[jcrevz]

I have this random shaking, when braking. Doesn't happen all the time. Thought it was rotors, had them turned but shaking came back. A few months later, I replaced the rotors and pads front and back. Shaking remains. If you ease on the brake, sometimes it doesn't do it. Highway speeds it can get pretty bad if you are braking hard. Other times, no shake at all. Maybe a wheel bearing?

 

[JayS]

Wheel bearing, tie rod end, control arm…. Somewhere there is play that is causing the vibration.

You mentioned front brakes but not the rear. Are you sure it’s not the rear brakes causing it?

 

[jcrevz]

Basically everything in the front end has been replaced except the wheel bearings. Lower control arms complete, shocks/struts, all replaceable bushings, tierods inner and outer, sway links. replaced rear pads not too long ago,i guess it could be rotors but the steering wheel is what shakes back and forth

 

[Thejarhead]

I replaced my brake pads both front and rear about a year ago. Our enclave is from Florida and the rotors looked pristine. The pads were just getting low, we had no shaking. I didn’t want to put the cheap chinese junk rotors on so I just did new akebono pads.

Most aftermarket rotors on the market now are chinese junk, cheap but still junk. You could try a set of rotors from a local dealer or perhaps an online dealer that sells original parts. Almost always when you touch your brake pedal and get a shaking it’s the rotors.

You might try “bedding” the pads and rotors. Take a drive on a quiet road get your speed up to about 60 and push firmly on the brake pedal till your speed drops to about 20, repeat 4-5 times. Then do about 15-20 minutes of regular driving to allow the rotors to cool off somewhat. Be careful of traffic behind you.

I had a similar problem once, not with our Buick, I put brand new rotors and pads on my car and shortly had a shaking, I used good quality German made rotors and what I thought were oem pads. I couldn’t get rid of the shaking, and I refused to believe it was the rotors. I swapped out the pads and the shaking went away. Apparently I got cheap pads in an oem box, I should have known better based on the low price I paid for them.

 

[ibis1]

You did not say how many miles the vehicle has on it and assuming the parts you have replaced are not the issue, I would guess you have a front caliper piston sticking intermittently. This will cause your steering wheel to oscillate as opposed to the brake pedal which is usually caused by warped rotors. Good luck.

 

[jcrevz]

Turns out, it was chinesium rear rotors. replaced them and shaking is gone.

 

[ibis1]

Glad you found the problem. I'm trying to tie the steering wheel oscillating to the rear brakes since it does not have 4 wheel steering. You said you had the rotors turned and then replaced so you certainly had a string of bad luck. As for the Chinese rotors, sadly even OEM rotors are Chinese in a lot of cases, but should be made to a better specification. Again, glad she's fixed and good luck going forward.

 

[jcrevz]

Glad you found the problem. I'm trying to tie the steering wheel oscillating to the rear brakes since it does not have 4 wheel steering. You said you had the rotors turned and then replaced so you certainly had a string of bad luck. As for the Chinese rotors, sadly even OEM rotors are Chinese in a lot of cases, but should be made to a better specification. Again, glad she's fixed and good luck going forward.

Yeah, i guess it was more the entire vehicle shaking but really noticed it in the steering wheel.

 

[JayS]

This is why I asked if you were sure it’s not the rear brakes causing. I’ve definitely seen the shake get transferred through the whole vehicle from bad rear rotors.

 

[ibis1]

This is why I asked if you were sure it’s not the rear brakes causing. I’ve definitely seen the shake get transferred through the whole vehicle from bad rear rotors.

Jay, In his original post he stated that he replaced the rear rotors and he still had the issue. At that point he probably eliminated that as a possibility, which would be normal.

 

[jcrevz]

They had about 60k miles on them. I thought about it and decided to replace them at Jays suggestion. Ive been replacing most parts here and there since its higher mileage (155k) about the only thing left i have to replace is rear struts and wheel bearings. I only replace with GM parts from gmpartsdirect.com. it still runs and drives like a car with 55k on it.