. Dunno if you tell anything by looking but this is the drivers side tie rod end...

 

[joesouthgate]

Could be a manufacturing defect in the discs, its not neciseraly something you've done.

 

[Baz]

Em no not by a pic, If your certain its not the discs id remove that tie rod from the hub, the ball joint should be quite stiff if its good, but if it old it can be loose and play in the joint means its knackered.

Just because your disc are decent doesnt mean they cant warp, how long are they on the car, personally my moneys on the discs mate

 

[Shaun]

Sorry i cannot contribute to the thread as still being a mechanical n00b but i can tell one thing from your picture... Wheels need a good clean
Hope you get it sorted!

 

[Baz]

lol

 

[will930]

if theres movement then im sure its not the disks as they wouldnt cause wheel movement

 

[Guy]

Go and stand at the back of the class Shaun . Cheers guys, ordered the track rod ends, hell of a lot cheaper than the discs :grinning:.

 

[Baz]

if theres movement then im sure its not the disks as they wouldnt cause wheel movement

What do you mean? Have you every drove a car with proper warped discs, although nothing is "moving" a you say it feels like the wheels are going to fall off, brake peddle and steering wheel vibrate something serious

 

[Baz]

Go and stand at the back of the class Shaun . Cheers guys, ordered the track rod ends, hell of a lot cheaper than the discs :grinning:.

:laugh: Ignore the truth

 

[will930]

What do you mean? Have you every drove a car with proper warped discs, although nothing is "moving" a you say it feels like the wheels are going to fall off, brake peddle and steering wheel vibrate something serious

what i mean is that guy said he could wiggle the wheel side to side, i dont see how that could be the disk, i can only see it as being a loose ball joint and unless as you say the brakes and steering vibrate

 

[frank]

it was definitely the discs on mine i,ve just done my 35 mile work commute and the judder has totally gone
i had linished bluey,s and my misses,s discs a while back and they were fine, but these discs were quite badly scored and the linishing was,nt that good tbh, and i,ve always had a brake judder on very smooth tarmac (dont know why its worse on a smooth surface !),
so i got round to checking the discs yesterday and there was a 2" thou variation on both discs :wasntme: so i,ve linished the highspots down and now its sound as a pound

 

[Guy]

If it does turn out to be the discs guys, I'm gonna get some of those cheap grooved and dimpled generic ones off ebay. No point spending EBC money when they can just warp like that.

As an aside, what makes 'em warp? Say you do a hard brake to a roundabout and then the discs get soaked by a deep puddle, would that sort of thing cause it?

 

[frank]

If it does turn out to be the discs guys, I'm gonna get some of those cheap grooved and dimpled generic ones off ebay. No point spending EBC money when they can just warp like that.

As an aside, what makes 'em warp? Say you do a hard brake to a roundabout and then the discs get soaked by a deep puddle, would that sort of thing cause it?

warped is,nt really the right term guy, if they were warped they would be the same thickness all around but would be running out of true (which would,nt make the pads go in and out against each other, or make the pedal judder)
mine was a slight difference in disc width that gave tightspots as you turned the roadwheel, which was caused by big rust/scale area,s on the back of the disc that i did,nt linish down uniformly

 

[Guy]

Are places that can skim them common over here Frank? I know it's pretty standard stuff in the US.

 

[frank]

Are places that can skim them common over here Frank? I know it's pretty standard stuff in the US.

there used to be guy, but new ones are so cheap that nobody does it now eh

 

[Guy]

Changed the tie rods today - brake shimmy completely gone and steering fells alot tighter overall . Right and one was a right two-hat though. Ended up angle grinding through the central post thing in the gap with a 1mm cutting disc. Left one took two minutes :blush:. The left one was completely loose and clicky, couldn't test the right one as it was cut in half .

 

[essexpunx]

Glad you got it sorted, warped discs can usually be felt through the brake pedal, where as track rod ends etc are usually felt more through the steering wheel.

 

[Daniel]

Well done on getting it sorted mate, knackered track rod ends can be a bit unnerving :laugh:

 

[Guy]

When the nut on the top of the right one decided it wasn't going any further I starting having visions of not going tomorrow and having the car low-loadered to the nearest garage :down:. A bit of Makita magic later and it was off (Y). Took it to ATS after that and had the tracking done as the wheel was 30 degrees to the left. Just washed it and waxed it as well and feel a third bath coming on.