Front End Shake

JExpedition07 · Oct 15, 2017

Reunited with the same old expy and its same old suspension problem, I guess I'm going to keep it so here we go. Long story short when I was driving it the last few months it had a shake when braking and the same shake at speeds in excess of 70 MPH on the thruway. Seemed to subside for a while but it was back again more recently. It almost feels like how a warped rotor feels when braking but it isn't only when braking but also at high speed just driving straight. I've pulled the front wheels off and can't find anything out of the ordinary and everything feels tight. Any ideas? The wheel will shake if I'm not holding tight when braking from higher speed as well.

Habbibie · Oct 15, 2017

Take the rotors off and see if they're wrapped...

JExpedition07 · Oct 15, 2017

If it were the rotors I don't think it would happen driving with no pressure applied from the pads to the rotor though. Guess I should anyway just have a feeling I'm going to be wasting time.

Habbibie · Oct 15, 2017

Similar issue happened to me a few years back, the issue was the rotors were warpped so bad that they vibrated on the outside pad that constantly rides the rotor so even without brake applied I would feel the vibration at highway speeds, if you feel it would be a waste of time then don't do it

JExpedition07 · Oct 15, 2017

Sounds very similar and makes sense if they are warped enough. thanks for the suggestion I'll get a look at the rotors then.

ExpeditionAndy · Oct 15, 2017

Does it feel like a wobble where the steering wheel moves back and forth? I'm thinking it might be a steering dampener that is going bad. They are designed to keep the wheels from trying to turn left and right when you are heading down the road and hit a bump - it dampens the oscillations.

JExpedition07 · Oct 15, 2017

Andy If I let go of the wheel going straight and do it it tracks straight but the wheel will vibrate for a few seconds when I first brake. It's more of a vibration than a sloppy wheel. I probably should take it in for an alignment too by eye it looks a little off. If this helps: it doesn't do it gong over bumps in the road any worse than over a perfectly smooth road. Nor does turning the wheel seem to have an effect on it. My wheels were balanced when I had them install the new TPMS so I know those are kosher. BTW to anyone to needs new TPMS sensors buy the Airtex/Wells ones not motorcraft, I bought the Airtex ones for $12 each and they are stamped made by FoMoCo, found out they make them for Ford so by going to them your getting the exact OEM Sensor just without paying fords markup.

ExpeditionAndy · Oct 15, 2017

JExpedition07 said:
Andy If I let go of the wheel going straight and do it it tracks straight but the wheel will vibrate for a few seconds when I first brake. It's more of a vibration than a sloppy wheel. I probably should take it in for an alignment too by eye it looks a little off. If this helps: it doesn't do it gong over bumps in the road any worse than over a perfectly smooth road. Nor does turning the wheel seem to have an effect on it. My wheels were balanced when I had them install the new TPMS so I know those are kosher. BTW to anyone to needs new TPMS sensors buy the Airtex/Wells ones not motorcraft, I bought the Airtex ones for $12 each and they are stamped made by FoMoCo, found out they make them for Ford so by going to them your getting the exact OEM Sensor just without paying fords markup.

It is probably rotors then. If you replace them buy heavy duty ones and they will be less likely to warp. I always ask for heavy duty rotors, they are better at heat dissipation.

Adieu · Oct 16, 2017

JExpedition07 said:
Andy If I let go of the wheel going straight and do it it tracks straight but the wheel will vibrate for a few seconds when I first brake. It's more of a vibration than a sloppy wheel. I probably should take it in for an alignment too by eye it looks a little off. If this helps: it doesn't do it gong over bumps in the road any worse than over a perfectly smooth road. Nor does turning the wheel seem to have an effect on it. My wheels were balanced when I had them install the new TPMS so I know those are kosher. BTW to anyone to needs new TPMS sensors buy the Airtex/Wells ones not motorcraft, I bought the Airtex ones for $12 each and they are stamped made by FoMoCo, found out they make them for Ford so by going to them your getting the exact OEM Sensor just without paying fords markup.

Tire shops are scary sloppy, just because someone took your money to balance a wheel does not necessarily make it...actually balanced.

Just sayin.

netdawg · Oct 17, 2017

my daily commute includes about 3mi of hill driving (down in the AM and up in the PM) at 45-55mph speeds but with about 3 or 4 stop lights and decent traffic. I've noticed that downhill breaking causes me a lot of heat on the front end and I go through rotors quickly if I try and buy the cheap or even OEM grade pads and rotors. I've upgraded to Bosch rotors and high end non-ceramic pads and haven't had issues since (over 2+yrs) which used to only last me ~12mos

Front End Shake

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