Chevy & GMC Vans

Sounds like either warped rotors or one of the calipers is not sliding properly.

LiftedAWDAstro wrote:Sounds like either warped rotors or one of the calipers is not sliding properly.

Really? Man ... then Darren and myself will be eating our words about these Brembo rotors hehhee. The Calipers were brand spanking new. Ratz. I will need to look into them :(

It could be rotors. I'd be checking all of the steering parts also.

I've had bad ball joints do something similar on another vehicle.

I hesitated to say steering because anytime the SPB's steering parts were worn out, which was after EVERY wheeling trip, it never shimmied like you describe. It only did it if the rotors were warped. Did you torque the lug nuts every time you had a wheel off?

LiftedAWDAstro wrote:I hesitated to say steering because anytime the SPB's steering parts were worn out, which was after EVERY wheeling trip, it never shimmied like you describe. It only did it if the rotors were warped. Did you torque the lug nuts every time you had a wheel off?

95ftn on each lug nut for the win!
(no not every time ... blah).
Also anytime the road is anything but smooth I feel all the ruts and gruts. So off-roading is fine since I am gripping the wheel tight anyways haha.

Slightly off topic:
My alignment is good as tested by a frame specialize shop. But my steering wheel pulls right. I think it is my torsion bars ... that would mean my driver side is "higher" right? I cant tell if she is leveled because I dont have leveled ground around me heh he.

if it only does it at braking i'm going to go with Lifted (since he seems to have been there and done that on most of the problem we have) and say either warped rotor or partially seized caliper, probably the warped rotor is a good bet.
I had a partially seized caliper and it pulled to the left briefly when i first hit the peddle then would straighten out (scary in an emergency).
ANY rotor will warp if not torqued properly or over torqued Brembo's are no exception

I've had rotors and get this ... outer tie rods cause a brake shake like this

yep.. I didn't expect it either. mine 'wobble' was worse under hard breaking but, was slightly noticeable at low speeds not under breaking.

super easy to check, you watch the ends while someone turns the steering wheel back and forth. done on the ground, no jacking required.

You can also hold every steering joint while a helper moves the steering wheel. Sometimes it's easier to feel the movement than see it.

My 95 has been doing pretty much the same thing as your's phr1$k37. It varies from no pulsation/shake to pretty violent. I never know what I'm going to get when i hit the brakes. All of the front end pieces are nice and tight and I'm not getting any odd tire wear.
Sometime in the next few days/weeks I'll be installing new tires and rims and I'm curious how that's going to effect things. I would just suspect the rotors are warped but since it sometimes has no pulsation at all I'm not sure. Seems like if the rotors were warped i would have the pulsation every single time. Since it's erratic i think it might be the tires are out of balance and the "heavier" parts of the tires match up just right, like the LF heavy side facing the front and the RF heavy side facing rearward. Maybe I'm crazy but it makes sense in my head as a way to explain the inconsistencies.

I guess new tires will tell.

Loose, worn, or a bad wheel bearing can cause the symptoms you are describing, so can worn out ball joints. If these parts are starting to go south, high speed hard brakeing will produce a violent shake.
Have it looked at Abe.