Hello folks.
I had problems with steering wheel shudder during braking at speeds which gradually progressed to severe pulsations of the brake pedal whenever it was pressed (at all speeds)
The problem was traced down to the front left side brake disc which had warped.
I ordered a pair of new front discs and pads which were installed a few weeks ago. Since that time, I've been using my Toyota Hilux as a daily driver until I decided to take the disco out of town on a 900km round trip, most of which was done on highways with occassional light braking to heavy braking. At a point on the return trip, I observed I had slight steering wheel shudder during braking which seemed to steadily get worse as I used the brakes more and more over the course of the last few days. The car went back into the shop again yesterday, and feck me!!!, one of the new discs is warped again ON THE SAME LEFT SIDE! What could be wrong here??? The brakes are obviously not sticking and overheating because the car is always eager to roll away the moment the hand brake is released. I cant believe a new disc could not last till my next oil change

Hi,

I'd say one of two things.

The calliper on that side is probably sticking. I've had this before on an old Escourt MKII where I could turn the wheel freely but the disks kept warping, the pistons were not releasing quickly enough and just rubbed after breaking for a time; by the time they released and cooled down they seemed free but the disk was warped, after three disks I serviced the calliper and it was ok. I only found it by holding my hand near the disk after a run and fuc£ me it was hot. I also had a motorbike which did not release well, this was due to a bubble in the fluid, I caught it in time though.

The other one is if the disk does not sit on the hub perfectly causing it to be out of alignment, the disk not to run in line with the hub creating a hot spot, again warped disk.

That's my suggestions.

SpaceDawg said:

Hi,

I'd say one of two things.

The calliper on that side is probably sticking. I've had this before on an old Escourt MKII where I could turn the wheel freely but the disks kept warping, the pistons were not releasing quickly enough and just rubbed after breaking for a time; by the time they released and cooled down they seemed free but the disk was warped, after three disks I serviced the calliper and it was ok. I only found it by holding my hand near the disk after a run and fuc£ me it was hot. I also had a motorbike which did not release well, this was due to a bubble in the fluid, I caught it in time though.

The other one is if the disk does not sit on the hub perfectly causing it to be out of alignment, the disk not to run in line with the hub creating a hot spot, again warped disk.

That's my suggestions.

Click to expand...

Funny thing is that the mechanics thought the caliper might not be releasing properly too and took the whole thing apart prior to installing the new brake rotors.
What I dont get is the relatively short time it took the new rotor to get as bad it is now.
The old one steadily went bad over about a year of on and off use.

As above but also make sure the caliper is sliding freely. If only the piston side of the caliper is working then it has the effect of putting extreme pressure to that side of the disc causing shudder

Had the caliper rechecked for function and it appears to be working as it should... Pending the 7 days to get the order for new discs to get out here, I've had the right disc from the old pair installed to see how things go.