How to Stop Car From Shaking While Braking? Six Causes & Solutions to Counter that!

Counted among some of the scariest incidents, your car shaking on pressing the brakes might bring your soul on the verge of exiting your body. But it’s not always like that, you may feel neglectable wobbling in some cases, and in some, it may make a noticeable difference if you keep neglecting that, or when you hit the brakes instantly.

The condition can occur without any prior signs and may develop with time if you are not careful with it. However, now that your vehicle is quivering, you must be deliberating over how to stop car from shaking while braking, which we’ll be diligently answering in the guide below. Where we’ll let you know all the methods there are to counter this problem and drive back safely to your home, or to your mechanic that we’d suggest.

How Do I Stop My Car Shaking When I Brake?

For a shaking car, only when the brakes are pressed, there can be two reasons. The first could be that there is a problem with the tires, or that the entire braking system is acting up and needs inspection right away. That said, let’s look at the problems one by one, starting with the braking system, for it could be the closest cause of shaking your car. With each segment, we’ll also list down the solution that may help you stop your car from shaking according to the situation.

Braking System

One of the most common causes of a car shaking upon braking is the problem with the braking system, which further breaks down into brake lines, rotors, brake calipers, and brake pads. Here’s how might each of them act up and how you can fix them on the go.

1. Brake Lines

When you press the brake pedal in your car, the brake lines come into action and apply pressure on the brake calipers through the brake fluid, further enforcing brake pads to produce friction by pressing on the rotor or disc. However, at times, air finds its way into the brake lines, causing them to become air-locked. It blocks the supply of brake fluid which results in uneven pressure on the caliper, producing a wobbling effect upon pressing the brakes.

Now to eliminate the air from brake lines, you will have to do a lot of work that you may or may not be able to do yourself. For this very reason, we’d suggest you drive to your mechanic and let them find out if this is the case, and fix it once and for all.

2. Brake Rotors

Also known as the discs, brake rotors function by absorbing the friction produced by the pressing of brake pads on them, pressurized by the calipers. Like all the car parts, they also wear out over the time of usage, which causes them to slip and not absorb the friction that stops the car. In this case, they are not fully worn-out but will do sooner than you can imagine, evident by the magnitude of shakiness you feel while pressing the brakes.

If brake rotors are the issue, they will need to be replaced with the new units, which may cost you around $200, with the cost of labor included.

3. Brake Caliper

A stuck or caught-up brake caliper might also be the cause why your car is shaking while driving. This is possible with a rusty caliper piston that may cause the caliper to not function properly and cause shakiness to your car. However, if that’s the case, replacing it would turn out a better option, or following what your mechanic recommends will do even better, for your financial capacity also matters.

4. Brake Pads

The optimal age of brake pads lies between 20,000 to 50,000 miles, after which the brake pads will still perform, but not up to the mark, i.e., they start causing your car to start sharking upon braking. As you know, there lies an only solution to this problem, which is to get them replaced for maximum performance and to counter the wobbling, if they are the cause.

Apart from the mentioned causes, one could also be the worn-out drum brakes that cause vibrations to the vehicle, and in rare cases, might disturb the balance of the car, causing it to flip over.

Tires

Now that you know the potential braking system causes and their solutions, it’s time to learn if it could be the tires causing the shakiness in your vehicle, for that’s the second most common cause of wobbling upon hitting the brakes.

1. Uneven Air Pressure

To drive a car to its full potential, you need to maintain the pressure on all four tires. If any one of them is running short of air, you will feel wobbling in your vehicle, way before you have hit the brakes. It is something you need to regularly check to not face any incident turning out to be deadly.

Also, if you feel any of the tires losing air while driving, we’d suggest you slow down your car, head to the sideway, and drive until you see a filling station, where you should get your tires pumped, and hit the road thereafter. You should also check for a potential puncture, for it could be the reason the air is leaking out.

Check out our guide on the best air compressors for home garages, so you don’t have to burn your fuel to find a filling station only to pump up the tires.

2. Poor Wheel Alignment

Another cause could relate to the poor wheel alignment, which may also pull your car to the right or left side, with the wobbling intact. Now you can not fix this issue by yourself but will have to drive to your mechanic to get it repaired. It’s because fixing this issue involves taking the tires off the vehicle and correcting the alignment using the alignment machine, which calculates the angles and adjusts the tires to the vehicle’s native specifications.

You may also need to buy new tires, for those already installed might have worn out, costing you somewhere between $300 – $1000.

Conclusion

The guide was all about how to stop car from shaking while braking, as we have listed all the causes with their solutions, and when you should drive to your mechanic for better inspection and consistent solution. We’d end it with a word of advice that you need to treat your car the way you treat your kids, for you never know when are where it may cry. You may also like our guide on why your car vibrates in the drive but not in neutral, it may also help you counter the shakiness.

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