Hi,

My RX350 is 2007.

I had my front brakes replaced both the rotors (brand new but after market) and pads (brand new OEM) two years ago by a local mechanic. It has been going well until today on the highway when I applied the brakes slowing down at 65mph. There is vibration on the steering wheel. At 80mph, it's even stronger vibration. It's definitely the front driver side. HOWEVER, I do not have this problem in city drive, basically 55mph or less.

I know my brake calibers do not get seized, because the vibration does not happen when I drive at high speed. It happens only at braking time at high speed.

I've been researching on YouTube, and it's possible over heating could cause the vibration. I will need to take the front driver side's wheel out to see what goes on there.

I researched that one possible symptom of such vibration is also due to worn out strut or suspenion issue????

Appreciate for any thoughts.

Thank you.

 

Electric power steering assist coupler.

 

The gen 2's use the basic hydraulic p/s system vs the '10+ use eps/epas.

 

The cause is the uneven transfer of the friction material between the pad & rotor, which cause the brake pedal pulsations. All it takes is just a small amount to feel this thru the pedal. My brother & I found that the gen 2's are underbraked for the weight of this vehicle. I did a cost effective brake upgrade using pads/rotors/calipers from a gen 3. The cost of pads/rotors are pretty much awash price wise. You'd be out w/ a pr of reman gen 3 calipers.>> Direct bolt on. >>>One look at the pads # 1005 (gen2) vs #1325 (gen3) as well as >>single piston calipers vs the gen3 dual piston calipers. Since your there< I'd also add SS brake hoses for a gen3 & flush the old fluid out w/ new dot3. I went w/ the Hawk Talon rotors & performance ceramic pads & Goodridge SS brake hose kit from http://tirerack.com & a pr of reman gen3 calipers from oreilly parts. Just throw your oem calipers into the boxes to get your core $ back vs shipping them back somewhere. btw they do offer two different calipers types basically where the vehicle was manufactured USA (Canada) or Japan, which doesn't matter. I did make a thread 'bout this= "Cost Effective Brake upgrade"

 

You could have a brake rotor that is starting to warp. As the amount of warping increases, the vibration will show up at lower speeds. Maybe the brake pads are wearing out and overheating.

 

Thanks, but my brakes pad are like new, well, two-year new, and I drive carefully and only as needed. It has around 3-3.5mm in thickness left..

 

@Felix Are you suggesting to replace both calipers? That means replacing all the pads and rotors as well. Well, I could have the rotors resurfaced. I need to check if the pistons are also OK. If not, a good reason to replace the calipers.

Thanks.

 

First rule of diagnosing a problem is that ALL parts are suspect. Just because a part is new, almost new or checked by someone else, never skip checking that part. The first thing I would do is have the rotors checked for runout or a light resurfacing done.

I doubt that the calipers are the problem, but if you replace them, that does not require that you to replace the rotors and pads.

 

I would have to replace the rotors/pads as well, since the could be warped. I watched a couple videos and can check if there is calipers are stucked, but I don't believe, because it would cause vibration even when ot braking.

 

I am currently experiencing the same type of problem with my 2004 RX330 I just replced both front rotors and pads(yesterday 09/03/23) did not help at all. Then I checked for a possible bad wheel bearing nope and all the boots on the cv axles look perfect, no play at all in the front wheels. Could it be the back brakes causing this vibration to be felt in the steering wheel when braking? HELP has anyone else had this issue?

 

I don't think the rear brakes would be felt in the steering wheel.

How is the wheel alignment? The toe in adjustment could cause vibrations. When was your last wheel alignment? Do you see any feathering or cupping on the edges of the tire(s)?

 

No cupping or feathing showing on the tires they have even tread wear. No pulling to the right or left it was about a year since I had it aligned. This is a puzzling one to me. The only thing in my experience to cause steering wheel vibration when braking is rotors but with those being new the only other option I was considering would be a caliper issue but I have checked those for sticking and the seem to be fine, after a long trip to town and back the wheels were warm to the touch but nothing unusual. I did notice that if I braked real hard the vibration was not has bad.

 

As DennisMLK referenced earlier, did you check runout of the new rotors? I had consistent pulsation and the last time the pads/rotors were replaced, the shop was careful to look at that ... no issues since.

 

I will check that, but one would think they would do a thorough inspection of the rotors before they are shipped. If one of them happen to have run out from the factory I will be one unhappy customer. Rotors are like gold now adays. 2 new rotors cost 231.00 dollars for the front or maybe that's normal and I'm just cheap.

 

In my case, excessive lateral runout was the culprit -- the hub/rotor combo was the issue ... a good read:
http://www.procutusa.com/zipfind.aspx or https://www.procutusa.com/FindRotorMatching.aspx

Some of the other threads on here talk about upgrading to better calipers/rotors and I think that is a better long-term fix, but checking the lateral runout was helpful in my situation.