I have a RT AWD w/ 9,000 miles on it when I brake the steering whell seems to shimmy and shake. This seems to happen at all speeds. Any thoughts?

 

Hard to believe that you have this happening at 9,K miles.
Just my 2-cents worth: I had a Volvo before my Magnum (1998 V-70 XC AWD). I had a shimmy problem like you describe and it turned out to be my tires. I replaced the tires and the shimmy went away--for another 30,K miles. Another remedy that was suggested to me was to machine or change the brake rotors.
However, at 9,K miles, I would drive the car to the dealer and have them fix it.

Good luck.

 

vibration under braking is almost always due to warped rotors. Happens a lot if you do hard braking and hitting deep puddles, but can happen just about anytime they rapidly heat up and cool down. See If your dealer will turn the rotors or test them for you. Just need to remove a wheel and use a runout gauge to measure the rotor itself. A test you can do yourself is drive the car on an empty road up to speed and see if it still does it when you use only the emergency brake to stop it. If you dont get the vibration, the front rotors are the warped ones. If its still there, its all 4, rear ones or some other problem (maybe anti lock). Under any circumstances, it should be repaired under warranty.

 

Thanks for the info. guys, I appreciate it.

 

Definitely warped rotors. Take it to the dealer and have them replace the rotors.

 

Yup, Warped Rotors are the cause. Happened to mine too. It is not a defect, it was caused by extreme braking, and should be expected. This is either a 60 to 0 MPH Sudden stop or an instant slow down from 120 to 60 MPH. I took it in to get new Brake Pads and the guy laughed at me, "What are you doing, wasting my time?". I had like 75% of the Brake Pads left, it was the shutter I was feeling. Drove it around normal for about 2 to 3 months and the Brakes are back to normal. (Used enough of the Rotor to shave off the heated spots, or something...) Next car I get will be an SRT-8, so the Braking will be better, although no complaints here... Still got rear ended by a Toyota... If I can stop faster than a Compact Car, I'm doing OK with this 4,200 pound beast!

 

Are the rotors covered or am I going to have to pay for this fix myself? I am guessing I warped them doing a few 110 to 70 slow downs when my radar detector blew up.

 

...within the 3yr./36k mi. warranty period then it should be covered. If not... well then you'll have to pull out your wallet.

I had the brakes replaced at 11500 miles....in March '05 and they are now at 23,740 mi.s needing to be replaced yet again. Same 'shudder' of which you speak. Same warped rotors.

I think I will let them do the job then go to a favorite indie garage and will have all four corners replaced with slotted cryo-treated rotors... or some 'cross-drilled' cryo-treated rotors that had the holes 'cast in' instead of drilled. Stress relieved, chamfered, and zinc plated. Also.. will be switching to a ceramic compound pad on all 4 corners. Supposedly (according to local experts) I can get some life out of that setup...and if not... I can always put the warranty stuff back on the car.

 

If you drive normally most of the time, normal rotors will last 100,000 miles or more with no problems. While cross drilled/ slotted ones look cooler (I agree), they are not intended for street use. There MADE to operate at very high heat and stress situations like road racing on a track where they perform much better than stock type. So unless your doing burnouts and throwing out the anchor at every red light, your a lot better off with OEM. Ive seen lots of cases of guys with the cool looking ones all cracking from those slots or holes and needing replaced very soon. Cryo may improve that, I cant say. I do my share of fast driving and stopping and I havent had any 'special' rotors on any of my cars for dozens of years and Ive not had a single warped rotor. I personally think Magnums have excellent braking even compared with sports cars Ive had. Id just recommend that you upgrade brake pads. The pads themselves have a lot to do with any effects on rotors. I had a limo service with Lincoln town cars and ran premium pads and routinely had brake jobs last well over 100,000 miles and they weight substantially more than a standard car. None of them had any rotor issues

Dont tell them about your speed stops and you should be covered for repair / replacement under warranty.

 

Any thought on brake pad upgrades i.e. what type, any particular brand?