Shudder while braking - after driving a bit.

[changedsoul]

Ever have an unbalanced wheel while driving on the free way? How it sends a shudder through the car...if its not to severely unbalanced that is.

Well I have a break problem that does just this.
The breaks are fine when i first start driving. But after about 10 min driving, I begin to get this shudder when I apply the break.
If I am going about 30mph, and depress the break slightly, it shudders quite a bit. Applying more break pressure actually calms the shudder.

I suspect a heat related warping or something because how it appears after driving for a while, but I am unsure what is warping.

I know what front rotors feel like, and I feel nothing in the steering wheel what so ever, nor do I feel anything in the pedal. Is it possible the drums can get warped? How can I test besides blindly replacing parts?

Thanks for all the help.

 

[jacktahoe]

I would replace the front rotors and see if that cures it.

I have had problems with warped rotors but I feel it in the steering wheel.

 

[Brutus]

I have a brake shake issue too. I thought it would go away after I did the Tundra upgrade, it did for awhile but it's back. Search on here and look for "Bedding" the brakes, I think that's what its called. I did not do this and maybe I should have.
My highway shudders went away with new balljoints and, inner and outer tie rods.

 

[Drcoffee]

Don't overlook the ball joint. It can cause a wobble on braking as well. With a history of ball joint failures on 4runners, have them looked at.

 

[cfranck1]

Sounds like the same problem I had on my Taco.
It was warped drums. being the rear brakes and drums, they take longer to heat up. That's why it takes a little while for the vibration to arrive. They become oblong after they heat up.

First check to see if your E brake Bell-Cranks are frozen on. check the link to see how to clean and free them up.

http://www.tundrasolutions.com/foru...-toyota-truck-park-brake-bellcrank-repair.pdf

When your in there, you should change the drums, shoes , and hardware.

 

[changedsoul]

yes, i suspect its the rears as well because of how frequent the pulsing was. I know how a front rotor feels at a given speed, and this seems to feel double that rate. so I figure, drums have two spots of contact 180 apart as compared to rotors and their on spot. And perhaps thats where the double the rate of surging is being felt.

What ever rate, I ordered some of amazon and should be here this weekend. I will find out soon enough one way or the other if its the front or rear.

 

[BradB]

I have an "occasional" shudder when applying the brakes, more in higher speed, heavy braking situations. My rotors, drums and shoes and pads are all new. I am confident it is not a warped rotor or bad drum situation.

I read a comment above suggesting ball joints. Mine could be original. Not sure. 120k miles. Is this an easy job? Can a diagnosis be more specific before I replace the ball joints? (Not sure if this is a DIY or not).

Any other ideas? Something in the steering perhaps?

Thanks in advance for any coments.

 

[fivegear]

+1 on the bell cranks. I chased my tail for a month on a rear brake issue, ended up being the bell crank on one side was hanging up!

 

[BradB]

I have an "occasional" shudder when applying the brakes, more in higher speed, heavy braking situations. My rotors, drums and shoes and pads are all new. I am confident it is not a warped rotor or bad drum situation.

I read a comment above suggesting ball joints. Mine could be original. Not sure. 120k miles. Is this an easy job? Can a diagnosis be more specific before I replace the ball joints? (Not sure if this is a DIY or not).

Any other ideas? Something in the steering perhaps?

Thanks in advance for any coments.

Thoughts anyone?

 

[changedsoul]

I just got new drums off amazon and installed them yesterday. Made the problem worse. Turns out the drums I got were defective and were not concentric to the axle. What a bummer. So i put my old ones back on. When I spin the rear wheels I dont hear a big change in drag on the brakes. I suspect they are ok. But they do look glazed.
I dont know what to do now. I guess I can goto autozone and get some new drums and try again.

Can glazed drums cause warping? Are glazed drums necessarily bad?
And if I replace the drum, should I also replace the shoes at the same time?

I am also going to check my rotors for runout. Looking through the factory manual they say no more than .0028 runout. Man thats a tight tolerance on a automotive thing like a break. When I spin my front wheel I can hear a noticeable change in drag which tells me I might be more than .0028 on run out.