Post Tundra Brake Upgrade question

Spaceman33

Spaceman33

New member
Prior to the upgrade, I had significant vibration upon braking.

I replaced both rotors and calipers.

Post Tundra upgrade, I still have the vibration.

I have been living with the vibration but will have time during the holidays to troubleshoot.

Anyone have a suggestion on where to begin?

Could it be as simple as air in the lines... i.e., bad bleed job?

Thanks in advance.
 
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Rear brakes okay? When I had vibes, I replaced front rotors and pads, and bled the whole system. Vibes were still there, so I purchased new rear drums (original ones were very rusty and out of round). That solved it for me. To save yourself the cost of drums you can just take them in to be re-surfaced.

Good luck
 
NegroTundra said:
Rear brakes okay? When I had vibes, I replaced front rotors and pads, and bled the whole system. Vibes were still there, so I purchased new rear drums (original ones were very rusty and out of round). That solved it for me. To save yourself the cost of drums you can just take them in to be re-surfaced.

Good luck
Click to expand...

Hmmm. Never thought about rear drums. But my vibration is felt in the steering wheel and in the front.

You still think I need to look at the rear drums?

Thanks
 
You could check for out of round drums by *GENTLY* engaging the parking brake while the car is moving. Don't yank hard on the parking brake because obviously that could lock the rear brakes, and the rear end would whip around, etc. But gently apply it, and if it isn't shuddering, that's not your issue.

With new calipers, new rotos, and (presumably) new pads too, there's some issue with the front end that isn't related to those parts.

Does it vibrate at low speeds, or just at higher speeds?

I'd take the tires off, gently snug the rotors onto the hubs with 3 lug nuts (to ensure they're not just loose and flopping around) and rotate them, and look for any sort of back and forth of the rotor vs. the pads/caliper. It's possible the new rotors aren't seating cleanly on the hub, and thus they're just not inline. It really doesn't take much of a misalignment to make a noticeable shudder at higher speeds. At lower speeds it takes a larger misalignment, because the fluid can move back and forth between the sides of the caliper.

Less likely than some bit of crud preventing the rotor from seating is:
- bent hub
- warped rotor (tightening down in a non-star pattern, tightenning too much, tightening down on some bit of crud)
 
Spaceman33 said:
Prior to the upgrade, I had significant vibration upon braking.

I replaced both rotors and calipers.

Post Tundra upgrade, I still have the vibration.

I have been living with the vibration but will have time during the holidays to troubleshoot.

Anyone have a suggestion on where to begin?

Could it be as simple as air in the lines... i.e., bad bleed job?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Could be an issue with wheel hub run out, or perhaps the new discs you purchased came out of the box with a slight warp. a dial indicator is required to measure hub runout, but if there is a shop in your area with and on car brake lathe that might be your answer. I did an on car resurface of my discs last year, smoothest braking I've ever experienced.
 
You could very well have a bad tie rod end or even wheel bearing(would probably come with a droning sound). Here's an easy way to check if you haven't already or aren't familiar. jack up one side and grab the top and bottom of the tire, then shake it back and forth. If you feel play, you more than likely have a bad wheel bearing. If you don't, try shaking it to the left and right. If you have play there a tie rod end is shot. Repeat for the other side. Both could cause a vibration similar to a warped rotor in the steering wheel under braking.

Side note - a bad bearing will have play left and right too. For obvious reasons, a bad tie rod end would not up and down. Make sense?

Hope this is a helpful first post lol.
 
FreshYoungDude said:
You could very well have a bad tie rod end or even wheel bearing(would probably come with a droning sound). Here's an easy way to check if you haven't already or aren't familiar. jack up one side and grab the top and bottom of the tire, then shake it back and forth. If you feel play, you more than likely have a bad wheel bearing. If you don't, try shaking it to the left and right. If you have play there a tie rod end is shot. Repeat for the other side. Both could cause a vibration similar to a warped rotor in the steering wheel under braking.

Side note - a bad bearing will have play left and right too. For obvious reasons, a bad tie rod end would not up and down. Make sense?

Hope this is a helpful first post lol.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Great information. Will try as soon as it drys out here in Houston
 
Check front suspension

FreshYoungDude said:
You could very well have a bad tie rod end or even wheel bearing(would probably come with a droning sound). Here's an easy way to check if you haven't already or aren't familiar. jack up one side and grab the top and bottom of the tire, then shake it back and forth. If you feel play, you more than likely have a bad wheel bearing. If you don't, try shaking it to the left and right. If you have play there a tie rod end is shot. Repeat for the other side. Both could cause a vibration similar to a warped rotor in the steering wheel under braking.

Side note - a bad bearing will have play left and right too. For obvious reasons, a bad tie rod end would not up and down. Make sense?

Hope this is a helpful first post lol.
Click to expand...

+1 on this I agree.
 
FreshYoungDude said:
You could very well have a bad tie rod end or even wheel bearing(would probably come with a droning sound). Here's an easy way to check if you haven't already or aren't familiar. jack up one side and grab the top and bottom of the tire, then shake it back and forth. If you feel play, you more than likely have a bad wheel bearing. If you don't, try shaking it to the left and right. If you have play there a tie rod end is shot. Repeat for the other side. Both could cause a vibration similar to a warped rotor in the steering wheel under braking.

Side note - a bad bearing will have play left and right too. For obvious reasons, a bad tie rod end would not up and down. Make sense?

Hope this is a helpful first post lol.
Click to expand...

Both sides are pretty solid up and down.

There's ever so slight of play left and right. I can hear movement coming from somewhere.

I Have done TREs and LBJs back in 2013.

Was hoping wheel bearings would be the culprit.
 
Spaceman33 said:
Pretty heavy front end vibration between 65-70.

And significant vibration upon braking.
Click to expand...

When that happened to me it was the tires! Tires were wearing unevenly and cupped so bought new tires and solved the problem on my 97. Also happened on my 02 and got the tires rebalanced and that also fixed my vibration issues @ 60-70 mph. Shutters when i brake hard so ill be doing my TBU with [MENTION=120071]mtbtim[/MENTION] and other norcal members this weekend!
 
Spaceman33 said:
Pretty heavy front end vibration between 65-70.

And significant vibration upon braking.
Click to expand...

Find the culprit for the 65-70 vibration first. I'm going to echo that it's probably your tires. Once you fix that, see if the braking vibration stays.

The other suggestion about your rotors being seated unevenly is my other suggestion. It's super easy to accidentally get a flake or rust or junk on the hug, that needs to be clean when mounting. Same goes with the tires.

When I was bedding the brakes (I live in an urban area) I had to come to a complete stop, which unfortunately made a pad imprint on my rotors. Thankfully, in time the vibration went away as that residue wore off. However my vibration was under slight braking, not heavy braking. The harder I pressed the more it went away.
 
gamefreakgc said:
Find the culprit for the 65-70 vibration first. I'm going to echo that it's probably your tires. Once you fix that, see if the braking vibration stays.

The other suggestion about your rotors being seated unevenly is my other suggestion. It's super easy to accidentally get a flake or rust or junk on the hug, that needs to be clean when mounting. Same goes with the tires.

When I was bedding the brakes (I live in an urban area) I had to come to a complete stop, which unfortunately made a pad imprint on my rotors. Thankfully, in time the vibration went away as that residue wore off. However my vibration was under slight braking, not heavy braking. The harder I pressed the more it went away.
Click to expand...

Took the 4Runner to get tires rotated and balanced. While tires were off, I checked the rotors. I surprised to find a little play. But guess that makes sense the rotors just hang until the lug nuts are installed then it is pressed against the hub. Will check drive shaft after work.
 
NegroTundra said:
Rear brakes okay? When I had vibes, I replaced front rotors and pads, and bled the whole system. Vibes were still there, so I purchased new rear drums (original ones were very rusty and out of round). That solved it for me. To save yourself the cost of drums you can just take them in to be re-surfaced.

Good luck
Click to expand...

"vibes" lol
 
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