Steering wheel shake

[ElectricAl]

Beenthere has beenthere ;)

Great idea on rolling the disk around.

Moosehunter replied that Honda disks are prone to warping :(


Alright Furby,   Valley has to be better than gullet ;)
Also, I just got my "Furby" edition of Sawmill and Wood Lot Saturday.
Looking good

[Furby]

:

[Paul_H]

I changed my braking habits when I learned that rotors warp due to the excessive buildup of heat when making a hard braking stop.  That heat, when stopped, disapates in one spot on the rotor. So now, when I stop, I let the car continue to roll ahead very little at a time to disapate that heat around the rotor. I've found my rotors have lasted much, much longer since doing that. 

......and that officer is why I didn't come to a complete stop at the intersection.  :D

[Fla._Deadheader]

Believe it or not, but, tightening lug bolts with an air wrench is the easiest way to warp rotors. Been through that and have argued with the best of tire folks about it. NO ONE tightens MY lugs with air. I use a cross wrench, no exceptions.

  Warped rotors could very well be the problem. Have Linda barely push the brake pedal, while you turn the wheels and see if there are high spots. Create your own drag with her helping. Shouldn't take 5 minutes.

[ElectricAl]

Fla._Deadheader,

They did jam on the nuts with air I saw scuff marks in to nut holes.  >:(

The paper work that comes with the Aluminum wheel states to never use impact tools to mount or dismount wheel to and from hub.  Also, there is a torque pattern to use.

I thought Mr. Fixit would know how to deal with aftermarket wheels. I'm starting to wonder :-\

[woodbowl]

Deadheader is right, and it drives me crazy to see someone start at #1 lug to tighten with an air wrench and bare down on it untill it won't tighten any more and then to go around the rim instead of using a cross pattern. If they are going to use an air wrench, they should lightly bump in a cross pattern before the final tighten. When I get home, I jack up and re-torque to equilize the load.

[Fla._Deadheader]

 I tell 'em up front, if I can't tighten 'em on the lift, I buy tires elsewhere. Only had one place refuse to let me do it, for "Insurance purposes".  That's why there's more than 1 tire store in every town.  8)

  I had it happen on a Caddy. Took all the lugs loose, after finding the warp, and retightened to pull the warp back into shape. Never DID have the rotors turned.

  Here's y'alls chance. I don't BELIEVE in turning rotors.  ;)

[woodbowl]

Here's y'alls chance. I don't BELIEVE in turning rotors. ;)

Huhhhhhhhh.................What if there're rough as a DanG corn cobb? New shoes will groove and wear out faster!..............Uhh..........I don't turn em' very often myself, but that's another matter. I'm usually in too big of a hurry plus I'm a cheepo. I take a few minutes to put a cheap set of shoes in and get-r-done. What's your exkewse?

[DanG]

Hey Al!  Even with all the problems, I'll give ya $300 for the sick Honda.  Just throw it on the pallet wit da planer. ;D

[Joe W]

Another thought,When you checked the inner and outter tie rods did you have it jacked up with the wheels hanging?I've found sometimes you have to load the suspension.Such as support the lower control arms with jack stands.That way the steering linkage will be aligned the way it is most likely worn.When the suspension is just hanging the linkage is not in the normal operating position and the un worn areas of the ball and socket will be against one another making it feel tight.Don't ask how I know this,Joe

[trim4u2nv]

Check if you have a hydraulic steering dampener (shock absorber) it attaches from the steering linkage to the chassis.  If this is worn it will cause the symptoms you describe.

[Ron Scott]

Al, has the problem been solved ??

[Modat22]

Check the front strut towers for wear, also look at your front ball joints, and tie rod ends.

My grand am did that and the tie rod end gave way as I pulled out of the drive way. It stopped at that point, it could be nasty if that happened at 55 mph

[SwampDonkey]

Some people who have bought Toyota trucks for years are now complaining of shimmying at 90,000 km. I see alot of 2 or 3 years old Tacoma's for sale around my area. They seem to sell fairly quick and usually have a higher resale than GM or Ford. I see some Tacoma's selling for $3500-5000 (12-15 years old). I dunno why anyone would sell a 3 year old pickup, it's just broke in. I keep mine a minimum of 12 years.  : I've never bought foreign made vehicles (or so I thought), but they are now being made in US and Canada.  My Dodge is made in Mexico of all places, many of the parts are made in Brasil. :D I've drove in those Tacoma's at work for a few years and if you don't have lower back problems, you soon will.  The 4 cylenders are great on fuel though, but the 6's are pigs. :

[edsaws]

I'd say rotors aren't worth a dam. I replaced mine and they did the same thing your describing took them off got my money back. Went to a different parts store and they've been fine for about 8000 miles now. If it drives good and only shakes when you apply brakes I'd be taking it back to mister fix it.

[Ron Scott]

I had a similar problem with my 96 Toyota Tacoma pick-up. After 80,000 miles, it would shimmy when braking due to the brakes heating up as previously mentioned as a possible cause.

After a change of rotors, calipers, Midas brake shoes, etc, and not permanently correcting the problem, a trouble shooting recommendation found on the internet said to replace the stock brake shoes with heavy duty ones.

Midas replaced the brake shoes by me paying the difference in the better brake shows over theirs and its been fine since and has just turned over 185,000 miles. They tell me that the stock brake shoes that they come with are only made for light use and will heat up causing a shimmy when braking heavy. It is recommended to replace them with a heavy duty brake shoe.

I have overloads on by Tacoma, pull trailers, have it usually loaded heavy with work supplies, topper, camper, etc so that probably didn't help either.
It's a 6 cylinder and averages 20mpg depending upon the amount of 4 wheel drive use. I like the added power of the 6 cylinder.

[Don P]

I took a shortcut over to Hazzard, KY with the camper pulling the truck one time. Lost the breaks and finally got her stopped after a few seat creasing switchbacks and was cooling things off. The truck was attached with one of those bumper mount tow bars. The bumper brackets had broken and the only thing holding it on was those little decorative bolts into the mangled front quarter panels. DOT came by, said he had smelled my brakes and had been looking over the side for the wreck. I asked him how far down the mountain I was, "oh you're about halfway". We don't use that shortcut anymore.
Another thought several folks have hit on is overtightening, you could try backing the lug nuts off and retighten with a torque wrench. I had some animals break 2 lug studs on my Nissan one time  :. Guys like that can certainly warp the rotors.
The first few miles in our camper is fun, it usually sits at the job for months then goes to the next one. Thumpity thump thump.
My take on turning a warped rotor is that then the thickness varies where they faced the "bubble" off and then the heat gets all screwed up in there. They seem to rewarp in short order, course we got slightly different terrain. I only turn them when I oops and run the rivets in. My 3 year old truck has had warped rotors for 2 years  :D

[rebocardo]

Considering the age of the car, the mileage, and the work that has already been done, there is a good chance of one of these four things.

Collapsed/bad hose hose on that side.

Stuck brake caliper (cocked piston).

Bad brake fluid with water.  I might try flushing from that caliper.

Bad caliper pins/slides. Been a while since I did an older Honda, I think they are bolts/pins within bushings. If they are tightened to much (over torqued) they will bind the brakes because they become bent. I think the spec. on the last one I did was 35 pounds and I had to take it off with a cheater bar on my 1/2" 2 foot ratchet!

re:aluminum rims

Last (newer) Honda I did said 80 foot pounds of torque. Unless they were using a newer torque stick on their impact wrench the lugs are probably overtightened since the "general" use ones are 90, 100, and 140. If he was laying on the stick (hammering and going on after the first hit) the wheels are over torqued. On the smaller vehicles I would put on the lugnuts at the lowest setting (50 pounds - a light zip) and then finish with a torque wrench. 

[ElectricAl]

Ron,

The Honda still has the Parkinsons :-\

I followed up on the suggestions posted last Sept. Including putting all the wheels on blocks so I could get under it to check the rod ends.

I pulled the wheels off and turned them and retoqured the lugs.

Really should replace the power shafts and CV's

The steering dampner looked alright, but I'll have to unbolt it to checkk it.

Rebocardo,

The Honda got new loaded calipers and new disks and fluid all at once. However I had not heard of the studs being toqured too much. That is a thought ;)  It's a 91 and has little bushings in the calipers.


Edsaws,

It might be a little late to demand new rotors : There is only a couple hundred milkes on it though :-\   I guess it's worth a phone call.


Modat22,

Those parts don't look to bad, but you never know when they'll brake
We spent $500 on the new brakes, and really don't want to spend another $500 replacing other parts that "May" be worn out :-\

The Parkinson Honda only gets driven a 1000 miles per year. Rusty disks are the biggest problem over all. We do this $500 brake job every three years

So we may just put up with the Shakes for another 3000 miles :D