Well whenever I brake in high speed (60mph) my steering wheel begins to shake.. I just recently changed my front brakes, calipers and rotors.

- so could it be my rear brakes and rotors?
- a friend of mine also said that it could be my outer tie rods?

 

Did it do this before you changed the front brakes? If not, there's your problem.

 

you just need new pads

 

That happened to me alooong time again, i found out that i had warped rotors, but you replaced yours right? Or just had them turned?

 

Still sounds like the rotors are warped to me, that is if you didn't have the problem before the brake job. Could you have over-heated the new brakes, maybe by following that break-in procedure mentioned on this forum which advocates a high speed-to-sudden and prolonged heavy brake application? If not properly done this could warp the new rotors from excessive heat. Just a thought.

 

nope it didnt.. i will check it out first thing in the morning

 

Like mentioned above definitely sounds like warped rotors. I had this after I didn't properly break in my brakes..upgraded to BBK's since I had them sitting no more problems.

 

I don't own a max, but that's exactly what my car did with warped rotors.

 

If your sure your steering wheel is what shakes when braking at high speeds then for sure your front brakes are the cause. But don't automatically assume the new rotors are warped, when in fact they may be trued however the hub may have excessive runout. Best possible thing you can do is have a shop, like your local nissan dealer, resurface your front brake rotors using an on-car brake lathe which cuts the rotors as straight as possible and compensates for any hub runout you may have. It basically cuts the rotors crooked but combined with the crooked runout your hub may have it will end up cancelling each other out. I've seen this happen even with new rotors like on Titans.

Otherwise recheck your rotors, make sure they're on right and scrape off any old rust that exits between the rotor and hub. And make sure to torque your wheels on in a cross pattern.

 

As everyone above stated warped rotors. Also, you have to get the new brakes to seat well when you first put them on. Easy braking for the first couple days. If you immediately lay into them as soon as you put them on you could ruin the pads and possibly overhheat and warp the rotors.

Plus what kind of rotors were they? Quality or cheap Korean replacements?? Some of those come prescrewed up right from the factory. I've heard of several folks having to get brand new ones cut because they were out of round from the factory.

Lastly, you have to make sure the guide pins that your calipers ride on are staight and properly lubricated. If they are slightly bent or have any rough spots the caliper will hang up on them and cause a pulse in the brakes instead oof smoothly riding back and forth.

Hope this helps.

 

no the front rotors and pads are excellent i believe its the rear ones that ar causing the shaking problems bc it hasn't been replaced yet.. could rear pads and rotors cause shaking problems?

 

Not excessive shaking in the steering wheel.

Why do you think they're 'excellent'? Have you checked the runout on them?

 

Steering wheel shake whenyou hit the brakes means front suspension or steering. I'm still betting warped rotors.

 

sounds like warp rotors.. check your pads

 

I bet if your brake pedal pulses while braking along with your steering wheel, it's your rotors, not the backs either because most of the braking power comes from the front brakes. Redo all the above mentioned steps, and see if that fixes your shaking problems.

 

If your brake pedal isn't pulsing then it's likely not a rotor runout issue. Probably uneven pad material distribution.

 

Same thing happen to my friends max and it was his hubs

 

Exactly. Get your rotors machined with an oncar brake lathe. Replacing your hubs might work too but all hubs have some runout so best bet is to machine your rotors to that hub's runout to cancel each other out.

If your brake pedal pulses and the car feels like it shakes especially felt in the seat, try pulling up on the parking brake handle while you cruising at like 40mph, pull up slowly and carefully, this will engage the rear brakes only and if the car shakes then you know its your rear brakes. If it doesn't do anything other than just slow down then you know your rears are ok.

 

great tips guys! well i installed my rear pads n rotors and i still feel a little bit of shaking on the steering wheel when braking in 50-60 mph.. so i guess start from one which are the front pad n rotors n see if they are not broken in properly or unless i have to wait a few more miles until the new brakes are broken in? and my alignment is pretty off also.. maybe the alignment could be the cause of this problem as well?

 

....maybe. Wheels being out of balance could cause some vibration at higher speeds but the fact that you say this started happening as soon as you put on new front brakes makes us wonder if your new rotors are true. Trust me, on car brake lathe will cure all, i've seen this hundreds of times.

As far as braking in new brake pads, im sure everyone has their own methods and what not but the way Nissan tells us to do it is to drive at 30mph and slow down to a stop within 5 seconds. Then drive for 2 mins at 30mph to cool off the brakes and again stop by the 5th second. Again, drive to cool off the brakes and next stop within 4 seconds, then do 3 seconds. By this, the brakes should be properly broken in or as Nissan calls it "Burnished".

 

a wheel weight could have fallen off / got knocked off. it's a coincidence, and a stretch, but it could happen. have your wheels rebalanced. start from the ground and work your way up. literally.

 

Have you checked your tire pressure lately? That can cause shaking at high speeds. I like to set my pressure to 37-40lbs, makes the MPG go up 2-3MPG too.

 

maybe you need new tires, tires have a lot to do with vibration

 

its most likely the rotors not the tires because he said it only shakes when he brakes. that means your rotors are uneven or warped because when they get hot on high speeds it vibrates...

 

problem solved guys.. it was warped rotors and definitely not the tires because their brand new.. thanks for tips! =)