Brake problem?

[MattHarrell]

Hi. My truck shudders when braking decently hard from about 40+ mph. It's definitely more noticable going downhill. So, I decided it was the brakes and learned how to change the brake pads. I picked up some good brake pads and did all four tires. They're still dragging a bit but the problem hasn't gone away and has actually gotten a little worse since now it seems to shudder some at 70 mph while driving and it didn't do that before. Does this sound like the rotors are warped? They don't physically look bad but I haven't gotten out there with anything good to measure them.

 

[marragtop]

It sounds like the rotors are warped. Did you recently have any shop do tires or anything else that would have involved removing the wheels? Rotors usually get warped due to over torguing(air gun) the lugs, and when the brakes get hot, the rotors get warped. Most likely, it's the front rotors.

 

[MattHarrell]

No,nothing special has been done that should require them to torque down the bolts. Usually when I do have something done then when I get home I loosen them and torque them to about 100 ft-lbs (I think the range is like 90 - 115 ft-lbs).

Thanks for the corroboration on the rotors. I haven't done much with brakes before but it seemed to make sense.

 

[marragtop]

Before you turn/replace rotors, you might want to rotate the tires front to back to see if there is any difference. This may eliminate any wheel/tire problems.

 

[jimbo74]

it sounds more like a rotor issue than a tire issue

 

[MattHarrell]

That's a good point and I'll give that a try too.

But I was getting absolutely no shudders earlier when I wasn't braking. That seems to imply to me that the problem is with something in the brake system. And since there aren't any ABS lights on or anything like that then I figured it had to be more mundane like the rotors.

 

[HardTech]

Personaly i would see if its any other problems before roatating the rotors.

If you do rotate them, be more carefull this time. As they will be way easier to warp than before.

I tend to leave mine alone, and if they are warped, replace them. As turning them will just lead me back in that shop sooner instead of later

 

[MattHarrell]

I didn't mean I was going to rotate them. I was planning on replacing them. I know I saw a good post about that before. Any other good tips I should keep in mind when I do it this weekend?