Car brakes empower the driver to keep proper control. The safety of vehicle occupants, pedestrians and other drivers depends on the well perfroming brakes. If car vibrates when braking, produce odd noises or any other problem exist, immediately resolve these critical safety issues.
The car brakes arrangement involves many components. If one of the parts is malfunctioning, you are at the risk of losing control. Basically it is a friction based setup which hampers its momentum.
Car Vibrates When Braking
Your car may vibrate due to different reasons. Vibrations while braking indicates a problem in the brakes.
Why My Car Vibrates When Braking?
Car braking system consists of many components. Brake pads, rotor disks, brake lines carrying braking fluids and many other components execute their duty while you press brake pedal. Overtime some elements need replacement and other require maintenance. We shall discuss below the reasons why your car vibrates when braking.
1. Warped or Out of Balance Brake Rotor (Disk)
Your car may face jerk stopping and rapid vibrations when you apply brakes if rotor disks are warped or out of balance. The reason is your brake pads are unable to properly holdfast warped rotors.
2. Worn Out Brake Pads
Brake pads have effective working life. You can’t avoid new brake pads overtime. Worn brake pads cause vibrations along with squealing noises while braking. This critical issue needs immediate action for your own safety and people around you.
3. Sticking Brake Calipers
Brake calipers perform duty of pushing brake pads to resist rotors. These have chambers which deal with brake fluid when you press brake pedal. It builds pressure which depends on how harder you hit the brakes.
Brake calipers are unable to squeeze properly the pads against rotors if these have stucking issue. Generally the piston in the calipers stuck and produce vibrations. Sometimes calipers or pistons stuck while brakes are engaged. You are unable to move forward in this situation.
If you notice any of the below given symptoms, immediately get your brakes service.
- Brake pedal may become less responsive.
- You can face acceleration difficulty due to stucked braked.
- Car can be pulled on one side.
- Unusual or odd squeaking noises.
- You can smell burning smells due to excessively hot rotor disks or pads.
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4. Car Vibrates When Braking Due to Faulty Brake Booster
If your foot is on the brake pedal and vehicle stopped while engine is running you may still face vibrations. In this case brake pads or rotor disks are not responsible. It is due to defective brake booster assembley.
5. Steering Wheel Shakes While Braking
There are many reasons for steering wheel shake. It may be due to many reasons for this problem. Brakes issue is among these problems as warped rotors and stuck piston calipers. Other reasons may include poor tire balance or even suspension issues.
6. Unbalanced Tires
Unbalanced tires are unable to rotate at same rotation rate. Their rotation interval increases too much at specific speeds. These not only produce vibrations while driving, also create severe vibrations and jerks when braking.
7. Bad Suspension
A good suspension system supports the weight of car and absorb road shocks. It has many components as struts, shocks, or bushings etc. If these are damaged or worn out, it will not work properly. It results instability on the road and car vibrates when braking.
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8. Loose Wheel Bearings
Wheel hub wobble and vibrate due to loose wheel bearings. When you apply brakes, vehicle already with reduced stability vibrates heavily. You may also loose your tires tread unevenly.
9. Trapped Air in Brake Lines
The sealed system of hydraulic brakes does not allow air in or out. However if you have a leaking area, air in and out occurs. It can produce uneven pressure on brake calipers and pistons. As you hit brake in this scenario, your car may shake or vibrate.
