Thread: Help Needed - Chronic Brake Shudder

Seems to me that there is something permanently wrong with the drive train that is exacerbated under braking. That is, the forces applied by the brakes is showing up the problem, not causing it. I'd be looking at steering linkages, wheel bearings, front prop shaft, front axles and then front diff. I think at this stage I'd be getting the car onto a rolling road and seeing what shows up.

I own a 2010 D4 and when I got it, 3 years ago, it had a front brake wobble that felt exactly like warped disks. However, I noticed they had only been replaced with factory rotors some 10k kms ago.

So I did a bit of research and found some suggestions that it could be pad build up on the rotors that cause the vibration. Apparently it is quite prevalent on the D4 because of the big brakes that it has means you only need to use them lightly in most instances.

The fix for this is to stand on the brakes heavily from 100kph at least half a dozen times in succession.

I did this and the problem has gone.

I now tow a block of flats often and the problem has never re occurred.

Try it. Its cheap!

Regards
Trevor

Originally Posted by DieselLSE

Seems to me that there is something permanently wrong with the drive train that is exacerbated under braking. That is, the forces applied by the brakes is showing up the problem, not causing it. I'd be looking at steering linkages, wheel bearings, front prop shaft, front axles and then front diff. I think at this stage I'd be getting the car onto a rolling road and seeing what shows up.

Thanks a lot. Wheel bearings are all good. I'll suggest the other checks too to see what's already been looked at. Sounds expensive .

Originally Posted by ytt105

I own a 2010 D4 and when I got it, 3 years ago, it had a front brake wobble that felt exactly like warped disks. However, I noticed they had only been replaced with factory rotors some 10k kms ago.

So I did a bit of research and found some suggestions that it could be pad build up on the rotors that cause the vibration. Apparently it is quite prevalent on the D4 because of the big brakes that it has means you only need to use them lightly in most instances.

The fix for this is to stand on the brakes heavily from 100kph at least half a dozen times in succession.

I did this and the problem has gone.

I now tow a block of flats often and the problem has never re occurred.

Try it. Its cheap!

Regards
Trevor

Thanks Trevor. Both me and the 2 mechanics have tried this one unfortunately.

Probably not your issue, but I had an issue on another car a few years ago which had the same symptoms. It turned out to be a stuck right front caliper piston. The car was only braking on 3 calipers. No pull, no other signs anything was wrong, but as it concentrated all the braking force on the drivers side front it flogged out bushes at a prodigious rate. Due to the suspension geometry, worn bushes caused a terrible shudder that felt exactly like a warped disk. I probably re-built it 3 times before I figured out what was wrong. I did the discs, pads pins and then multiple sets of bushes.

It wasn't trashing discs however.

You say you've had to keep replacing rotors. Have they all been stuffed or just one or two of them? It would be extremely unlikely that all are going at the same time and at the same rate.

Are you inspecting and replacing them yourself or is this all through your mechanic?

I realise some things on these vehicles can be difficult to diagnose, but this has been going on a long time and I'd personally be considering another mechanic at this point. You've put a lot of money in with this guy and gotten no result other than a lightened wallet.

Good luck mate. I feel your pain, my poor D4 is unhappy at the moment too.

Originally Posted by libertyts

You say you've had to keep replacing rotors. Have they all been stuffed or just one or two of them? It would be extremely unlikely that all are going at the same time and at the same rate.

Are you inspecting and replacing them yourself or is this all through your mechanic?

I realise some things on these vehicles can be difficult to diagnose, but this has been going on a long time and I'd personally be considering another mechanic at this point. You've put a lot of money in with this guy and gotten no result other than a lightened wallet.

Good luck mate. I feel your pain, my poor D4 is unhappy at the moment too.

Front rotors only have been replaced. Going on mechanics word that they were warped (or at least one was). Won't name them but they have a good reputation on here I believe. More recently I've tried another LR specialist mechanic and he machined the current set of rotors, with only one of the fronts needing much work. At the same time they did an alignment (way out), and supposedly checked over the front end without anything obviously wrong. New pads too. He suspects it's not rotors but something else causing the (now lower speed), pretty violent shuddering. Suggesting removing bushes, front shaft, steering etc. I really don't want to be putting $1000s into it at this point though.

It's very frustrating because I love the car. If I can't get it sorted though, I'll need to move it on. Don't want to sell it privately with this issue though as that would be pretty low on the next owner.

Mate, to me it sounds like a caliper piston getting stuck. Very much like what my missus Wrangler did to us, would chew through brake pads and subsequently rotors faster than fuel.

There could be more than one issue causing the resulting symptoms though. So there may also be issues in suspension components. The suggestion of bushes isn't a bad one. You said front lower control arm bushes have been done. Though it's not as obvious and not talked about as often, upper control arm bushes do wear out too. There are plenty in there though. If a lot of them are perished then that can certainly result in shaking which in some circumstances can be present during braking (not suggesting control arms, just a point of discussion).

A decent, in-depth inspection of the front suspension components, armed with some pry bars should turn up some of them though. Not all bush failures are obvious though unfortunately, especially without weight on the vehicle.

Have the mechanics had a good look over the front calipers? It might be worth going to a brake specialist and getting them to have a look. There isn't anything terribly special about the brakes in a D4.

Sorry I don't have a good solution for you. It's a bugger of a thing when vehicles get like this.

Good luck mate