Your truck “shaking and baking” every time you tap the brakes is never a fun time. It can also be a warning sign for some pretty serious problems with your truck you want to address ASAP – safety issues that can put you, your passengers, and other motorists at risk if left unattended to.
Most commonly, truck shaking when you brake has to do with the brake rotor being warped, brake pads that have worn out or worn unevenly, or a sticky caliper. Most of these issues can be repaired your self but is easier to take it into a shop to fix relatively inexpensive.
Run through the checklist we put together in this detailed guide and you should be able to quickly (and accurately) diagnose why your truck shakes when you brake. Then know what to fix to solve this problem once and for all!
Reasons A Truck Would Shake When Braking
Warped Brake Rotor
Rotor trouble is one of the most common reasons your truck shakes on you while you are braking.
The big metal discs connected to your wheel hub (and axle assembly), your rotors are sandwiched in between your brake system. When you hit the brakes, the brake pads or the disc brakes squeeze against the rotor itself using friction to slow the truck down.
Obviously, over time, all that friction – and all that heat – run the risks of warping the rotors. If the rotors warp out of shape they are going to wobble and wiggle every time your brakes touch them. That’s going to cause your truck to shake!
Replacing the rotors is pretty simple and straightforward, though, and won’t cost you an arm and a leg. It’ll also improve the performance of your braking system!
To replace the rotors yourself, just purchase a new set from an auto parts store. Then jack up one wheel at a time and secure it in place by placing it on a jack-stand. Remove the wheel and then the brake assembly. Once this is done the rotor should be free to pull off, replace with a new one and then assemble everything back as it was.
Worn Out Brake Pads
Brake pads are “consumable” components on your truck.
From the moment that you put them on they are getting worn down every time you tap the brakes. As mentioned earlier, the brake pads squeezing against the rotors use friction to slow and stop the truck – and all that grinding is going to chew the brake pads down.
Most of the time, brake pads are going to wear pretty evenly. You’ll obviously need to replace them before you have a metal on metal braking system (that’s a nightmare and 100% unsafe), but you shouldn’t have shaking while braking trouble with even wear.
When the brake pads wear unevenly, though, you’re going to get vibration – just the same way you would if your rotors were out of spec.
The answer here is to swap your brake pads out. Truth be told, it’s not a bad idea to check your rotors and your pads at the same time and do a “whole hog” braking system replacement at least every year or two.
Sticky Calipers
The third core component of your truck’s braking system, the calipers on the truck are responsible for pushing the brake pads against the rotors every time you tap the brakes. They are also responsible for pulling the brake pads off of the rotors when you release the brakes.
If something goes a little sideways between your brake pedal and the calipers, though, you can end up with calipers that stick. If they stick up against the rotor you’re not only going to lose some (or all) braking performance, but you’re also going to deal with a ton of vibration.
You’ll know this is a problem if you go to hit your brakes and they feel unresponsive. You’ll also know for sure if you hear a constant grinding sound, feel like your vehicle is being pulled backwards when you hit the gas pedal, or if you are getting your truck pulling to one side or the other as you go down the road.
The answer here (no surprise) is to swap your calipers out and get new brake pads. If you have a frozen caliper issue you’ll probably want to swap out your rotors as well, just to be safe.
Troublesome Tire Alignment
Tire alignment problems usually rear their ugly head at higher speeds when you tap the brakes, which make them particularly unpleasant (sometimes surprising) to deal with.
If you are doing more than 50 miles an hour (which is when tire alignment problems while braking will manifest) you’re probably rolling down the road – or even a highway – and the last thing you are going to expect is your truck to start to shake and shimmy when you hit the brakes.
Tire alignment problems are probably the easiest of the bunch to solve, though.
Take your truck to any reputable tire shop, ask for them to align and balance your tires (more on that in just a moment), and you’ll be rocking and rolling with vibration free braking from then on.
Tires Out of Balance
Unbalanced tires aren’t just going to force your suspension system to work harder, but it’s also going to make your truck shake and wiggle when you hit the brakes – sometimes so badly that you’ll have a tough time controlling and steering the truck!
As mentioned above, though, this is something that any reputable tire shop can result for you in a couple of minutes and for next to nothing.
Bent Wheels and Rims
Bent wheels and rims are going to give you steering trouble as a general rule of thumb (a surefire sign of this problem), but they will also cause your truck to shake and vibrate when you hit the brakes.
An obvious symptom of this issue is if you feel like vibrations when you are rolling down the road at highway speeds. The faster you go, the worse the vibrations will get – and the more your truck will shake when you get on the brakes.
The only fix here, though, is to get new wheels and rims.
Closing Thoughts
At the end of the day, if you are dealing with a lot of shaking when you tap your brakes it’s a good idea to pop down to a mechanic you trust for a once over.
Tell them any of the symptoms you’ve been dealing with on top of the shaking. Give them an opportunity to drive your truck around a little bit to see things for themselves if they need to.
Most shops will be able to tell you exactly what’s wrong almost straightaway – and quote you a decent price to get back on the road vibration free.
If you’re comfortable working on your own truck, though, most of the solutions to get rid of the shakes are pretty simple and straightforward to knock out on your own.
Valik loves tinkering in the garage and is currently restoring a 2000 GMC Sierra 1500 truck. He also writes about the progress on this blog. When not in the garage, Valik is also a web developer and a blogger. I know, strange, a hand in two completely different worlds. And that is the way he likes to keep it.
