When I put my foot on the brake to stop, my steering wheel shakes back and forth. Not very bad, but it does shake, and it never did this before. Any clue to what this could be.

Please help.

 

mine does it to, i think its the brakes needing to be replaced. mine also pulls to the left when i brake also with the shaking.

 

How old are your brake shoes?

 

Not to old, about 12K on them if that much.

 

Pads or rotors.

 

or maybe the last guy to do the brakes didnt resurface the drums and rotors. or smooth them out.. whatever its called, on that machine that smooths them out. mine does that too, but all my brakes have at least 80% in them. they squeal too... weird huh? have had it checked out by multiple mechanics, all the brakes are fine.

 

OK, great question, and soooo over looked to why this happens.

Your answer is: BRAKE ROTORS.
The solution is: DO NOT OVER TORQUE THE LUG NUTS!!!!

Over torqueing the lug nuts will warp brake rotors. Apply equal pressure on all lugs tightening them in a criss cross pattern. This tends to happens the most when changing a tire because the torque has been changed. If our brake rotor is warped you'll need them resurfaced if within spec or buy new ones. It's always best to do things in pairs.

People who do brakes or tires at a shop use a IMPACT GUN!!! Impact guns are not a torque wrench and will warp your brake rotor the next time you change a tire! I will never let anyone use a impact gun on my ride... If you need new tires, request to manually tighten the lugs yourself!!!

 

Thats not entirely correct, most shops do this but not all. I happen to know at Discount Tire they use an impact wrench then a torque wrench to do the final torque and it always says how much torque they put.

But I know what you're saying I've seen alot of tire shops put tires on using an impact wrench AND they go in a circle not an alternating/star pattern. Unforunatlly you have to watch out for lazy people. It could end up worse, like a wheel coming off.

 

We also use a torque stick, on the impact to prevent over-tightening the lugs.

 

We use impact guns on steel wheels and torque wrenches on mags. you would have to GROSSLY over torque the wheel lugs to warp a rotor.. rotors get warped due to excessive heat and poor craftsmanship...

 

=warped or hot spots on the rotor. Cut or replace.


Stop riding your brakes when going down a hill.

I've found the factory toyota pads to be the best of the bunch and not that much more $ than the cheap ones.

 

brakes- if the pads are new have the brake guy resurface your rotors.