Steering noise and slight shaking when braking?

[sinnyz79]

I have an '08 ram hemi that I bought not even a week ago. A couple issues I've noticed are steering wheel noise like a slight grinding when I turn or crank it. It's really concerning me. Also, when slowing down and pressing on the brakes fairly hard it pulses or shakes a little bit. The guy I bought it from said that it does this cause the driver side rotor needs turned. Not sure if I believe him but I haven't taken anything off to look at it being that it's cold here in Iowa. Anyway, please help me out with any ideas of what could be the issue.

 

[Brakelate]

Brakes get hot and the rotors warp. They then cause that shake felt through the steering wheel at low speeds when lightly riding the brakes.

So that sounds legit.

If the pulsing happens while off the brakes or at higher speeds, it most likely is a tire balance issue or at worse a bent wheel or damaged tire.

If it only does it as you come down from speed, in a slower range as you lightly ride the brakes, then it is rotors. Not a real big deal. If you brake hard, repeatedly, sometimes it will go away oddly enough. Other times, if you "drag" the brake, lightly using them repeatedly like coming down a grade, it can get worse as the rotor heats and warps more.

The grinding, not sure. Is it "heavy and Metallic" feeling, like something in the steering rack or column, or light and gritty feeling like sand or dust in the steering column up top by where the ignition key is?

Since it is dark and probably damn cold out, and not a situation where you can go out and put the front of the truck up on jack stands to play with it, a quick and easy thing would be to go and do several full-lock turns right to left, like in a tight Figure 8. Sometimes the spinning of the steering wheel back and forth all the way to lock in each direction will shake out the dust, lube the shaft and rack and give you a better idea of where it is coming from.

 

[sinnyz79]

Brakes get hot and the rotors warp. They then cause that shake felt through the steering wheel at low speeds when lightly riding the brakes.

So that sounds legit.

If the pulsing happens while off the brakes or at higher speeds, it most likely is a tire balance issue or at worse a bent wheel or damaged tire.

If it only does it as you come down from speed, in a slower range as you lightly ride the brakes, then it is rotors. Not a real big deal. If you brake hard, repeatedly, sometimes it will go away oddly enough. Other times, if you "drag" the brake, lightly using them repeatedly like coming down a grade, it can get worse as the rotor heats and warps more.

The grinding, not sure. Is it "heavy and Metallic" feeling, like something in the steering rack or column, or light and gritty feeling like sand or dust in the steering column up top by where the ignition key is?

Since it is dark and probably damn cold out, and not a situation where you can go out and put the front of the truck up on jack stands to play with it, a quick and easy thing would be to go and do several full-lock turns right to left, like in a tight Figure 8. Sometimes the spinning of the steering wheel back and forth all the way to lock in each direction will shake out the dust, lube the shaft and rack and give you a better idea of where it is coming from.

Yes I'm sure it probably is the rotor on the front. I'll have to take a look here at some point soon. The tires are brand new so I know it's nothing with those. The steering noise is just a slight grinding noise when you turn the wheel back and forth when I'm backing up or going at slow speeds turning. I had another vehicle that did this and I don't recall what I ended up doing with it. I just hope it's not a big deal.

 

[MegaMouseGW]

Even with brand new tires if they were not mounted right you can still have balance issues, not to mention that they vary in how much rubber is on each spot, which can again affect the balance. Get your brakes looked at to be sure that they are either god or needing replacing. That is always good insurance. Steering noises can be many things. Best et is to get a friend or your spouce, turn your truck on, then have them crank the steering from one extreme to the other while you look and listen to the rack and pump. You should hear exactly where the noise is coming from. Do realize that some noise is common with power steering tough.