On my 1999 3.0CL, when I am braking from a higher speed (50-60mph) the steering wheel shakes and "wobbles" from left to right. The shaking only happens when braking, no other time. The only modification that I have done to affact my ride on pavement is my 17 inch wheels and tires,k no suspension. Is this possibly a matter of just wheel balance being off, or could my brakes be shot?

 

sounds like warped rotors

 

I agree, sounds like the rotors, they may need to be turned (if you can even do that to these rotors) or replaced

 

yep, rotors are warped

 

ditto warped rotors....for future reference if it was a wheel out of balance it would happen ONLY at high speeds and it would be constant instead of only while your on the brakes. also after you replace your rotors or get them turned to fix the problem try to avoid washing your car right after driving because your brakes are hot. if you accidently hit the hot rotor with cold water it will warp it. you have a 99 so replacing the rotors shouldnt be a big deal but for us 97's rotor care is king haha

 

Warped rotors FTW

and yea lucky people dont have the 97`s. captive rotors suck.

 

a good set of X-drilled rotors are nice, the exhausting and heat dissipation let you really jam them hard without warping. my fronts were warped and i upgraded , very pleased so far

 

tell me about it

 

ya i had the same problem also but i got some drilled rotors and the shaking went away

 

Hi - I've got warped rotors also. 98 CL 2.3

Are the 98s a problem? Or just the 97s?

How can I tell if I need all four or just the fronts?

Any brand recommendations on replacements?

tia

 

Bump for the question.

How can I tell if I need all four rotors or just two?

 

Your front rotors do the majority of your stopping. I would imagine that only your fronts are warped.....

You could try this depending on your own comfort level/driving expericence level.

If you use you parking brake all of the time and your sure that it works and won't freeze up. At the slowest speed that you feel the rotor vibration, hold the release button in for the parking brake and pull it up slowly. Do this until you feel the brake engage. (The parking brake only activates your rear brakes). If you have warped rotors on the rear then you'll feel a vibration while doing this while driving. Don't forget to release the parking brake completely once you tested this.

 

just remember when doing this the steering wheel will not shake, you will have to pay close attention and may want to be sure the radio is down so maybe you will hear the vibration as well

 

Do the 1st gens have the ebrake that sits inside the rotor like the 2g's or are they part of the caliper? This method would only work if it's NOT the drum type.

Although you could be seeing warped disks, there are other, more common reasons as to why you would feel a shake in the steering wheel. Go to google and type in "warped disk myths" and click the link to StopTech's site. What you could have is pad material transferred to the rotor after a sudden, hard deceleration from the brakes.

 

thanks for the info.

 

I an running cyro rotors and have been fortunate so far

 

I had the same problem. I bought some cross drilled and slotted rotors front and rear and they have been great. I think I paid around $200 for all 4 rotors w/ pads from some company in Cali that machined them in-house. I can dig up where if you need.