I have a 1989 honda accord that has a bad shake in the steering wheel when braking from above 40MPH. I have checked the brakes and the pads and shoes are good. I have a power steering leak that I have to track down, could this be causing the shake?
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that guy
ANSWERS: 1
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Probably bad rotors. Excessive radial runout, warped, hard/hot spotting or simply excessive variation in the rotor thickness which forces the pads to push the caliper piston back into the caliper housing which is what you feel. The last time the pads were replaced the rotors probably should have been done too. If they were, then when the went back on the hub the surface was not properly cleaned and now they've deformed. It is possible to check the rotor runout with a dial indicator and a magnetic base. Runout should probably be less than .005". You can use a special micrometer made for rotors to check thinkness against the discard spec and also for thickness variation. Here in Pennsylvania the maximum variation for State Inspection is .015" Rotors are cheap, don't bother trying to cut them or reuse them when changing pads unless you are pinching pennies or about to sell/trade the car and never if you have a brake issue. What you describe can on occaisions be due to a bad tire butthat would be very rare and unlikely based on the way you describe the issue.
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