Why does car shake when braking?

Braking is the act of using the brakes of a car to slow it down or bring it to a stop.

Shaking during braking means vibrations that are noticeable or felt when the brakes are applied.

 

 

Have you noticed that whenever you apply brakes, your car begins to vibrate? This can happen due to diverse reasons.

It is very common for some people to assume that car vibration when braking is a sign of bad brake disc but that is only one out of many possible causes.

 

THESE ARE SOME POSSIBLE REASONS WHY CAR SHAKES DURING BRAKING:

1. Bad tires can cause vibration while braking. Tire should always be physically inspected.

 

2. Wrong installation of brake pads. Brake pads should be properly bedded during installation.

 

3. Caliper seizure which is usually caused by corrosion or dirt. A seized caliper will not allow the brake pad to be applied on the rotor properly. This will cause pulsation. A seized caliper might not release the pads from the rotor which will cause the rotor to heat up and warp.

 

4. Airlock in the brake's hydraulic system can cause uneven pressure on the brake pads which will cause vibration.


5. Unbalanced wheels. When wheels are unbalanced either due to the tire, rim or removed balance weights, the result is vibrations. When balancing should be done to correct this.

6. Bad alignment also cause vibrations.

 

7.  Control arm that is loose or knuckle that is damaged can cause vibration.

 

8. Loose or over tightened lugs/lug nuts. This causes uneven torque at each wheel lug.

 

9. When the guide pins that guide the pads to the rotor are dry or bent, they cause the pads not to be properly applied to the rotor.

 

10. Warped rotors caused mainly due to high temperature, causes vibration.

 

11.  Substandard brake pad causes the rotor to heat up.

 

12. Fault in the Anti-lock Braking System which causes uneven brake force distribution can make the rotor and pad of some wheels to be overworked and cause them to overheat and warp.

 

13. When rotors are being machined and their thickness is over reduced beyond the minimum level, the rotor now has a poor heat transfer characteristics which causes it to warp easily.


14. Anything that causes severe increase in temperature of the pad/rotor can create hot spots which causes uneven contact between the pad and the disc.

15. Faulty wheel bearing is another cause of vibration.

 

16.  Suspension components that are worn cause car to shake. Example is suspension bushes.

 

17.  The last but not the least is bad engine mount or bad transmission mount.