Steering wheel vibration under moderate braking

[Chris Thorp]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Chris Thorp <thorp at spacia.org>
> Date: September 7, 2006 3:20:43 PM MST
> To: "Al Streicher" <streichea001 at hawaii.rr.com>
> Subject: Re: Steering wheel vibration under moderate braking
>
>
> On Sep 7, 2006, at 3:11 PM, Al Streicher wrote:
>
>> I can't believe you drove it for 10K with a serious front-end  
>> problem. What
>> if it were loose lug nuts and the wheel came off?
>> Get it checked out , any good tire store should be able to look at  
>> it for
>> you.
>> Al
> It was happening before my last tire rotation.  I put it up on  
> ramps earlier today and there are no loose ball joints, or tie rod  
> ends.  Wheels are all as torqued as when I put them on 7000 miles  
> ago.  There doesn't seem to be excessive play in the steering wheel  
> or the wheels themselves.  That's why I'm so puzzled.  Don't worry  
> -- there isn't anything actively falling off my car.  :-)  My  
> current best guess is a slightly warped rotor (less than I can feel  
> in the brake pedal) combined with a slight bit of play (less that I  
> can feel by pushing/pulling on front end parts) in the car's front  
> end.  I just wanted to run it by the list before I start throwing  
> parts at it, though I don't think I could go wrong replacing the  
> control arms, tie rod ends, etc, at 170,000 miles.
>
> I'm almost wondering if I don't have just a tiny bit of rust wedged  
> between the rotor and the hub and/or wheel, making it slightly out  
> of plane.  Though I don't feel it while driving down the road,  
> which I'd expect to if the wheel was on slightly crooked.
>
> -Chris
Also, its gone from barely noticeable on about 1 in 10 stops over 40  
mph, to most stops from over 40 mph and has become more noticeable.   
This wasn't a death wish, it was just waiting until the problem  
noticeable enough that I would be sure I had fixed it when I did.

-Chris