need help with brake issues.....

[fattypros]

I've had my 03 v6 4x4 crew cab long bed for about 2 years now, its run fine besides all the gas it eats. Being in VA, I have to put the truck through a fairly thorough safety inspection once a year.

The results of my inspection were that I needed new rotors and new pads, the place qouted me a price of over 400 bucks for the work to get done. I told them to screw off and fail me.

I did the work myself with a haynes manual, and had new pads and the rotors turned for less than 100 bucks, reassembled everything, total time about 8 hours over 3 days. Everything seemed fine and the brakes responded well, stopping better, no issues with pedal pressure or anything else.

So 3 weeks pass with no issue. Then last night, I was traveling down a road doing about 25, and tried to stop for a stop sign....the truck started shaking violently! No change in pedal pressure, the truck didnt pull to either side, it lost considerable stopping power however.....

So thankfully I wasnt too far away from my house and got the truck back there by decelerating with gears, and parked it. I checked under the vehicle, no leaks.

So I have no idea what the issue is, its seems like maybe a pad or caliper is sticking, becuase on initial acceleration from a stop, it makes a quick shudder and then cruises fine.

There are no odd noises from the vehicle besides that, it accelerates fine and cruises fine, its only when breaking.

When speaking to a buddy in regards to the problem, he suggested something being wrong with the antilock brake system, in retrospect, it does seem like it's the system activating when not necessary. But I need to wait until I get off work today to investigate this problem further.

Anyone who can provide help or similar experiences in regards to this issue is appreciated, if you need further explaination, I will be more than happy to provide it.

Thanks,
Nick

[houdini]

sounds like something worked loose. pull on your front wheels and check the caliper brackets and make sure all is tight.

[Mountaineer]

yeah, i'd check your calipers, they might be loose. I think I have a loose right caliper that I need to check, and I'll get some shaking from that when I'm stopping, especially down hill.

[mike]

If the hub is loose and the axle is moving this could give a false reading from the wheel speed sensor.

[loopydoo]

i'll have to say a warped rotor. either that or (more likely) they got a bad cut when they resurfaced your rotors. every once and a while a bad cut happens to the best of us, and sometimes it takes a couple weeks to notice it... when you first cut a rotor it's rough and it takes a little time for the rotor to glaze itself over a bit... when it does it can chatter like you're describing.

i'd put money on it.

[Mountaineer]

Originally Posted by loopydoo

i'll have to say a warped rotor. either that or (more likely) they got a bad cut when they resurfaced your rotors. every once and a while a bad cut happens to the best of us, and sometimes it takes a couple weeks to notice it... when you first cut a rotor it's rough and it takes a little time for the rotor to glaze itself over a bit... when it does it can chatter like you're describing.

i'd put money on it.

can you describe what a cut rotor is?

[ToddG]

My guess is something worked loose. Make sure the pads are secure, the calipers are tight and also that you got all the lug nuts back on tight. Lug nuts should be torqued on by the way. Not sure on the first gens but my 06' owners manual specs 98 ft-lbs. I know a lot of people (including garages) don't do this. Improper tightening can lead to warped rotors believe it or not. Good luck, let us know how you make out.

[thebrandon]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer

can you describe what a cut rotor is?

I think he's talking about when you are resurfacing the rotor, you are basically cutting it into shape and there is always a possibility for something to go wrong unless you are using a sweet laith(sp?)

it's usually not very likely but it happens

[roybrown45]

what type of brake pads did you put on it? i had a car that had "lifetime" brake pads on it and they warped my rotors within about two weeks. the problem with the lifetime pads is that they don't allow heat to escape well because they are so hard. anytime you get on the brakes pretty good that heat goes right in to the rotors and warps'em.