Steering Wheel Vibration Cambridge MA

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Reader Question: I bought a 2002 Camry last February and now the steering wheel is vibrating whenever I slow down or come to a stop. The tire pressure is okay so what could be causing this to happen?
Thank you,
Rita

Dear Rita,

Actually I get this question a lot and it seems to bring on more questions than answers, so let me try to explain what is going on with the help of some illustrations. The steering wheel is vibrating because the front brake rotors
are warped (we call this vibration "shimmy"). Ok, this is where I usually lose people…rotors? Warped? What does this have to do with the vibration in the steering wheel? So let me explain it this way.

Let's say the disc brake rotor is like the white center part of an Oreo cookie, and here is a picture of a brake rotor
This disc brake rotor is what the brake pads grab to stop the car. Let's also say the brake pads are like the two dark outer pieces of the same Oreo cookie (I am starting to get hungry), and the brake caliper holds the brake pads, one on either side of the brake rotor. Here is a picture of the disc brake rotor and the disc brake caliper that holds the brake pads. When you step on the brake pedal inside the car, brake fluid is sent to the brake calipers causing hydraulic pressure to squeeze the brake rotor in between the brake pads.

So what causes the rotor to warp? The brake rotor can become "warped" or have an uneven or high spot on the surface due to normal wear and tear. It can also warp because of expansion and contraction of the metal disc rotor due to driving through a puddle of water on the exit ramp after a long trip on the freeway then applying the brakes, or due to severely worn out brake pads that have been grinding metal to metal on the brake rotor, thus cutting grooves in the rotor surface.

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