Lately there has been an intermittant shimmy causing the steering wheel to shake enough to be scary.On a recent highway trip it would start up in the 50mph range but goes away. It seems to not be related to speed . Also when I would have to brake hard for a traffic light there is a noticeable pulsating in the brakes. Today when I drove it at a slower speed it felt like I was on a gravel road or the bearings were self destructing, but it went away. I have recently replaced a CV shaft to see if that was the problem and that repair seemed to go well.Today I checked the axle nuts with a 3 foot bar on a 3/4 drive and they were both tight. Jacked the car up and checked the brakes. The right side dragged a bit and I thought it may be a result of not bleeding it well when I had replaced a caliper with a used one I had, because the E brake was sticking on.Tried bleeding it again and turning the caliper piston in but it wouldn't budge(under pressure?) but I must of shook enough rust loose to make them turn freely or something.Checked the discs for parallel and they were bang on although the left side seems to have a bit of run out.

I'm not sure if I have 2 problems or 1 problem causing 2 symptoms( brakes and shaking)

 

Any suggestions?

I had steering wheel shimmy on the freeway once. Turned out to be out of round tires. Pulsing brakes sounds like warped rotors.

Could be a seized caliper that is sticking and causing heat build up. It would explain why it comes and goes, and the shaking when you hit the brakes.

was just jumping in to suggest a good close look at tyres, ply separation, bubble up on the tread section.Though some replaced CV shafts have been known to crap out within weeks for some reason. Does it vary depending on the torque demand rather than speed ?

You could be right about the caliper. I noticed some blue discoloration on the rotor.

 

Is this a scrap yard item or can you get rebuilds .

If the two are related, I'd second the sticky caliper, or likely a failing axle.

 

Calipers don't go bad that frequently, but they are not super expensive to buy new (or rebuild) So far, I have personally gone the route of used calipers and not been disappointed. Simply because I generally live close by to an auto yard and my cars are far from cream puffs. But used typically comes with no guarantees. (Or 30 day at best) Most auto parts stores are now offering limited lifetime warranties.

Balance issues will also often be more noticeable when there is some wear in things like Ball joints, Racks and rack ends so check those as well, Especially if the problem gets worse when braking.