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Is my vehicle falling apart if my steering wheel shakes when I press on the brakes?

Have you ever driven a vehicle and you go to stop and your steering wheel shakes violently?. Feels like your Car is going to fly apart?. In most cases, that comes from your brake disc rotors heating up and warping.

Technical explanation of struts and shocks

These parts are designed to control the tires, to keep them in contact with the road surface as much as possible. If vehicle tires are free to bounce (which is what happens when struts and shocks wear) they are not as effective at gripping the road, so steering, handling, and braking are all affected. Shocks and struts are not just for ride comfort: their primary function, tire control, is a much more important role.

Here's an example: Have you ever taken a CD on a hot day and set it on top of the dash of your car? It warps right! Then it doesn't play anymore and is all out of shape. The same thing happens to your brake rotors. When you're pressing your brakes, the caliper squeezes your brake pads against your disc rotor...that's where you're getting your shaking from.

So no, your car isn't falling apart unless you have other issues. The good news is we can fix this!

There are two fixes for this problem:
The 1st is to get new rotors. You have to watch which rotors you buy because cheaper is not always better. We have seen the less expensive have the same issues not long after you start to use them. So splurge a little bit when it comes to your brakes because that is the only thing that stops your car.
The 2nd is to let us at South Side Tire & Auto evaluate your situation, mic your rotors' thickness to see if they can be resurfaced. When we resurface your rotors at South Side Tire & Auto it is performed right on your car to get out any imperfections & to give you the best pad wear, stopping distance, and performance.

Click on this link below to see a video on how we resurface rotors:

For more content & videos:

Meg A Tread Keeney - YouTube