Brake shudder and intermitent brake light.....

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Ok, I've got a noticeable brake shudder when coming to a stop. It IS related to speed, so I don't think it is ABS related. Basically as I slow down the shudder slows down and if I ease up just a little near a dead stop I can feel the pulses individually through the pedal. This seems like it would be a warped rotor to me, but I was hoping for some confirmation/insight into any oddities the LC has in this area.

Secondly, my brake light comes on intermittently. Pretty much only happens when the truck is cold and it comes on and goes off with seemingly no real correlation to anything. Sometimes it happens when I'm stopped, sometimes it happens when I'm turning, sometimes it happens when I'm driving 70mph down the highway in a straight line. I did search and think it is the fluid level sensor in the reservoir. I suppose I should check the fluid level first Why is it always raining when I wanna go look at something on the cruiser. Wah wah wah

TIA for your help!

Ary

 

[landtank]

I had a stuck e=brake on my truck which warped the rear rotors, but nothing special to look at here just the usual suspects for this type of problem.

As for the light, ya you want to check the fluid level and if it's ok, then maybe unplug the sensor to validate it not being the problem.

If the fluid level is low then you need pads somewhere, you can add fluid but real soon I suspect you'll be sucking it back out to make room for compressing the calipers for new pads.

And how bad can it be raining out there for you not to make sure you have working brakes in that thing?

 

[lurker]

Ok, I've got a noticeable brake shudder when coming to a stop. It IS related to speed, so I don't think it is ABS related. Basically as I slow down the shudder slows down and if I ease up just a little near a dead stop I can feel the pulses individually through the pedal. This seems like it would be a warped rotor to me, but I was hoping for some confirmation/insight into any oddities the LC has in this area.

Secondly, my brake light comes on intermittently. Pretty much only happens when the truck is cold and it comes on and goes off with seemingly no real correlation to anything. Sometimes it happens when I'm stopped, sometimes it happens when I'm turning, sometimes it happens when I'm driving 70mph down the highway in a straight line. I did search and think it is the fluid level sensor in the reservoir. I suppose I should check the fluid level first Why is it always raining when I wanna go look at something on the cruiser. Wah wah wah

TIA for your help!

Ary

If you pull ever so slightly on your e-brake a feel a litle play then you might need to hammer your e-brake cable bracket at the rear disks, sometimes this causes my dash brake light to flicker.

Mine tend to rust and stick a bit.

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Rick, the brakes work fine, just have that shudder. I'm also at work. I'll check it tonight in the garage

I do have a little bit of play in the e-brake handle before I feel it actually grab, I just figured that was normal. So you think my ebrake is sticking? Maybe that would help explain why this truck is so freakin slow.

Ary

 

[landtank]

A little play in the handle is normal, when the lever pulls up quite a bit to near full on before any resistance than that is a stuck e-brake.

I realize that you stopped the truck last time, but with a brake warning light coming on there is something wrong with the brake system. Odds are it's nothing major but there is something wrong there and if it is low fluid in the resevour than you might not stop next time depending on the reason for the lowe level. Things usually do work right up to the point they fail. That's why there are warning lights, to help us avoid catastrophic failures.

 

[lurker]

Rick, the brakes work fine, just have that shudder. I'm also at work. I'll check it tonight in the garage

I do have a little bit of play in the e-brake handle before I feel it actually grab, I just figured that was normal. So you think my ebrake is sticking? Maybe that would help explain why this truck is so freakin slow.

Ary

A little play is OK, in my case it's about 1/4", but if I don't tap down my forks (see picture) then my dash brake light will come on and I can have up to 4" of play. The dash light is triggered at the e-brake handle at about the 1/2" mark and probably at a few other functional places as well.

Of course the 4" is because my forks are rusted to the point that they drag against the aligning rails.

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Ok, it stopped raining for a minute so I went and checked the fluid and e-brake. The fluid level is fine, closer to the min line than the max line, but still within the acceptable range.

I was wrong about the e-brake. It doesn't really have any play in it(like mechanical slop type play), but I can pull it 5 clicks before it actually stops the truck from going backwards at idle(in reverse on flat ground). 5 clicks is about 4-6". Does that sound like the problem you guys are describing? or just worn pads?

Ary

 

[lurker]

Ok, it stopped raining for a minute so I went and checked the fluid and e-brake. The fluid level is fine, closer to the min line than the max line, but still within the acceptable range.

I was wrong about the e-brake. It doesn't really have any play in it(like mechanical slop type play), but I can pull it 5 clicks before it actually stops the truck from going backwards at idle(in reverse on flat ground). 5 clicks is about 4-6". Does that sound like the problem you guys are describing? or just worn pads?

Ary

Mine are the same poor performers.

BTW you need 4 e-brake pads at $20 a piece $80 from CDan if my memory serves me correct, but they are for keeping your truck stopped not for stopping your truck. Money not well spent IMO.

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Ah, so the ebrake uses seperate pads from the rear caliper? That makes a lot more sense now. I guess I'll give them a whack or two when I get home and see if that helps anything. I'll dig into the rear brakes this weekend while it's on the lift.

Thanks!

Ary

 

[Buckru]

Not intending to hi-jack the thread but, brake related. The inside pad on the passenger side rear is wearing MUCH faster than the outside or the other three corners. Is this a sign to do a caliper rebuild? Are there any other potential causes?

Buck

 

[lurker]

Not intending to hi-jack the thread but, brake related. The inside pad on the passenger side rear is wearing MUCH faster than the outside or the other three corners. Is this a sign to do a caliper rebuild? Are there any other potential causes?

Buck

I assume that you speaking about a disk pads vs, the e-brake pads?

No one can say for sure without looking at it, but it's a pretty safe bet that you are correct.

BTW you have 2 directions, a caliper rebuild kit (4 calipers) $30 plus and ~ $150 - ~$175 per caliper labor or a replacement caliper (~$150 aftermarket) plus labor.

Depending on your situation (miles) you might think about doing all 4 at the same time.

If only 1 thing works on my LC I want it to be the brakes.

 

[Buckru]

Lurker,

Yes its the brakes not ebrake. The rotors have around 30k miles on them and look good.
I was under the impression there was a simple oem rebuild kit available. Is that the 30$ kit you were refering to. Would it also be advisable to rebuild all four corners at the same time? Thanks for the input.
BTW I have 126,500 on the odometer

Buck

 

[landtank]

For the e-brake sticking problem search on "bellcrank" there is plenty to read about and what I've suggested to correct the problem.


For the pad wear issue I'm almost certain it is with one of your slide pins. No need to rebuild the caliper. The pins bolt in and the caliper slides on them. The inside of the hole gets gummed up from the grease inside getting old. Remove the caliper and the 2 rubber pieces. 1 rubber piece is just a boot while the other one is more of a sleeve. It's probably the boot one that is gunked up. Once the boot is off run a 3/8" drill bit with some spray lubricant like WD40 up in side the hole to clear it out. Do this IN THE REVERSE mode of the drill. All you want to do is clear that crap out and nothing more. I also wire brushed the pins and lubed them up with white lithium grease before reinstalling them. I also had one of the sleeve style boots get twisted in side which formed a wrinkle binding up that pin. If you need the rubber parts they only come in the rebuild kit.

 

[Rich]

As Rick states sticky slides is a likely culprit. An alternative to using a drill bit to clean the holes is to use a bronze gun barrel cleaning brush. They are inexpensive. You can go to Walmart, a sporting goods store, or a gun shop and select from a large varity of sizes. I mount the cleaning rod in a drill and brush away. Works great.

 

[Buckru]

Wow,

I am grateful for the info and ideas that can save me time and money. I will clean the sleaves with the gun cleaning kit as I have ones in the 410, 16, and 12 guages. One of em should work. Thanks again

Buck

 

[Beowulf]

Buck,

If you find you need to rebuild the calipers, a front kit does both sides and a rear kit does both sides. I think the diameter of a .22 cal would be a better match than those shotgun brushes.

-B-

 

[lurker]

For the e-brake sticking problem search on "bellcrank" there is plenty to read about and what I've suggested to correct the problem.


For the pad wear issue I'm almost certain it is with one of your slide pins. No need to rebuild the caliper. The pins bolt in and the caliper slides on them. The inside of the hole gets gummed up from the grease inside getting old. Remove the caliper and the 2 rubber pieces. 1 rubber piece is just a boot while the other one is more of a sleeve. It's probably the boot one that is gunked up. Once the boot is off run a 3/8" drill bit with some spray lubricant like WD40 up in side the hole to clear it out. Do this IN THE REVERSE mode of the drill. All you want to do is clear that crap out and nothing more. I also wire brushed the pins and lubed them up with white lithium grease before reinstalling them. I also had one of the sleeve style boots get twisted in side which formed a wrinkle binding up that pin. If you need the rubber parts they only come in the rebuild kit.

Hey, great info thanks.