C6H12O6
SILVER Star
I've been reading old threads for a while and taking bits and pieces from many of them, but haven't found much with my blend of symptoms. Here is the scoop:
1995 FZJ80. Got hit a couple years ago from the side and bent a bunch of steering components. Had the steering gear box replaced with new OEM unit, tie rods replaced with Slee rods and new OEM ends, and alignment. No weird tire wear, no wobbles or vibrations while driving. No issues for a few years. Went through the front end shortly afterward. New everything except axles/birfs, including new OEM rotors and 100-series pads. No issues after for a couple years.
Now, I'm having a slight pulsing when braking. Sometimes. At it's worst, the steering wheel wobbles back and forth a couple inches and gets pretty scary when coming down from moderate speed (<45 mph). It wobbles really hard between maybe 30 mph down to 15 mph, then settles down. No issues with high speed braking so far, but gets pretty violent at times when you are in the zone. Seems to be worse when going downhill and almost always seems to be brought on by downhill braking at stuck-in-traffic speeds. No warning, it just happens.
I can sometimes feel the brakes sort of pulsing under normal braking at very slow speeds (<10 mph) just before a stop, but without any sort of wobble of the steering wheel. Nothing I really feel in the pedal, exactly, but it just sort of feels like the brakes are braking, then easing off, then braking, then easing off. Not ABS pulse. Much slower than that.
The weird part is that if I come to a complete stop and push on the brake pedal as hard as I can, it goes away. Sometimes, I'll have a little residual pulsing, but I can almost always get the hard wobble to disappear by slowly stomping on the pedal. It always goes away eventually and when it's gone, it drives fine. Even when it is wobbling really badly and it seems like I'm not going to stop, extra pressure makes it go away.
The only other brake issue is really poor stopping power overall. Pads look fine. Plenty of life there, and didn't look like any strange wear. Just have to push the pedal really hard. At a stop, pedal is pretty soft. Not spongy like air in the lines, just not much stopping power and a long throw to get any pressure. I can pump the brake pedal a couple times and get a little more stiffness, but the pedal will eventually sink back down a bit. Not all the way to the floor, but a bit.
Getting a little scary. OEM rubber hoses are cracked, but not leaking. Fluid is shot–looks like maple syrup. Both are on the list. Was getting ready to just put in new/reman calipers as a "while I'm in there" at 245,000 miles, but didn't want to just throw money at this problem. Going to at least do new rubber lines, full fluid exchange, and check the pads. Seems like I might as well do the calipers while I'm at it.
Cursory check for wheel bearing clunks/looseness don't given any hint of a problem there. I haven't pulled the front apart to really check them, but no issues other than this weird braking issue that seem like loose wheel bearings. No bad tire wear, no noises. No "warped rotor" feeling when driving around normally. When it's fine, it's fine. Just got new tires. No change. Not a wheel balance issue. No loose bolts on the front end last time I checked. I should check again. Just so strange that when it isn't acting up, it drives fine. Ok, it wanders a little. Some of the bushings could be replaced. The rears were horrible and were replaced last year. The fronts are in a box in the garage.
Man, that's a lot to read. Sorry. Seems like I probably have more than one thing going on here. Would love to sort this out soon. Any help is appreciated.
1995 FZJ80. Got hit a couple years ago from the side and bent a bunch of steering components. Had the steering gear box replaced with new OEM unit, tie rods replaced with Slee rods and new OEM ends, and alignment. No weird tire wear, no wobbles or vibrations while driving. No issues for a few years. Went through the front end shortly afterward. New everything except axles/birfs, including new OEM rotors and 100-series pads. No issues after for a couple years.
Now, I'm having a slight pulsing when braking. Sometimes. At it's worst, the steering wheel wobbles back and forth a couple inches and gets pretty scary when coming down from moderate speed (<45 mph). It wobbles really hard between maybe 30 mph down to 15 mph, then settles down. No issues with high speed braking so far, but gets pretty violent at times when you are in the zone. Seems to be worse when going downhill and almost always seems to be brought on by downhill braking at stuck-in-traffic speeds. No warning, it just happens.
I can sometimes feel the brakes sort of pulsing under normal braking at very slow speeds (<10 mph) just before a stop, but without any sort of wobble of the steering wheel. Nothing I really feel in the pedal, exactly, but it just sort of feels like the brakes are braking, then easing off, then braking, then easing off. Not ABS pulse. Much slower than that.
The weird part is that if I come to a complete stop and push on the brake pedal as hard as I can, it goes away. Sometimes, I'll have a little residual pulsing, but I can almost always get the hard wobble to disappear by slowly stomping on the pedal. It always goes away eventually and when it's gone, it drives fine. Even when it is wobbling really badly and it seems like I'm not going to stop, extra pressure makes it go away.
The only other brake issue is really poor stopping power overall. Pads look fine. Plenty of life there, and didn't look like any strange wear. Just have to push the pedal really hard. At a stop, pedal is pretty soft. Not spongy like air in the lines, just not much stopping power and a long throw to get any pressure. I can pump the brake pedal a couple times and get a little more stiffness, but the pedal will eventually sink back down a bit. Not all the way to the floor, but a bit.
Getting a little scary. OEM rubber hoses are cracked, but not leaking. Fluid is shot–looks like maple syrup. Both are on the list. Was getting ready to just put in new/reman calipers as a "while I'm in there" at 245,000 miles, but didn't want to just throw money at this problem. Going to at least do new rubber lines, full fluid exchange, and check the pads. Seems like I might as well do the calipers while I'm at it.
Cursory check for wheel bearing clunks/looseness don't given any hint of a problem there. I haven't pulled the front apart to really check them, but no issues other than this weird braking issue that seem like loose wheel bearings. No bad tire wear, no noises. No "warped rotor" feeling when driving around normally. When it's fine, it's fine. Just got new tires. No change. Not a wheel balance issue. No loose bolts on the front end last time I checked. I should check again. Just so strange that when it isn't acting up, it drives fine. Ok, it wanders a little. Some of the bushings could be replaced. The rears were horrible and were replaced last year. The fronts are in a box in the garage.
Man, that's a lot to read. Sorry. Seems like I probably have more than one thing going on here. Would love to sort this out soon. Any help is appreciated.
