Morning all.

For the past few weeks I have been experiencing vibration issues while stopping from highway speeds (anything over 60mph or so). While braking my steering wheel would shake heavily, and my truck would pull towards the passenger side.

Additionally, I've experienced a very similar vibration issue a few times while cruising (not braking) at speeds over 50mph. At these times I will get a similar shaking feeling through the steering wheel that can be felt in the cab. This usually lasts a minute or two then goes away.

I'm thinking warped rotors, but I'm not sure if warped rotors could cause the occasional vibration issues that I'm seeing while accelerating. I checked the tires, and they're inflated to 40psi each, and are in good shape. The fact that I'm not seeing the issue constantly, makes me think that tires are not to blame.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Brian

 

Do you have aftermarket wheels?

 

Factory 18" wheels.

 

Most likely wheels need balancing. It has happened to me, even right after a balancing. They don't always get it right.

 

Could that cause issues intermittently? It seems to me that if that were the cause, it would happen everytime I'm on the highway.

 

Yes, it can, altough, usually it is all the time at certain speeds. They can be a little out of balance and when hitting bumps just right, they set up a vibration that continues for a bit, due to wear in the front end.

 

How many miles on it? You may need new ball joints.

 

I'm just coming up on 70k now.

 

Unless you traverse a lot of rough roads, should just be a small amount of wear. I would do a balance job first. I just had the ball joints and A arms done on mine at 122,000. Made a very noticeable improvement in the handling. I had the wheels and tires balanced last Saturday, and they were better before they balanced them.

 

X2 I was going to say check your ball joints. I had my lower ball joints replaced at about 70,000. I had a slight amount of the pulling while braking issue you described and it went away after they were fixed.

 

Did you have any vibration issues? Is there any way I can test the ball joints/isolate the problem prior to buying and swapping out parts?

 

I did not have a bad vibration but it did pull toward the passenger side sometimes. When my truck was put up on a lift the lower ball joint was so loose you could literally shake the the tire and see it move.

Try jacking up the truck or put it on a lift and see if you have any give. It takes some force to move the weight of the wheel and tire but if the lower joints were like mine they will be obviously loose and need to be replaced.

 

At 70k, I'd look at the bj's as well.

 

After work I decided to shoot over to the local tire place, to have them rotate/balance my tires. I also had the guy check out the ball joints and other suspension components for wear, and he said everything looked fine.

After that I jumped on the highway. Everything was fine at first, but after a few minutes the vibrations returned at speeds above 60mph, and while braking. I pulled over, and the driver-side front rotor was scorching hot -- it was smoking, and when I put my hand on the wheel, I could feel the metal creaking and expanding. All the other rotors were (relatively) cool.

So, I'm back to thinking this may be warped rotors. Thoughts? I'm going to go order some online tonight, since I figure even if it's a caliper issue, the rotors will be toast. Anyone have any recommendations on pads/rotors?

 

I had vibration issues at highway speeds. When I got my rims powder coated last week I remounted the wheels and was going to go and get them balanced. No vibration at all. I can't believe it. My fronts were pretty chopped so I just made sure they went on the back.

I would try rotating the fronts to the back and see how it acts first. Good luck with the rotors, hopefully you do not have a sticky caliper. I have seen that happen too.