Braking Wobble at High Speeds

[David61]

Above around 40 mph, more wobble at higher speeds I get a steering wobble when braking. New rotors and calipers on my 05. Had a really rough ride in Colorado a year ago, broke my rear sway bar in half but I had a great time doing it! I have 2" spacers. Tires are good and don't show any wear patterns........yet I'm thinking ball joints? Tie rods? When I get the tires off the ground I don't get any slack............someone else have this or know what's up?

 

[NCHornet]

If it's only happening while braking that is usually a rotor issue. When rotors get hot it forms very hard spots in the rotor itself. Having them turned does nothing to remove these spots, it simply gets the rotor true again by evening out the rotor surface. This will make it feel like the problem is solved. But then the first time you have to hit the brakes hard that wobble in the wheel comes back, the more times this happens the worse the wobble gets. When you say new rotors what does that mean? Are they brand new or did some shop simply turn them down and media blast them so they look new? Sounds crazy but this happens all the time. If you bought some Lifetime warranty rotor from a chain store you better get good and swapping rotors because you will be doing it a lot.
Ford was guilty of putting cheap Mexican made rotors on their Super Duty trucks. My F350 Dually was meant for hauling heavy but the rotors sure weren't. One of the first and the best mod that I did was to buy a set of Power Slot rotors that were cyro treated with Hawks LTS pads. I was hauling loads of 20K plus and many times on gooseneck trailers with no brakes. The rotors have been on there since 2003 and have never been turned and never will be. They weren't cheap rotors but quality seldom is. One more thing to check is run out. You will need the right tools so if you know a machinist with the right tools they can do this for you. It consists of a solid mounted needle gauge that is adjust so the needle rides right on the outer surface on the rotor and it will run in and out if the rotor isn't running true and after a complete turn the gauge will show you how bad the runout is.

If this was something in a cv joint or axle the wobble would be constant but because its when braking it points to the rotor. To test ball joints jack the tire off the ground and stick a 4ft 2x4 under the tire and lift up on it while watching the joint, if it's bad it will be easy to see. I don't believe this is your problem or it would be popping and making other noises while turning. When they do go bad I highly suggest Moog joints its all I have used on larger PSD trucks and they last. I hope this helps.
NCH

 

[4RnnrHntr]

Above around 40 mph, more wobble at higher speeds I get a steering wobble when braking. New rotors and calipers on my 05. Had a really rough ride in Colorado a year ago, broke my rear sway bar in half but I had a great time doing it! I have 2" spacers. Tires are good and don't show any wear patterns........yet I'm thinking ball joints? Tie rods? When I get the tires off the ground I don't get any slack............someone else have this or know what's up?

I too had this issue and it was purely the rotors wearing unevenly/uneven heating. Due to the amount of pressure required to keep the 4Runner still while in gear means that area of the brake stays hot while the rest cools. I was able to correct and even reverse this issue by suggestion of a user here, just pop her into neutral when coming to a stop, especially from hard braking at high speed. I have noticed a significant improvement in the wearing of my brakes. Hope that helps!

 

[NCHornet]

I don't understand this at all, there is no heat being made when your sitting still at a red light or a stop sign. The heat is the result of friction between the pads and rotors as the vehicle is coming to the stop. I'm glad your wobble is better than it was and I reckon that's what matters most.
NCH

 

[ilove2fix]

Get your rotors cut or replaced.

 

[Yardrunner]

On car lathe. If theres enough run out from the hub even new rotors can cause a shake.

 

[Chipmunkyota]

I don't understand this at all, there is no heat being made when your sitting still at a red light or a stop sign. The heat is the result of friction between the pads and rotors as the vehicle is coming to the stop. I'm glad your wobble is better than it was and I reckon that's what matters most.
NCH

They mean the pad won’t be sitting in the rotor and allows for airflow. Will add wear to the transmission though.