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Front brakes

R

radski43

Full Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2015
Messages
34
I have brand new front brakes and rotors that I put on about 4 months ago. Even before I put new ones on my brakes in front are pulsating when I stop.

What would be the cause of this?
 
My first thought is warped rotors but you say you replaced them and it was doing it with your old rotors.  Did you replace the rear brakes?  You could have a warped rear rotor.
 
Rotor(s) not on square and flush to bearing hub.
Improprer tightnening of wheel onto truck.
Something not allowing wheel to fit square and flush.

Warped rotor
Caliper slide pins not lubed
sticky caliper.
grease on rotor on few spots.
.
 
I also have brand new calipers on them but someone told me it could be the bearing or abs
 
radski43 said:
I also have brand new calipers on them but someone told me it could be the bearing or abs
Click to expand...
could be....
 
do you feel it in the steering wheel or pedal? do you hear any noise when it happens? if it happened before the new parts then it prob was not the brakes to start with.
 
sounds like low speed ABS activation. do you or anyone you know have a scanner that can look at live data? if so have a helper watch the wheel speeds when it happens. the speeds should be the same, if one side is lower or drops to 0 while the other side is the same as the vehicle speed, that is the side that is causing your pulsation (ABS activation). do you live in the north east? you can try to remove the sensor and clean the mating surface and the tip of the sensor.
 
ItsStopher said:
sounds like low speed ABS activation. do you or anyone you know have a scanner that can look at live data? if so have a helper watch the wheel speeds when it happens. the speeds should be the same, if one side is lower or drops to 0 while the other side is the same as the vehicle speed, that is the side that is causing your pulsation (ABS activation). do you live in the north east? you can try to remove the sensor and clean the mating surface and the tip of the sensor.
Click to expand...

I never thought of that yes I live in NYS. I have to find someone who has one
 
So I know its not my rotors or ABS since my light does not come on so I am thinking maybe its the wheel bearing or hub
 
abs pulsing has a digital feel to it, where warping will feel more like a wave.  Should not be hard to tell what is happening if you have ever slammed on the brakes in an ice patch...

when the hub/bearing assembly fails, it usually makes loud noises when you turn (if you've let it go long enough).  You can also jack up the wheel and check for side to side play by rocking the tire back and forth (there should be none).   
 
90% of the time it is the Rotors if you had the brake job done by someone who is experienced.  Some rotors come warpped when new and need to be cut.  Especially the cheap chinese steel.
 
radski43 said:
So I know its not my rotors or ABS since my light does not come on so I am thinking maybe its the wheel bearing or hub
Click to expand...
The ABS light comes on when it has a problem. It still sounds like you are having ABS activation because it thinks one of your wheels reporting that it is slipping. The ABS uses a sensor and a tone ring to sense the speed of the tire. The tone ring is in the wheel hub/bearing.
 
You don't really have to replace both if you know which one is bad.

But I always replace parts in pairs because if one is bad the other can't be far behind it.
 
fwiw I swapped out one bearing assembly over 50K miles ago, the other is still going strong...  I would only replace the bad one if you know which one that is...
 
I can get a pair 76 brand new so it's easier to switch both. I'm not sure which one it is
 
Spend the bucks Timken
 
I priced a few different ones when I upgraded.  Ended up with the timken as well, but I didn't feel like they were any more expensive then their brand name competition.  76 bucks seems really low... maybe they have gone down?  I think mine was like 160 maybe...  If you get from an auto parts store, keep in mind they will compete with each other on price, so you can often talk them down.  I got my timken at autozone for the same price as another competitive brand at pep boys. 
 
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