Your brake system is responsible for the very tedious job of slowing down and stopping your vehicle. This job gets very difficult especially when you drive at high speeds. Your brakes often reach very high temperatures caused by the friction it uses to slow your vehicle down. This makes it common for people to meet problems with their brakes, and if you think you’re one of those people, read on.

What can cause my brakes to pulsate or vibrate?

There might be a few reasons why your brakes are pulsating. If you’re not sure what’s making it vibrate, the list below should be helpful to you.

Your brake pads might be completely worn down

Your brake pads exist in order to prevent your rotors from grinding against metal. However, these pads regularly get worn down. If you feel your brakes vibrating when you engage them, then it might be because the material on your brake pads have completely been worn down. 

You can easily address this problem by replacing your brake pads with new ones, however, you may also want to have your rotors checked. Metal grinding against metal is never a good thing for your brakes, especially if you regularly drive at high speeds.

A scarred or warped brake rotor

If your rotor is in a bad condition, or is due for a replacement, then it might be the cause of the vibrations. The brake rotor is the part of the brake system that gets clamped on in order to slow down or stop your car. If this part is warped or scarred, the contact points between them and the brake pads might become uneven, causing the vibrations. 

Improper wheel alignment

Sometimes, the problem doesn’t lie with your brakes. As you use your vehicle, you drive along bumps and potholes on the road, and that’s inevitable. However, what these do over time is have your wheels come out of alignment. 

If your tires aren’t aligned properly, engaging your brakes might make you feel vibrations. You will want to have your wheels aligned. If the vibrations have been going on for quite some time, you might even want to have your brake components checked, because they might have been affected by this problem as well.

Worn down suspension components

Your vehicle’s components for the suspension system may also cause vibrations and pulsations when engaging the brakes. This is because when you slow down, these components might vibrate and rattle when they need to be replaced.

Conclusion

When your brake pedals pulsate or vibrate, having your brakes checked becomes a necessary step in addressing the problem. However, your brakes aren’t always what’s wrong. Your wheel alignment and suspension components are also important in preventing these problems from happening. 

More pressing problems than a vibrating brake pedal might occur if you ignore it for too long. Have your vehicle checked immediately to prevent your problems from multiplying. However, always remember that periodic maintenance on your vehicle will help prevent you from experiencing this problem in the future. 

The R1 Concepts Mission

At R1 Concepts, we offer only the best in terms of your vehicle’s brake needs. It is our mission to provide you with the best services– including after-purchase service along the way. Pulsating or vibrating brake pedals can easily be addressed with the products that we carry. At R1, we assure you that we prioritize quality, safety, and reliability of our brakes.