Good Day All,
After replacing my Rotors and Pads on the front of my 2016 Chevy Traverse (both were shot) and swapping out my Summer Tires with my Winter Tires (already mounted on separate rims) i am getting steering wheel vibration when i exceed about 105km/h.
Some quick points on what i did:
- Rotors and Pads were both OEM parts from PartSource in Canada, on visual inspection they looked good in regards to not being warped
- The set screws were both seized (broke two bits trying to get them off, even with an impact gun) so i had to drill them out.
- Rotors were siezed on really bad, they required quite a lot of hammering to get them off.
- Rotors were cleaned with copious amounts of brake cleaner to get the film off
- I did a decent job with the wire brush cleaning everything up before installing the new rotors
- I did a full clean and regrease on the slide pins, like i do every 6 months when i change the tires from summer to winter or vice versa (probably overkill)
- Everything was properly torqued to manufacturers specs using a calibrated torque wrench (caliper bracket bolts, slide pin bolts, lug nuts, etc)
- 3rd Season with these winter tires, have never had steering vibration before with either the winter tires or my summer tires
Lots going on in life right now so i am looking for opinions on if i should try to quickly re-seat the rotors and re-torque everything as a fix or does someone think there is something worse? I don't think i should have been able to screw up the alignment hammering the rotors off, no?
Thanks for your help!
@djp
If its bad rotors you will fell the vibration when you apply the brakes. If its a constant vibration at highway speeds. Have the tires rebalanced. And make sure there are no separations.
If you have vibration only at high speeds, you should balance your tires.
@yaser
So in your opinion, the rotors/pads replacement are not the cause/not related to the issue? When i brake hard (even at high speeds >80km/h) i do get a very clean/smooth deceleration with no pull or shaking. Is it normal for tires to become unbalanced after storage for 6 months?
So with the new information you provided, odds are that you may need new tires. Your tires deformed due to the storage. but before purchasing tires, drive couple more days to see if this issue goes away.
Also, if the shaking you talk about gets much worse when you brake hard, the rotors are bad too.
@yaser
Thanks,
To clarify, what i meant by the braking is the shaking goes AWAY when braking hard, the braking functions perfectly with no complaints, its only when driving above 105km/h with NO brake application that the steering wheel begins to vibrate.
I would really hope that i do not need new tires! They are an expensive Michelin brand with great reviews that i have only put about 25,000km/15,500mi on! They look brand new still!
I'll drive a couple more days and maybe try rotating the front tires to the back to see if it is in fact just one specific tire that is suddenly unbalanced? It pulls a little bit to the right when it starts to vibrate, so i would guess its the front right that is the problem if any.
If your car sits for a long period of time, the weight of car results in. Hanging the shape of tire. You drive it again and it should come back to its original shape. If it does not, it is time to get new tires. I think Scotty made a video on this topic too.
If swapping out the back tires to the front fixes it, great! If not, get that tyre rebalanced. If it’s perfectly balanced, start looking for any bent front end parts near the rotor which could’ve suffered any damage.
Are your wheel bearings good? Is there any play in the wheel at the 12, 3, 6 & 9 o’clock positions?
