Just picked up another TDi elegance estate (52 plate). It's a cracking car generally but there's a problem with the brakes/suspension.

When braking from decent speeds (70 it's very obvious, but it is noticable down to 30), there's a lot of juddering in the steering.

Otherwise the steering feels fine, corners as well as my previous octavia, no judder under acceleration, no knocking etc.

The front discs and pads were replaced in april '08 as were the rear pads. Also a new near side tie rod and gaitor were fitted.

What's the best way to go about sorting this, and what are the most likely causes?

thanks

andrew

possible the front brake disc's are "warped"....

Check tyre pressures and look at getting the wheel balance checked. other than that sounds like warped discs

More than likely to be warped discs.

To check you need to mount a DTI and spin the disc. It wont take much warp to cause the vibration.

Could be crap built up on the disks/pads. I was getting some vibration under braking so I tried some "enthusiastic" stopping - stopping hard from about 50 about 4 times in a row, these was a nice burning smell afterwards and then the vibration went away, I think it was rear that was causing the problem as you could feel it more through the seat than the steering wheel. Worth a go as it won't cost you anything.

would the discs have warped after only 8 months? If they were warped wouldn't they always judder rather than mainly at higher speed?

What exactly is a DTI? I assume it's some sort of alignment system?

Tyre pressures are fine, tyres are 1000 miles old, no judder when driving normally so balance is fine.

It needs new front brake discs. Take it from me, change them and your problem is cured.

During the course of braking over time the discs get hot in the process of converting kinetic energy into heat, and then dissipating that heat into the air. Hotspots form on them, and in extreme cases can often be seen as blue spots. The resin on the pads also comes to the surface and they get brittle. They cause the discs to get even hotter, and so it goes on.

It's not at all unusual to have to renew brake discs every couple of years, or even less......

It needs new front brake discs. Take it from me, change them and your problem is cured...

:iagree:

Even with OE discs, the fronts can warp this quickly as the balance is 90% to the front. A lot of cheaper alternatives warp in no time at all (we're not talking about aftermarket upgrades here) so make sure you use the OE discs.

I had same sort of problem, turned out to be a worn wishbone bush.

I found that changing my shocks cured this. I changed front and rear disks & pads which made no difference. Mine was only a slight judder though - passengers did not feel it, but I could through the steering wheel and brake pedal.

Edited 14 December, 200817 yr by mbames
spelling

Have you been in a situation where you built up a lot of heat possibly on a hot day. I'm thinking on a track day?

Sounds like discs have lost their shape slightly. You would not feel this wobble on acceleration because the caliper piston is back not active.

Please check your tyres first as it's easiest to do.

There could also be a flat spot on a front tyre. The balancing would not find this because your balancing machine will find the indifference in weight, not the surface structure and symmetry You will need to take the wheels off and inspect the tyre by eye and run your hand over it. You will feel the difference and see it quickly if it is the tyre. I have bought Perelli tyres before that were slightly out of shape and caused judder and whirring noise on road when braking.

Hi -

my wheels were balanced and had the same problem. Changed front disks and problem dissappeared. That was over 40K miles ago ( ~ 3 years) now the shuddering is reappearing again. So I'll be changing front disk & pads again shortly.

octojoe