Has your vehicle begun shaking or vibrating when you hit the brakes? A loose steering wheel or pedal could pose serious safety concerns, placing you and others at risk.
Mobile Tyres Services provides insight into why your car may be shaking when applying the brakes, as well as solutions. Here are seven possible causes:
1. Worn Brake Pads
Your brake pads and rotors work in unison to bring your wheels to a stop, stopping the vehicle on an even surface. Each pad contains friction material which interacts with the rotors for maximum stopping power. Worn-out pads will produce an audible high-pitched squealing noise to indicate this fact – it’s imperative you replace them promptly!
Brake pad wear depends on several factors, including driving styles, road conditions and type of pad installed (organic, semi-metallic or ceramic). Frequent hard braking further accelerates their wear. Over time, metal-on-metal contact can damage rotors and calipers requiring costly repair jobs to fix. Squealing noise is the first indicator that brake pads need replacement; additionally it could indicate that other areas require attention as well.
2. Brake Rotors
Your brake pads work in tandem with your vehicle’s rotors to effectively stop its motion. Rotors are large flat iron discs that sit behind each wheel on hub assemblies or axles and feature ribs to dissipate heat and friction generated when brake pads clamp against them, as well as disperse any heat generated when clamped against. Basic round rotors may be round while performance ones can have slots or be slotted or drilled – our Honda service center can assist in selecting which is appropriate depending on driving conditions and needs of each vehicle based on driving conditions or needs of drivers and drivers alike.
Brake rotors may become warped due to excessive heat, dust, dirt or corrosion, losing their smooth surface and potentially causing your vehicle to vibrate when applying pressure to its brakes. When this occurs, warped brake rotors become less reliable for use and more likely to produce noise when applying brake pressure causing your brake pedal to shake when applying pressure on it.
3. Brake Lines
Brake lines are thin tubes filled with pressurized brake fluid that transmit pressure from your car’s master cylinder to its wheel cylinders and then its calipers that squeeze your brake pads, slowing and stopping your car. However, brake lines can easily become damaged or cracked over time and should always be checked regularly for signs of leakage or cracks in their construction.
Metal brake lines have long been an integral component of passenger vehicles, used to withstand high temperatures, pressure and tension while resisting corrosion and abrasion. They provide superior stopping power.
Steel tubing has long been the industry standard due to its strength and affordability; however, modern calcium chloride/brine road salt mixtures have proven its susceptibility to corrosion and rust. Copper-nickel tubing stands out as an engineering marvel; meeting or surpassing all passenger vehicle braking line requirements while offering superior corrosion resistance compared to steel tubing.
4. Brake Booster
Power steering and brake booster technology has revolutionized driving. Brake boosters serve as safety features to help stop your vehicle without using as much physical force to do it.
If your car shakes when braking, this could be an indication that its brake booster has become dysfunctional. These devices draw vacuum from your engine to increase brake pressure and make pressing the pedal easier.
An improperly functioning or broken booster can take too much vacuum away from an engine, causing it to run rough or even stall out altogether. If you suspect an issue, try spraying the brake booster with dish soap and water while running the engine to detect leaks or collapsed hoses.
5. Worn Brake Shoes
As soon as you press your brake pedal, forces exerted on it will push brake shoes outward against inner brake drums, creating frictional forces which convert kinetic energy to thermal energy, eventually slowing your wheels. Brake shoes consist of two steel plates welded together with brake linings on either side. Organic shoes use carbon and fiberglass strands for quiet stops while semi-metallic ones have copper-strands that transfer heat for quicker stops.
Neglected brake shoes can result in excessive wear that reduces performance and increases risk. Listen for any squealing, scraping or grinding noises to indicate uneven shoe-to-drum contact; additionally regularly inspect brake fluid levels as low fluid could signal leaks or other potential problems – Mobile Tyres Services offers expert service for all your brake service needs!
6. Unbalanced Tires
If your vehicle has been shaking when driving on rough roads or at higher speeds, this could be a telltale sign of misbalanced tires. When weight distribution is not even, contact between tires and road surface is unevenly distributed leading to premature tread wear and decreased fuel efficiency resulting in premature tread wear and lower fuel efficiency.
An insufficient tire balance can cause your vehicle to shudder when hitting speed bumps, potholes or debris on the road – especially at higher speeds when hitching up speed bumps or potholes – rendering the ride uncomfortable for everyone in it.
Long-term driving with tires that are out-of-balance can also put undue stress on other suspension components like shocks and bearings, leading to rapid wear-and-tear deterioration and replacement costs. Addressing this problem early could save money in repairs and replacement expenses.
7. Stuck Brake Caliper
When stopping your vehicle, hydraulic pressure from the master cylinder exerts force on a piston inside of the brake caliper and presses against a piston within it, forcing it against an opposing pad, creating friction to slow and stop your car. But if this piston becomes sticky it may fail to retract fully and apply uneven tyre pressure across all your pads at once causing them to wear down faster than intended.
Common symptoms of a stuck brake caliper include:
Burning, acrid odor when applying brakes may be obvious and alarming; however, unchecked, it could result in significant damage to your rotors and other components if left unattended. Contact Mobile Tyre Services immediately so we can have this issue addressed as quickly as possible by our experts.