my car vibrates when i hit the brakes, but it vibrates when its going down the road too. im wondering if its a rotor or a bearing. would a bearing vibrate worse when you hit the brakes, or what? 87 hatch.

If they are warped real bad, they will vibrate even without being on the brakes.

 

My '86 Brat had warped rotors. Would vibrate REAL bad braking at high speeds. Wouldn't vibrate much braking at low speeds, but at low speeds the car would vibrate while driving.

 

I replaced the rotors the other day and put new pads on. The car drives smooth now, brakes smooth. The rotors were so warped, you didnt need to be on the brake for it to rub in a certain spot... making the car vibrate.

 

Could also be a combination of unballanced tires and bad rotors.

 

-Brian

ok good, i wasnt sure if it was possible to vibrate the wheel while not braking. thanks alot

what are the symptroms of a bad bearing?

It is possible to get that kinda vibration from unbalanced or bent wheels.

It's also possible to get vibration from a bad DOJ on a front axle.

 

GD

if it's the bearing you could lift the front and wiggle the wheel. it would definately be noticable if it's so bad that it happens when you're driving. i have a little play in both bearings (280k miles +) but it's not noticable driving, so i think you would have a lot of play if the bearings are the culprit.

 

edit: and regarding what the general said, definately look at the axel too, it could act exactly as you described. with the car lifted, rotate the wheel and see if it's binding at any point.

 

let me know what you find, i'm interested.

Vibrating while braking usually indicates warped front rotors.

 

Vibrating under hard acceleration indicates bad CV's

 

Vibration all the time is usually unballanced tires.

 

 

If its a bearing, it wouldnt vibrate until the bearings were REAL bad. By that time, you would have heard alot of grinding from whichever bearing was bad.

 

-Brian

its gotta be rotors then, i changed ball joints, front axles. tried different wagon wheels. looks like new brakes tomorrow. or i'll just get used to it:clap: