Wheel Hopping

When I am decelerating from a higher rate of speed (anything 60MPH or over)
my right front wheel starts "vibrating" wildly, depending on how hard I
brake. If I brake very softly or really hard, it doesn't do it...it's just
with a medium amount of brake pressure. I know that the wheel is "hopping"
because I can feel it lose traction for a fraction of a second if I'm
rounding a curve while braking. Is this a bad strut or a warped rotor? Any
ideas? (1990 Civic LX 5-speed)

Thanx in advance!

Jonathan

 

warped rotor.

be sure you get one that's 19mm between disk faces - a lot of the new
ones, including honda, now only sell 20mm, the later standard. this
means either skimming the disk or getting newer calipers.

 

That's what I thought. I just wondered about the strut because of the way
the wheel was hopping, but now that I think about it, since it doesn't do it
at all unless I brake, then that rules out the strut. Thanks for your help!


Jon

 

it is possible the shock's getting weak, but the hard/soft braking
effect you cite is /definitely/ rotor. when you have the wheels off to
do the disks, check for shock oil leakage. check the uper control arms
too - the swivel joint can go and this can make the rotor warping effect
bad too.