Need some advice...Steering wheel shaking

[Jman136]

Hi all,

I currently have a 2019 GTR, however, my wife and I recently picked up a 2016.5 CX-5 for my nephew with 66k miles. I noticed that when braking at about 70mph, the steering wheel has a little bit of shake in it. I am assuming this means the front rotors are warped?

What is my best option here? I am not mechanically inclined, so I would need to have someone replace them for me. I asked the dealer, and they quoted me something like $550 for brakes/rotors. That seems awfully high. Would a place like Merlin's use decent rotors/pads?

I am just not sure what to do at this point. The car brakes fine, its more annoying than anything else.

Thanks for all of your help/advice!

 

[Jmaz]

Without taking it to a mechanic,you might start by retorquing the lug nuts front and back especially if it just had new tires put on before you purchased it.

 

[ceric]

To OP:
Not necessarily due to "warped" rotors. Could be, not always.
My '16 Mazda6 had similar wheel vibration problem (actually the whole front end shook) when braking at high speed. Not bad at low speed. I had dealer did an 4-wheel alignment. The problem went away.

In addition, I would always make sure wheel nuts are torqued evenly and properly to the spec.

 

[RedBaron]

If it's only a little bit of shake, I would think that it's just pad buildup on the rotors. Try the "pad bedding" process first... on a straight deserted road, accelerate up to ~60mph and then brake as hard as you can without triggering the ABS, down to ~15mph. Repeat 3-4 times. Then drive home slowly without keeping the pads on the rotors (i.e. don't keep your foot on the brake at a stoplight) and park it without the Ebrake to let everything cool down.

This process gets the pads and rotors nice and hot and scrubs build-up off the rotors. But don't keep you foot on the brake while they are hot or you'll transfer pad material back onto the rotors and undo all that hard work!

 

[yrwei52]

Hi all,

I currently have a 2019 GTR, however, my wife and I recently picked up a 2016.5 CX-5 for my nephew with 66k miles. I noticed that when braking at about 70mph, the steering wheel has a little bit of shake in it. I am assuming this means the front rotors are warped?

What is my best option here? I am not mechanically inclined, so I would need to have someone replace them for me. I asked the dealer, and they quoted me something like $550 for brakes/rotors. That seems awfully high. Would a place like Merlin's use decent rotors/pads?

I am just not sure what to do at this point. The car brakes fine, its more annoying than anything else.

Thanks for all of your help/advice!

If I were you, I would try brake-bedding suggested by RedBaron above. Or take the CX-5 to a reputable brake shop such as Brake Plus for a check-up. At 66K miles on a 2016.5 CX-5 you may need rear brake pads soon unless they’d been replaced before you have the car. If the thickness of front pads are still within the specs, you can live with the vibration for a while as this’s just annoying. The cheapest way is to re-surface the front rotors lightly, re-used the pads (with enough thickness) and the problem should be resolved.

Glazed Front Brake Rotors

 

[eelliiss]

The bushings were toast on the front right lower control arm of my wife's CX-5. Once I replaced that, the shaking went away in our 2014.

 

[yrwei52]

The bushings were toast on the front right lower control arm of my wife's CX-5. Once I replaced that, the shaking went away in our 2014.

Different shaking issues. OP has a 2019 CX-5 GT-R. Your LCA bushing problem is only happening mostly on gen-1 CX-5, and there’re several TSBs for the problem.

 

[eelliiss]

Different shaking issues. OP has a 2019 CX-5 GT-R. Your LCA bushing problem is only happening mostly on gen-1 CX-5, and there’re several TSBs for the problem.

But the thread starter is referring to the 2016 they picked up for their nephew.

 

[yrwei52]

But the thread starter is referring to the 2016 they picked up for their nephew.

Yeah, my mistake. But 2016 / 2016.5 CX-5 has already had improved bushings on LCA. The TSBs are for up to 2015 CX-5 if I remember it correctly. The symptom described by OP also is brake related, not suspension related.

 

[CX5_Driver]

... The symptom described by OP also is brake related, not suspension related.

Well .. if a suspension component is worn or loose when the brake is applied it could cause chatter. But at 70 mph .. yeah I'd say brakes/rotors. ~maybe wheel bearing (but that would be more frequent at most any speed).

Regarding Merlin using quality parts.. Id say as quality as any other regional chain.

Merlins

www.merlins.com

The warranty on pads/rotors never covers the labor to replace them, just be aware of that.

 

[tibimakai]

I have a slight vibration, when I'm almost stopping, but not always. New brakes installed in July. Did not do that, until now. Ball joint/tie rod boots are all thorn at 68k(!). Did not inspect the control arm bushings. Most likely I will have to replace these parts and see after that what changes.
Maybe you should inspect these parts as well.