Steering wheel started shaking yesterday, and today brakes started grinding!?

Question

What is this, and are they related? Grinding seemed very "deep" and sounded awful! I had to drive over 200 miles on it today for work (mainly highway) and could not pull over because I would have been stuck in the middle of nowhere!

The car is a 2001 Infiniti QX4; bought it brand new and never had any problems with it before. It has less than 50,000 miles on it.

I made a service appointment for Monday (about 15 miles away) and will not drive it till then. I'm worried about how much it will cost to fix, since the warranty has expired already. Hundreds? Thousands? Any info or insight on the problem and cost would be much appreciated. Thank you!

WOW -- thank you to all for the very informative and detailed responses. Honestly, there was such a "fear of the unknown," and it just helps so much just to know what to expect. So THANK YOU!

Answer 1

Guy above me is correct, once you start hearing a deep grinding sound, your car ( or truck ) is in TROUBLE. If you only drove it a few miles, with light braking, you might get away with it. If you drove the 200 miles in stop-and-go traffic, you could have done significant damage. Rotors can run anywhere from $50 to $500, depending on whether front-wheel drive, four-wheel drive, etc. If you have a front-drive car, sometimes the rotors are mounted specially to the drivetrain and are EXPENSIVE to replace. If they come off separately, then then can be cheaper.
50k miles for brakes sounds about right, depending on usage. Brakes are usually cheap, but it's the rotor replacement that runs the bill up, and more so for 4x4 or front-drive cars. if you replace one side, you should (to be safe ) replace the other to match. So, it all depends now on how deep the scoring is on the rotors. They may can be saved, IF you drove conservatively. If you drove fast up to a light and hit the brakes hard constantly, you've probably toasted at least the worst one. You won't know until you get it to a repair shop, hopefully one you can trust.
yes, the shaking and the grinding are related, as either the pad was partially ground thru, so part of the rotor had a pad, the other just metal, which would make it try to stop turning at different rates, and cause the shaking. Once the entire pad is gone, it would just be grinding. Plus, if one side has lost the pads, and the other still has some, it'll brake at different rates, and cause the vibration as well.
Good luck!

Answer 2

I actually had this happen to my truck. My hubby fixed it for me though and it ended up being warped rotors and no brake pads left at all and he thinks that it happened because of a bad caliper pin but he says that it sounds like your brakes went too long without being changed but it really should not be that expensive it sounds like all you need are new brake pads and rotors it is very easy to do just be careful when you go to a shop because they will charge you a ton new part should only run around $100 brake pads are usually about $16 for a set and rotors can go between 35 and 60 a piece plus a core charge and you can get your money back if you return the old parts that is for the core charge if you have it done at the dealer ship you will probably pay about 500 bucks

Answer 3

Sounds like you may have run your brake pads down to the metal. You probably ground your rotors pretty deeply driving all those miles like that, at least one of them is shot. You will need to get the discs turned, maybe even replaced. You are looking at a few hundred in the best scenario and a couple of thousand in the worst. Sorry.

Answer 4

If i was to guess, it sounds you had a wheel bearing go out and the shaking started when it was trying to seize up. Now that it has that is the grinding noise you hear. Unfortunately, I'm not sure about the cost but with all of them I have changed over the years, they aren't cheap. I hope thus helps and good luck.

If it is a wheel bearing, fifteen miles is a long ways to go, you would be safer having it towed to the shop.

Answer 5

You need brake pads, two new rotors. Call Auto Zone for prices, get them from there and NOT from the dealer (dealer will charge you an arm and a leg and another arm and your buddy's leg, lol), bring vehicle to a good reputable local garage- labor will be cheaper, relax, this is a simple job. You may be looking at less than $500 for parts and labor.

Answer 6

i own a shop,and it sounds like the brakes have eaten in to the rotors on it,if it has that many miles on the brakes and they have never been replaced,there a good possibility that your going to need rotors on it,id be really careful driving it until then,there is a slight possibility that it could loose its brakes,in the event you had to hit them hard,just be careful in it,and the cost on this is hard to estimate,without knowing what parts it will need,but its not going to be in the thousands,a few hundred though at the least,good luck with it hope this helps.

Answer 7

Check your rotors. Your brake pad could be worn down so it is grinding your rotors. That's what the grinding sound is. I just got done replacing my 2 back brake pads and rotors.

Answer 8

the grinding could be the pads are warn down to the rotors,probably need new pads and rotors.as for the shaking,it could be a belt busted in a tire or a bad tie rod or ball joint.

Answer 9

You probably need a brake job and the rotor could be messed up. Dont go to dealership. They are over priced. find a ma and pa place.

Answer 10

Full brake system service.
$600.00.

Two rotors (front)$70 each.
Front brake pad set. $60
Rear brakes. ($55)
Brake fluid.

Possible front calipers.$200.

Labor $440