Vibrations under hard braking

[RJK]

Just some time back while returning home I noticed vibrations in the steering wheel when I braked from around 100k's. At low speeds its absolutely not there but around 90-100 I definitely felt it. No problems in turns or whatsoever. The only thing that comes to my mind is probably the alignment/balancing which was done around 3-4months back. What else could it be ?

[speedsatya]

it could also be due to your front discs being worn out unevenly.does your brake pedal also vibrate?????

[RJK]

No..brake pedal doesn't vibrate. The disc looks absolutely alright but then who knows. The car only today completed 30k kms. Isn't that too early for discs to wear out ?

[merve_extreme]

Must be due to braking on an uneven road surface.

[revtech]

RJK
wear and tear of brakes totally depends on how it was used and whether you usually use engine breaking.if you do your brakes should last longer but breaking hard often does cause some wearing off pretty soon.
as satya said just get the front discs checked.

Rev

[speedsatya]

if your brake pedal doesnt vibrate on braking ,then it is something to do with the alignment/balancing or the steering system.

[cheatingdeath]

its alignment and balancing problem...if your car drifts left or right while you a re breaking ... thenget you break liners checked... i strongly feel its to do with balancing..

[Shan2nu]

Tie Rod problem, had the same prob on the Vtec, got the tie rods changed and it's perfectly ok now.

Get them checked, they must have stiffened up.

Shan2nu

[rahulmd]

RJK, before you try anything, just get them rebalanced and realligned. will cost you some 300-400rs. If the problem persists, then look at other possibilities :-)

Regards,
Rahul

[normally_crazy]

It could either be

1) the Balancing and Alignment of tyres

2) braking on uneven surfaces

other than these 2 reasons i cant think of anything. Could be the tie rod as Shan says but first check out the 2 possibilties and proceed further as Rahul says.

btw - is it natural for the tie-rod to stiffen up at 30K kms ?

but before trying anything i sugest take another trial run on the same stretch or a similar stretch and check whether it happens again

cheers

[Jaggu]

how is the tyre condition, over wear/uneven wear also can contribute

[artofzen]

My zen makes a screeching sound when i stop the car in a downward slope..it is as if the brakes wont hold .wat might be the reason?

[drifter]

My zen makes a screeching sound when i stop the car in a downward slope..it is as if the brakes wont hold .wat might be the reason?

Screeching sound indicates worn out brake pads. If the pads have been recently replaced, there might be some foreign particle stuck in between the disk and the calipers...a simple brake service should solve that.

btw - is it natural for the tie-rod to stiffen up at 30K kms ?

Not unless it has been damaged by debris from the road...i had a problem with the tie rod on my indica when a rock hit it after which it had a major bend right in the center. There were vibrations...but they were coming right from when i started the car.


Drifter

[Shan2nu]

btw - is it natural for the tie-rod to stiffen up at 30K kms ?

Well, i got mine changed at 40K. They had bcome rock hard.

In my case, the problem started when ever i had to brake hard from 140kmph. It was fine before that. Now, i can brake from even 170kmph with any problems.

If it's a wheel balancing problem, it should occur even when the car is accelerating or cruising at high speeds. Allignment usually makes the car drift to one side, it doesn't make it vibrate.

Shan2nu

[turbo_c]

I fixed a similar problem on my Esteem by getting the Front rotors ground on a lathe and also getting the wheels balanced... it used to shudder quite badly before that, but now, no traces of any problems !