What do you do about severe shaking while braking or going down a hill?

Answer 1

have your front rotors checked that is were I would start they could be warped or woren bad Answer #2 BobZ I own a 97 Mercury Villager which is a clone of the Nissan Quest and is made by Nissan. Everything is the same with the exception of some exterior/interior cosmetics. I am an a experienced mechanic and have built several "hot-rods" in my day. I know the front end of this vehicle and like many other cars/vans/trucks today it is front wheel drive and therefore has a MacPherson Strutt suspension. This type of suspension regardless of brand of car are all pretty much the same and there are only so many problems they can have. I agree that you should check the front brake rotors first. Many disc brake cars experience this problem which can be repaired by having the rotors removed and turned down (if there's enough "meat") left on them or by replacing the rotors (which are pretty cheap these days) at a discount auto store. 2) The wheels in the front may have to be balanced, check to see if you have balance weights on them. Sometimes a weight will fall off and the wheel is now longer in balance and can produce a vibration but this does not happen on deceleration as in braking. 3) Another area for concern is the ball joints. The Quest and Villager use greasless ball joints which was a "Better Idean From Ford" many years ago. It is a fine example of technology gone bad and was a way to make a ball joint a few cents cheaper and keep the front end guys in business. Since the ball joints have no way to be lubricated the grease eventually hardens up, the joint wears and then fails (ever see a car on the side of the road with a wheel collapsed and lying horizontally on the ground. If the ball joints are loose you can get shimmy and vibrations in the front end at various times. 4) Final possibilit but investigate only after #1-3 above is a bad "Rack". Macpherson strutt suspensions all have rack and pinion steering, no need to ask what it is, just that you know a Rack can develop problems and may have to be replaced. Looseness in the rack can definitely cause vibrations but these are usually a more severe type of vibration and can be experienced at other than braking situation. Good Luck - Motorhead BobZ