Car shakes when braking -- not front rotors

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My mother in-law's car has a pretty nasty shake when braking at high speeds. It's not noticeable unless braking on a highway or off-ramp. It's probably been like this for awhile but she rarely drive on fast roads, so she never noticed it. It's an older Honda Civic with front discs and rear drums.

I thought it was the front rotors and our mechanic verified that they were warped. He put new rotors on but the problem still persists (just not as bad as before). We're bringing the car back in next week.

Can rear drums develop the same symptoms as a warped rotor? What else could it be?

I know very little about drums, as I've never had any problems with them on any of my vehicles.
 
Truth is, a lot of things can contribute to shaking:

-out of round tires, unbalanced tires, brake rotors, brake drums, worn suspension (struts worn, etc.)

Even an out of true wheel hub would have lead to shaking also.

Get all those things checked if I were you.

Q.
 
Most tire shops have road force available.

http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/features/intro.cfm

Your drums can also cause vibration,along with internally damaged tires,warped or mis balanced wheels.
Road force is pretty slick..measures wheel run out,and puts the wheel tire combination on the correct wheel to maximize wear and lower vibration.

Check brakes first,then suspect tires,wheels for problems.
 
If he replaced the rotors but not the pads on the front, the faces won't match up perfectly until it gets some driving on it, and can cause shaking and poor pedal feel.
 
Sounds like some pad material got deposited on the rotors. I'd just replace the rotors instead of turning them.
 
It can also be the suspension - depending on the car.

If you've blown a bushing or ball joint it can amplify any out-of-balance, runout, or braking vibration from something that would normally be below the threshold of perception into something that's downright annoying.

This is often the case with BMWs with bad traction struts, for instance, which locate the wheel fore/aft. Under braking there is pressure on the bushing and if it gives way there's wobble there. In really bad cases it vibrates all the time.
 
Thanks for all of the advice! It sounds like it could be a lot of things. The car is about 7 years old but only has about 30,000 miles.

Our roads are very bad around here (brick streets and lots of potholes) with many rough railroad crossings, so it wouldn't surprise me if it's a suspension component or bad ball joint.

Would it be worth getting the tires balanced before taking it to our mechanic?
 
Originally Posted By: kb01

I thought it was the front rotors and our mechanic verified that they were warped. He put new rotors on but the problem still persists (just not as bad as before).


Just because the rotors are new, doesn't mean they couldn't have been warped right off the shelf.
 
I would check the tie rods for play, the ball joints and control arms. Also consider the wheel bearings. You might want to rotate the tires and see if the problem moves. A tire with bad runout or bad steel belts can cause quite a vibration when you shift weight onto it during braking.
 
Originally Posted By: punisher
Since you are dealing with rear drums, apply the parking brake only, while moving, and see what happens.


This is a good quick test. [But this assumes the P brakes are working perfectly.]

Sure, drums can cause a wobbly pedal on brake application. they are metal, and can wear or warp the same as a rotor.

And even though your front rotors are new, there may be a mounting problem [rust or dirt between the rotor and hub when tightened] , machined sloppily, or pad deposits.
Worn suspension components do not cause a vibration, but ALLOW it. Any deviation will be greatly magnified.

I wish I could state for sure what is wrong, but at this point is still could be various reasons.
 
I go with the new rotors not being true, especially since it did make some difference changing them.
 
Originally Posted By: kb01
Thanks for all of the advice! It sounds like it could be a lot of things. The car is about 7 years old but only has about 30,000 miles.

Our roads are very bad around here (brick streets and lots of potholes) with many rough railroad crossings, so it wouldn't surprise me if it's a suspension component or bad ball joint.

Would it be worth getting the tires balanced before taking it to our mechanic?


It can't hurt, but I wouldn't expect an out of balance tire to only shake on braking. It should shake all the time.

It may be worth your time to see that all of the lug nuts are tightened and that they are evenly torqued. When I had a Civic-platform Honda (Integra, actually) it was all the yack on the newsgroups at the time that uneven torquing caused all kinds of warped rotor style symptoms. Straight from volume-driven shops I've found as much as 100-150% variance in lug torque on the same wheel - not cool.
 
Last edited:
If anyone was wondering, it turned out to be the rear drums afte rall.
 
Good to hear that!

I have found that contamination on rotors or drums can cause shaking/vibrations, and that this contamination can come from driving on wet city roads or through puddles on busy streets.

In that case, doing a thourogh wash-down with brake cleaner (chlorinated, the bad (good) stuff) will eliminate most of the problem.
 
Originally Posted By: kb01
If anyone was wondering, it turned out to be the rear drums afte rall.

Glad you got it resolved. I fixed this same type of problem on wife's Odyssey by changing out the rear rotors and pads. The pads were worn pretty bad and at an angle. First I replaced the front rotors and pads, which didn't help much. I didn't think the rear brakes would induce the vibrations up front, but I changed them since the pads looked worn. After that, all was good ... no more vibrations while braking.
 
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