Brake Pad Replacement Cost Looking for Replacement Parts? We recommend Parts Geek or Advance Auto Parts for the best prices and selection. The average cost to replace brake pads is between $50 and $150. Sometimes it can even be as much as $200 to $300, depending on the type of car you have.

One of the most common causes of a warped brake rotor is the improper installation of the wheel. Take out of the equation that everything is assembled correctly, and then the most common cause of brake pulsation is from the uneven transfer of friction material from the pad to the rotor.

Pulsating brakes can be felt in the steering wheel as a steering wheel shaking, at the brakes or in the brake pedal as a brake pedal pulsation, or in the seat as a seat vibration when braking. If you feel the brakes pulsate when coming to a stop, it’s probably from bad brake rotors.

In some cases, worn suspension components can cause a shaking while braking. For example, in a strut -style suspension, the brake rotor mounts to the steering knuckle, which, in turn, mounts to the strut. As such, problems with the strut assembly can cause a shaking while braking.

Vibrations in the steering column can happen for a number of reasons, such as a busted motor mount, bent rims, bad CV joints or loose lug nuts [source: Distad]. Why they may cause the steering wheel to shake when braking requires a quick review of how rotors work.

The biggest reason for this shaking problem is the condition of your rotors – the disc your brake pad clamps down on when you apply your brakes. Most commonly, the vibration happens because the rotors have some kind of imperfection on their surface or they have changed shape (warped) over time.

The common symptoms of out-of-balance tires are uneven and faster tread wear, poor fuel economy, and vibration in the steering wheel, the floorboard or the seat that gets worse at faster speeds. When all areas of the wheel-tire unit are as equal in weight as possible, the tire will roll smoothly.