hey peeps, got a 98 ex coupe and when i start to brake, my steering wheel starts to shake really bad. happens even more when i start to break from high speeds. any ideas what might be the culprit??

 

Warped brake rotors. This happens when you make a panic stop[ or something like dat, cuz u end up overheating the rotors, making them suceptible to warping. Change em and holla back! Might wanna go with a cross drilled slotted setup. BTW Get some good pads while ur @ it. Good luck homey.

 

yeah check dem rotors

 

Before blaming the rotors (which will cost you money to fix), what you might have is some uneven accumulation of pad material on the rotors. Heating the rotors up with hard applications can sometimes clean the buildup off.. Do 4-5 hard stops from 60-10 then drive around at reaonable speeds without using the brakes for 5 minutes.

If that doesn't clear the problem up then I would look at the rotors next. If it is the rotors, don't waste money resurfacing them just buy new.

regards,
alan

 

I was just saying, to save himself the time of troubleshooting a brake problem..... he might as well kill 2 birds with one stone and replace/upgrade his rotors which are probably years old. Anything else is a waste of time... (UPGRADE BRO!) Not 2 be rude just stating whats obvious 2 me.

 

While warped rotors can definately be the problem, all you need to do is have them turned. If they are warped too bad, any good shop should be able to tell you.

I had a similar problem on my '91 Integra and what the problem ended up being is the rear calipers. The cailper "floats" to accomodate pad wear. The caliper slides can get worn and let the caliper get bound up at an angle. If you take your calipers off and look at your pads the wear surface should be parallel to the backing plate. If it's at a funky angle, check your caliper slides. Even if the slides aren't worn, lack of lube (usually overlooked) can cause them to bind up. While a shaking wheel usually indicates the front brakes, my rear calipers shook the whole car so bad, it was impossible to tell. Hope this helps,

Mike

 

try re-surfacing