Steering wheel shake when braking

[AdmiralYoda]

My wives 2007 Nissan Versa would do this every 50k miles and I'd know if was time for lower ball joints. The first time I put it on the lift to check and put a pry bar on the lower ball joint to check for play......it snapped in two .

 

[wag123]

The first thing that I would do is rotate the tires front to rear to check for a tire problem. On more than one occasion I have had a bad tire cause this kind of vibration.

 

[97prizm]

My son’s buddy owns an 05 Corolla, says when he hits the brakes when traveling more than 45-50 mph, the steering wheel shakes. He replaced the front pads and rotors w new ones from Advanced Auto. Made sure he cleaned and lubed the caliper pins (he borrowed my tube of SIL glide), he sanded down all the surfaces of the hub, rotor, and back side of the wheel making sure there’s no debris, rust, etc Torqued the lug nuts appropriately. (He borrowed my torque wrench). He followed the bedding process perfectly. Yesterday he was traveling 60-65 mph and hit the brakes and steering wheel shakes. When driving around town or stop and go traffic, no steering wheel shake, stops like normal. The tires are hankook all seasons w 15k miles on them, looks normal. Alignment was done when getting the tires. The car doesn’t pull left or right. No brake squeak. From struts were replaced Over a year ago and No issues after the install. Rear drums and shoes are no more than 2 years old look normal. I checked the suspension the best I could and can’t find a thing wrong. Looks good. I doubt it’s warped rotors. The pads are basic ceramics. Bleed the brakes w new dot 3. What could be the issue?

Was the car ever in an accident? My dad did body shop work for many years and saw this sometimes.

 

[ripcord]

My daughter's Jeep started to vibrate while braking and at other random times and it turned out to be a combination of issues. One outer tie rod had significant play. The steering stabilizer was completely shot, and one of her front tires was slightly separating on the inside sidewall.

I fixed each one in order and it would improve it some with each change. The tie rod and stabilizer both reduced the vibration but the ultimate cause was the tire. New tires finally fixed it completely.

 

[D60]

My wives 2007 Nissan Versa would do this every 50k miles and I'd know if was time for lower ball joints. The first time I put it on the lift to check and put a pry bar on the lower ball joint to check for play......it snapped in two .

Dude I also service a slightly newer Versa and honestly the front suspension reminds me more of working on a small SxS or even riding mower. It seems like everything would fall apart if you drove over a curb at low speed. I think I could bend a LCA by hand.

 

[AdmiralYoda]

Dude I also service a slightly newer Versa and honestly the front suspension reminds me more of working on a small SxS or even riding mower. It seems like everything would fall apart if you drove over a curb at low speed. I think I could bend a LCA by hand.

Yup! Although I kept it perfectly maintained....the stupid Jatco CVT is what did it in at 140k miles.

I've had a newer Versa and Mitsubishi Mirage up on the lift....Looks like a go-kart built to go highway speeds.