I'm hoping one of you Dakota fans knows the answer to this- what causes steering wheel vibration braking at high speeds?
The dealership just took it out for a road test and recommended a balancing and rotation- on brand new tires installed 2 weeks ago by kal-tire! I don't believe them. I first noticed this problem in August, only a few weeks weeks after an alignment, rotation and balancing was done. I believe the problem is something else, maybe something serious, but they are still asking for a balancing and rotation.
It's a 2011 Dodge Dakota.



Thanks in advance!
-1kgcoffee

 

Ask them if it doesnt fix it are they going to refund you? I mean it is about the cheapest first step and it wouldnt hurt to try it. It could be a bunch of others things too like warped rotors, brake pads, tie rods, U-joints, cleaning an re-greasing the slip yoke, just to start. I have a weird vibration/quiver when I slow down too from highway speeds but I am 90% sure its my slip yoke as the brakes are fairly new, same with the tie rods, and same with the tires, on top of this occurring before and after all the above.

 

I would first take it back to Kal-Tire and tell them you're having this problem, you don't need to tell them when you think it first started - they were the last ones to change settings. I'd have them re-check the balance & alignment and to give you an alignment sheet (this is the before & after computer output from their alignment computer) and then take it for a test drive. This should give you a confirmation of the condition of your suspension and steering components since they really need to check all that to be able to do a proper alignment. Although most tire shops like Kal-Tire are pretty good in this area, things do fall through the cracks and if it's their oversight, they normally fix it without question & if it's something else, at least you'll have another option to look at. Depending on the outcome of this, you can determine your next step if the problem persists.

You say that the problem comes up when braking at high speeds - have you had your brakes checked? an out-of-balance condition there will give you the same symptoms - things like warped rotors, stuck calipers, etc., on the front and out-of-round drums or stuck components in the back can do that to you. When I had my drum brakes apart, I noticed that the auto adjustment mechanism is easy to set up wrong (I was getting grip on one side and not the other due to one side being out of adjustment).

 

what kind of tires are you running? I know with lots of the all terrain tires you get some road noise and vibrations.

 

I had a horrible vibration at higher speeds afew times when braking.
One when one of my tires came unbalanced.
I also had a even worse vibration when all 5 of my Lugs Nuts came dangerously loose (when jacked up I could take them off with my hand)
and now I currently do when braking coming off the highway, or braking hard which is my Rear Drums being out-of-round. Which just happens for no reason on this truck.
(I just had the front replaced for the 2nd time)

 

The dealership would have to re-balance the wheels first, I would be shocked if they didn't. My brand new wheels threw a couple of weights, I found them in my yard, and had a slight vibration on the highway. They had to re-balance all of the wheels because we didn't know which wheel lost the weights. All's good after it was all done, pain in the ***, but done.

 

Hard to say what it is, but everyone is correct, wheel balance is the simplest way to start. The second thing that comes to mind are all the other 4000 parts in the front end.

3rd gen Dakotas have goofy front ends, and they tend to vibrate from all sorts of maladies. The brake rotors (disks) are the most likely culprit to vibration under braking at highway speeds, but next, I'd have them check outer tie rod ends first, as they do wear out sooner than most flexible Y stud type assemblies. They can give a false positive too if the mechanic doesn't push hard enough on it with a pry bar.

Rotors are

 

I went to my shop and they replaced the front king pins and bushings, it cleared it right up

 

What did that little job cost?

 

The quote was 280, with a cupon (10% when you sign up for their email they send it to ) I talked them down to 200. They replaced the pins and upper and lower bushings. I did at the same time I did all 4 tires and alignment. The flutter was less with new tires and alignment but chatter in the sterring wheel at the smallest bump. It's great now, I will keep an eye on the tie rod ends.