Judder at end of braking

[jjay66]

Hi there
I'm getting a judder at the tail end of braking. Pads OK. Was thinking poorly fitted discs.
Truck to big to fit on KwikFit's ramp (!) but without full brake inspection they say brakes OK. They suggested a suspension issue - wishbone bushes/rubber mounting on the prop shaft.
I am not mechanically inclined but the MOT the truck arrived with (Nov) states:
"offside front lower suspension arm has slight play in a ball joint"
Could this be causing the judder?
If so is it an expensive fix (cringe).
Hoping for a little advice before having the conversation with my mechanic,
Cheers
JJ

 

[FERRET EXPLORER]

Hi JJ
It sounds like it could be a abs sensor problem,if you can feel it through the pedal this may be your prob,this usualy happens t slow speed or when the wheel is turning for example when parking, just a thought .
Andy

 

[alan21]

Brake judder

Hi
When I was working as a car mechanic I often had this problem, usually just as you are coming to a halt.
It always turned out to be a crack in the reluctor ring atached to the drive shaft.
Hope this helps
Alan

 

[jjay66]

Thanks both, may give me a head start. Will let you know how I get on,
JJ

 

[Howard]

Had that on a friends x. We changed one front sensor (about £20 from fords) and no more problem. You can get one and it will fit both sides. I put a meter on the leads and changed to one that did not match the new one.

 

[jjay66]

Cheers Howard - sounds worth a go. Try the cheap fixes first eh!

 

[roey]

Had that on a friends x. We changed one front sensor (about £20 from fords) and no more problem. You can get one and it will fit both sides. I put a meter on the leads and changed to one that did not match the new one.

Did this fix it jj ? I've got exactly the same thing happening with mine , cheers.

 

[briwayjones]

Ok, a little cultural exchange here. What the heck is a judder? Would it be the same as studdering? A quick pulsing, grabbing then releasing vibration at the end of braking?

 

[roey]

Yeah , all of that Bri . Coupled with a loss in stopping power . If i take my foot off the pedal and then apply it again straight away it stops - hardly a recipe for smooth stopping though

 

[blueka]

Same here, I just unplugged my ABS and that stops it too!!!

Si

 

[jjay66]

Yes Bri that about sums juddering up!
Hey Roey to be honest with you I haven't got around to changing the ABS sensors yet but it is on my New Years List ;-)
I'll let you know as soon as I've tried it.
If disconnecting the ABS does the same thing on mine as yours Blueka then I guess we are on the right track. One question - how do you disconnect the ABS?
Happy New Year all,
JJ

 

[blueka]

there's a plug on the the near side under the bonnet - just undo it... i'll take some photos of the plug tomorrow and get it up on the net for you

Si

 

[jjay66]

Cheers that would be helpful
JJ

 

[blueka]

As promised, some pictures of the unplugged ABS plug

Hope this helps

Si

 

[jjay66]

Cheers Si
I'm off to disconnect - let you know what happens
JJ

 

[jjay66]

Yep - it worked! No more problem (except if I have to brake hard at speed!!)
I guess it is one of the sensors then. I'll get one and get my mechanic to install it. Is it a standard Ford part or specific to the Explorer anyone know?
JJ

 

[jjay66]

Well, finally getting the ABS sensor looked at on Thursday. Mechanic says he'll have to scan to see which of the four sensors is faulty. Will let you know how it goes!
JJ