Shaking front end

[undersc0re]

When I am near highway speeds and I have to put the brakes on quickly I get a violent shake which I am positive is coming from the front end. I let off the brakes and it goes away. I have slight front rotor wobble most of the time. I put new front rotors in and in less than a month they wobble! Would this violent wobble be a sign of my rack moving or a bad tie rod end as well as warped rotors. I measured them and they were both about .0055" (5 and half thow) I figured this would be normal but I really don't know much about the automotive mechanics. Is there a weakness in the rack on these cars? Also do the tie rod ends and balls joints usually need changing out on these in they're lifetime? I am at 160,000 km.

[CactusWill]

Well, did the wobbling go away completely when the rotors were brand new?

[heineck]

did u get it aligned?

[MotorCity]

could it be bad struts ??

[Nate's Alero]

i know whats wrong, do your caliper slide pins move freely? whats happening is that the caliper is stuck in a certain position where the pad or pads are rubbing and heating up the rotor, and when you stop, it creates an expanded spot on the rotor, causing the warp. check the pics where the caliper bolts onto if you dont need to hold the pins while you are unbolting JUST THE CALIPER, (not the caliper and the bracket form the spindle) remove the caliper, remove the bracket, and you will see two rubber boots, take the little pin head from the bracket, attach vice grips, and hammer away.

[undersc0re]

i know whats wrong, do your caliper slide pins move freely? whats happening is that the caliper is stuck in a certain position where the pad or pads are rubbing and heating up the rotor, and when you stop, it creates an expanded spot on the rotor, causing the warp. check the pics where the caliper bolts onto if you dont need to hold the pins while you are unbolting JUST THE CALIPER, (not the caliper and the bracket form the spindle) remove the caliper, remove the bracket, and you will see two rubber boots, take the little pin head from the bracket, attach vice grips, and hammer away.


I will give it a shot tomorrow thanks. How do you test for bad struts? I will check everything with the car jacked up Sunday. I thought changing out the rear pads and rotors would fix it up but it just got a little better thats all. It would suck to have to spend another 60 bux changing out the front rotors again. I didn't check runout on the insides of the rotors, maybe I'll check that.

[CactusWill]

Sigh. You didn't answer my question.

[Nate's Alero]

I will give it a shot tomorrow thanks. How do you test for bad struts? I will check everything with the car jacked up Sunday. I thought changing out the rear pads and rotors would fix it up but it just got a little better thats all. It would suck to have to spend another 60 bux changing out the front rotors again. I didn't check runout on the insides of the rotors, maybe I'll check that.

if there is wear on the inside of the rotor, but not as much wear on the outside (front) on the old rotors, then there is your answer, bad struts would not cause shaking....... if they were that bad, you would have the bounciest ride ever...

[Vic28]

over torqued wheel.

[Nate's Alero]

over torqued wheel.

you mean bent rim?

[99alerogirl]

i'm having a similar problem. i thought it was just because my tires were bad and out of balance, but i just got them replaced. it's a little better but still a rattle. let's see....

new:
passenger side: cv axle, hub assembly, tire, tie rod end
driver side: hub assemble, tire

seems to be coming from the passenger side though. my anti lock/trac off lights have been on since i changed the hub the 3rd time. just got it diagnosed as passenger side front. it's a brand new hub, but could this be causeing the vibrations???:drunk:

[lonnie]

I have a shake and it is because of the outer tie rod ends...I've also had the sized caliper pin problem as well....and they are a bitch to get out with out heating them up.

[Nate's Alero]

ITS SIEZED CALIPER PINS!!!!!!!!!!!


i love my 300$ hunk o shit, i co go to the speed limiter...and not one shake :)

[undersc0re]

Sigh. You didn't answer my question.


The wobbling was not there when the front ones were new and then a couple days later after driving on the highway and around town I heard a bit of scraping and felt a little wobble, replaced the rear brakes due to 1/4 of the pads touching the rotors, the rotors were rusted to crap. So I thought it felt good after getting new rear brakes(take a bit of strain off the fronts) But after a few days I noticed it was better until a had to make a quick stop on the highway and the front end felt like the tie rod end snapped off or my rotors decided to warp .050" for that time. lol. Now this morning I jack up the car and it seems that the drivers side upper mount or whatever seems like it has a very little bit of movement, doubt it cause my death wobble, but I can't seem to find anything else. It is still up in the air so my buddy is coming over with his measuring tool to check the warp on the inside of the rotors, which we overlooked last time. Wobble only happens during braking, and extremely bad at highway speeds when I press them hard. The hubs are new approx 10 months ago(both) I will clean and lube the slide pins after we do the rotor check so I can hit the store on time if I have to for rotors. I am assuming brake parts are the culprit, so I will find the problem there first, next I assume that brake part is showing wear in another part. My strut and or rack is creaking a lot lately as well when I turn(drivers side), dunno if the shaking caused it or what, which just made me realize I better check those 3 hub bolts as well lol.

Is there a spec for rotor warpage?

EDIT** Ok a phone call found info on rotor warpage, .0015" front rotor and .002" rears. So I am way out already, makes me wonder if I had the mating surfaces clean enough behind the rotors when I put them on, but I guess it would have shook right away.

One last question...upper strut mount, do I need spring compressor to switch this out or do I just pull the strut assembly out and the mount is attached to body? I have no idea how this works but I will change it if its easy to do.

[99alerogirl]

strut mount is attached to the strut itself. i did it without a spring compressor (i just had another person holding it down so it didn't fly away)... i got the spring compressor, but when i used it the strut just spun with the nut. but yeah, it's attached to the strut when you take it out.

[undersc0re]

Ok we checked everything out and it has to be rotors, I found another slightwear item, the pins someone mentioned to lube, they seem to be worn a bit on both the outer sliding piece of the caliper has a slight wiggle to it on both sides, would this be a normal thing? Also can you just buy pins or do you change out the whole caliper? This Alero seems to chew up brake parts like no ones business! Amazing, imagined if you towed with it or carried a few extra people in it all the time...wow, lucky I travel in this thing alone.

[lonnie]

Ok we checked everything out and it has to be rotors, I found another slightwear item, the pins someone mentioned to lube, they seem to be worn a bit on both the outer sliding piece of the caliper has a slight wiggle to it on both sides, would this be a normal thing? Also can you just buy pins or do you change out the whole caliper? This Alero seems to chew up brake parts like no ones business! Amazing, imagined if you towed with it or carried a few extra people in it all the time...wow, lucky I travel in this thing alone.
You can buy the pins with the boots in a kit...like 26 bucks last I checked...I got mine at autozone.

[99alerogirl]

or they sell just the pins by themselves. when they look it up in the computer make sure they click on caliper bolt/pin, and not the whole kit. unless you want the whole kit. but the pins by themselves are like 5-10 bucks.

[lonnie]

I just got my outer tie rods done and a four wheel alignment and my shake is gone...there is a little pull to the right but that is because my pins are seized again....but other then that she is driving like a dream. Price you ask....296.54

How that breaks down is like so:
2 outer tierods 159.24
Labor 79.75
Four wheel alignment 48.00
Tax 9.55

Just incase anyone else needs to get a round about price....That is with a 10 percent discount because I told them that I was a college student...I just didn't have my id (that's my story and I'm sticking to it)...LOL!

[undersc0re]

I fixed the wobble by replacing the front drivers side rotor only, there is a VERY slight wobble left still but I'll save 35 bux and replace the other rotor when it gets bad...