Shaking steering wheel

[RootedTree]

I have a 30 minute drive all pretty much on the highway every morning. Half way through the trip when I brake, my steering wheel shakes violently. Does this have to do with the rotors over heating? Because in the beginning of the drive they don't shake when I brake. I do drive the car pretty hard so I tend to brake a lot.

HAHA I'm an FNG!!

[Airgne]

i would say yes or your ABS is acting up.

[J-Rock!]

defenitly probably warped rotors if the abs isnt messed up. but hardly ever see abs problems on these cars. and subaru rotors isnt the best in the world. its easy to warp a new set quick lol thats the only thing that pisses me off im tired of machining my rotors!

[Huffer]

I would doubt that you have a "warped" rotor - what you probably have is a lot of hard spotting on the rotor where heat has built up and has changed the molecular structure of the rotor material to a point where is is literally too hard for the pad to wear off.

If you take the rotors off, you'll probably see small dots in the material. You could just replace the rotors if the pads are still worn evenly.

In addition, this could be due to one or more calipers that are sticking and not applying even pressure across the braking system.

[RootedTree]

Do these spots look like rust? If so, I think I may have seen them before. Will taking the rotors to a brake shop and removing a layer be of any use?

I've heard this may also be due to alignment issues. What would be a decent price for a 4 wheel alignment?

[d1giPhux]

I seem to have the same problem.. when braking in light traffic.. i dont notice it too much, but when braking hard like coming off an off ramp from the highway.. i get a bit of the wobble myself. I'm guessing rotors as well.. as thats what my problem seems to be.

[Huffer]

Do these spots look like rust? If so, I think I may have seen them before. Will taking the rotors to a brake shop and removing a layer be of any use?

I've heard this may also be due to alignment issues. What would be a decent price for a 4 wheel alignment?

The issue is that these hard spots are simply too hard...taking a layer off might help but eventually you're going to have the same problem. Basically, you're braking too hard for the rotor to cope, too often. You can either upgrade the rotors to a better material, or modify your driving style.
Changing your driving style will be a lot cheaper in the long run.

An alignment once a year if you live in a potholed area is a good idea.

Don't forget to check the brake calipers either - sometimes the slide pins freeze up.
(this is the issue I'm having right now)

[LegacyRob]

having your rotors turned might smooth them out but it also makes them thinner and more quickly to warp again. Purchase a better quality rotor and get all the calipers and slides serviced (cleaned and lubed). Probably make all the difference. Maybe the rears aren't working the way the should so the fronts are doing all the work causing way too much heat.

i'm being told thaqt the wobble i'm feeling is due to my calipers not retracting all the way, and its causing my pads to wear unevenly and i can see its scratching my rotors.... good thing I plan to upgrade them as soon as they get too far gone

[Huffer]

i'm being told thaqt the wobble i'm feeling is due to my calipers not retracting all the way, and its causing my pads to wear unevenly and i can see its scratching my rotors.... good thing I plan to upgrade them as soon as they get too far gone

This is actually fairly common - at least for me it's happened twice, and on one car (my BD) it happened front AND rear.

A quick fix is to take the caliper off, and clean it up good, then take the slide pins out of the caliper bracket, clean them up and clean out the pin cavity, put new grease on and refit them.

I had the same problem on my car since winter, and yesterday I stripped them down. Problem has gone away.