Shaking when braking

[jmoua]

I have 2006 Toyota Camry SE 4-cylinder. When I brake my steering wheel is shaking back and forth heavily. I changed the rotors and brake pads in November 2010. After changing the rotors and brake and testing it it had minimal shaking when braking. My tires are one year old. I plan to balance my tires and rotate them this weekend to see if the problem goes away. If it doesn't go away it must be something else. What can it be?

Note: when I drive around 60-70 mph I can feel the steering wheel shake just a little bit, but when braking it is machine gunning.

Thanks,

John

[Bills07CamLE]

Im having the same problem and am taking my car in today to get checked out. Ill let you know what they say. I was told it could be a lose belt but I dont remember what belt. I also got and alignment and wheels balanced but still have the problem and think my breaks are ok. I took it in around 50k and they said my breaks are fine so I dont think much has changed after 5k miles.

[Chettaman]

Originally Posted by Bills07CamLE

Im having the same problem and am taking my car in today to get checked out. Ill let you know what they say. I was told it could be a lose belt but I dont remember what belt. I also got and alignment and wheels balanced but still have the problem and think my breaks are ok. I took it in around 50k and they said my breaks are fine so I dont think much has changed after 5k miles.

A loose belt???? That sounds ridiculous. How could a lose belt make you have a shaking feeling when you're braking or driving at high speeds? I don't understand why they would tell you that. Any who........ it sounds like it would be a balance/alignment issue but, could also be a brake issue (possibly warped or worn out pads or rotors). My 95 Camry has that issue. Went away after changing rotors and pads but, after about 3 months of it's happening again but, only on the driver side. I'm guessing that something may be wrong with my caliper and may be the reason why the pads wore down so fast. Keep us posted on what that may be. As for my 09 I definitely want to upgrade my brakes. I don't know how others feel but, I think that Toyota didn't make enough stopping power for the V6 SE. Definitely going to look into better rotors and pads in the future.

[ImJustMe55]

+1 a belt sounds ridiculous. I don't think it's warped rotors or bad pads because you said it shakes a little with out the brakes being applied. Get your tires road force balanced and rotated. If that doesn't work I would start looking at your suspension in the front. Tie rods, end links, and ball joints. I doubt that you wheel bearings are bad cause you didn't say anything about noise, but I would definitely check the suspension and steering parts.

As for upgrading brakes Chettaman, I got cryo treated Power Slot rotors and hawk pads for my Camry. I've had regular Power Slots on my Sentra since 2005 and I autocross it so I definitely trust those rotors. If you don't want slotted rotor Centric and Power Slot are the same company and the Centric's are blanks. I also got braided steel Brake lines for the Camry, but haven't installed them yet so I can't comment on the difference that they make, but when i do I'll update my post that I made about them.

[Bills07CamLE]

The guy who told me is no mechanic and im not either thats why I took it in but he said the power steering belt. I dont know if our cars have them or not but thats the belt he was talking bout. As to the breaks I want to upgrade to! Ill check out the ones mentioned above

[Chettaman]

Originally Posted by ImJustMe55

+1 a belt sounds ridiculous. I don't think it's warped rotors or bad pads because you said it shakes a little with out the brakes being applied. Get your tires road force balanced and rotated. If that doesn't work I would start looking at your suspension in the front. Tie rods, end links, and ball joints. I doubt that you wheel bearings are bad cause you didn't say anything about noise, but I would definitely check the suspension and steering parts.

As for upgrading brakes Chettaman, I got cryo treated Power Slot rotors and hawk pads for my Camry. I've had regular Power Slots on my Sentra since 2005 and I autocross it so I definitely trust those rotors. If you don't want slotted rotor Centric and Power Slot are the same company and the Centric's are blanks. I also got braided steel rotors for the Camry, but haven't installed them yet so I can't comment on the difference that they make, but when i do I'll update my post that I made about them.

I think you meant to stay steel bradied brake lines right? I'm definitely going to get steel braided lines. I'll definitely look into the Cryo Treated option. I had EBC on my 95 Camry and they were pretty good. The wrong thing I did was buy semi-metallic pads and not ceramic .

[ImJustMe55]

Originally Posted by Chettaman

I think you meant to stay steel bradied brake lines right? I'm definitely going to get steel braided lines. I'll definitely look into the Cryo Treated option. I had EBC on my 95 Camry and they were pretty good. The wrong thing I did was buy semi-metallic pads and not ceramic .

Yep that's what I meant. Thanks!! I fixed it. I guess my hands were typing faster than my brain was thinking . I've heard good and bad things about EBC so I just stick with Hawk, plus Hawk is made in the USA so I feel like I'm attempting to support my country even though both cars I own are Japanese . Supposedly cryo treating gives the rotors 60% longer life. Here's the link to the post I created about the braided steel brake lines: Gen 6 Braided Steel Brake Lines

[Chettaman]

Originally Posted by ImJustMe55

Yep that's what I meant. Thanks!! I fixed it. I guess my hands were typing faster than my brain was thinking . I've heard good and bad things about EBC so I just stick with Hawk, plus Hawk is made in the USA so I feel like I'm attempting to support my country even though both cars I own are Japanese . Supposedly cryo treating gives the rotors 60% longer life. Here's the link to the post I created about the braided steel brake lines: Gen 6 Braided Steel Brake Lines

Thanks. Will look into this.