A problem with the brakes

Hello everyone, i drove the landy last night and noticed when braking a little hard there was a rythmic pulsing/thumping not dissimiliar to when the abs kicks in, the only problem is i have disconnected my abs years ago as it has always been overreacting! (i took the abs fuse out and have been relying on good old fashioned normal braking which has been fine) when i brake hard it feels like when you drive over cats eyes thats the best way i can describe it.

I put new mintex pads and discs on about a year or so ago (couple of thousand miles) so cant really think what can be causing it (maybe a warped disc?)

Has anyone any suggestions? cheers fellas

warped discs or shagged wheel bearing

nice one, how do i check to find out? will the discs be visably warped? and will there be play in the wheel when jacked up if its the bearing or would it make a tell tale sound? cheers.

anyone?

mrnice said:

nice one, how do i check to find out?
1. will the discs be visably warped?
2. will there be play in the wheel when jacked up if its the bearing or 3. would it make a tell tale sound? cheers.

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1. Yes
2. Yes...or/and 3. Yes ........ot at least they must to if they are giving u the pulsing/thumping u've described......unless it's something else..dont ask me what if your wheels are well balanced

To check warped discs hold a steel rule against the surface. If it is not reasonable smooth and uniform (some minor wear is acceptable) then the discs are warped.
Also, check none of the balancing weights have come offend wheels.

bluesticky1 said:

To check warped discs hold a steel rule against the surface. If it is not reasonable smooth and uniform (some minor wear is acceptable) then the discs are warped.
Also, check none of the balancing weights have come offend wheels.

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Whats wheel weights got to do with brake judder??
The only way to check for warped discs is with a dial gauge

knackered rear discs.. mines the same

Did you change all the disc's? Had same problem on mine albeit I had juddering with even the slightest brake pressure, turned out to be pitted rear discs.

I've bought all the parts from devon 4x4 and a fella I know is doing them for me, only the rears though as there really pitted but the fronts look fine. I think it works that if the rears are shot you feel it through the brake pedal but if its the fronts you'll feel it in the steering wheel, very good price from devon 4x4 £36.73 for new discs, pads, retainer kit and gaskets

aston108 said:

I've bought all the parts from devon 4x4 and a fella I know is doing them for me, only the rears though as there really pitted but the fronts look fine. I think it works that if the rears are shot you feel it through the brake pedal but if its the fronts you'll feel it in the steering wheel, very good price from devon 4x4 £36.73 for new discs, pads, retainer kit and gaskets

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Its the Mrs that drives it the most (her everyday car, my weekend and evenings toy) and she today said that she doesnt feel safe driving it at the mo because of the pulsing, ive not had a proper look yet but ive just checked the rear discs through the wheel and they look like a record, nice and shiny but with loads of little grooves going round them, also a lip of maybe just under 1mm around the edge whereas the fronts look perfectly flat and smooth with barely any lip, do you think this could be the cause?

Hi, sounds like rear disc's , just a thought are the caliper pistons releasing ok?

aston108 said:

I think it works that if the rears are shot you feel it through the brake pedal but if its the fronts you'll feel it in the steering wheel,

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:5biagree:

mrnice said:

ive not had a proper look yet but ive just checked the rear discs through the wheel and they look like a record, nice and shiny but with loads of little grooves going round them, also a lip of maybe just under 1mm around the edge whereas the fronts look perfectly flat and smooth with barely any lip, do you think this could be the cause?

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You'll need to remove the wheel's and check the inner surface of the brake disc to know for sure, according to my local indy it's a common occurance for the rear disc's to pit.

Just like mine it's normal, grit and other muck will cause the grooves, I can't help about it the pulsing though is that the brake pedal thats doing that, is it the ABS cutting in??
Have your proper look first.

Ive got to the bottom of it! I just had a look at the inside sides of the rear discs just by lying underneath it and found this:-

Is this quite a common/severe ocurrance as ive never seen it before, its like a thin metal coating has come off to reveal a very rusty inner surface, its missing at least 1/3rd of the shiny surface and a bit is missing directly opposite that is a bout 4 inches across! that would explain the pulsing feeling ive been getting as the brake suddenly bites/slips/bites etc.

Warped rear discs, coupled with the fact that the rear brakes don't provide that much of the braking force.

Hence you probably didn't notice a major drop in braking performance but you noticed the 'pulsing'.

I had this with my shot front discs when I went over a cattle grid. I caught the 3 amigos plus a brake level warning light. I changed the front discs and pads then cleared the fault codes. That was nearly 1000 miles ago and they've not been back. I think the brake judder set them off.

Thats been like it for some time with all that corrosion, who does your servicing? as it looks it all needs a compleate overhaul. The last thing one wants is a 4x4 with iffy brakes so i hope its not a common ocurrance.

i know its shocking, whats worse is it only went through its MOT a couple of months ago with no mention at all

I had just assumed everything was ok with the brakes side of things as i thought the MOTer would have picked up on things like that, since losing the use of my garage and with having a freezing winter and crappy summer i havent really done a whole lot of servicing this last year my self as ive had nowhere to do it, (done some fluid changes but nothing major) plus i havent driven it that much this year to notice any problems myself (but the mrs has) i think i'll have to have a proper look over everything myself as I obviously cant rely on the MOT man to have checked that my motor is safe!

At the end of the day its my own fault for assuming. Looks like im gonna have to get her on axle stands and have a good poke about underneath, see if theres anything else he/I "missed".

Oh yeah, and the inner guard/shields (i cant remember thier name) I knew they were pretty shot but at 40 squids a go i hadnt got round to finding the spare money to replace them.