Hi All

I hope this is a bit different to the other brake vibration threads around. I have taken a look through them.

The story:

Bought the car a little over a year ago, and the front brakes were worn out so I replaced them, discs and pads.

All was fine for a while and then I started to get vibrations when braking.

I checked out the discs and they were looking pretty bad for the time they've been on the car. The insides were particularly bad, with pad residue on them. I put it down to bad parts.

I then changed the discs for some Bosch ones, keeping the pads (should have replaced as well, I know).

Again all was fine for a while and then vibrations set in again. I thought the issue was due to not replacing the pads.

So, just a month or 2 ago I replaced discs and pads again with some Pagid ones. The Bosch discs looked fine.

All vibrations initially cleared up, but are now back!

So, what could cause it to come back?

I would think that if it was due to other components then the vibrations would still be evident, perhaps to a lesser degree, when the new discs and pads are fitted.

I read the following site:http://www.stoptech....and-other-myths

Basically it says most 'warped' discs are down to pad residue. This is caused by not beading the pads in, and poor braking habits.

This sounds about right, but I don't drive and brake hard. So, how easy is it to transfer pad material onto the disc? I've never had trouble on other cars including my previous Leon Cupra T, which is essentially the same car.

Cheers for your thoughts.

Bob.

Edited 10 December, 201213 yr by Bobmonga

Do you sit with your foot on the brakes after you have slowed to a stop?

Have the front hubs checked for run out. This is a know fault on the ford mk1 focus where the hubs become out of shape and eventually go through pads and discs all the time.

Do you sit with your foot on the brakes after you have slowed to a stop?

Generally, yes I do. Although if I know I have been braking hard (not often in my opinion) I'll let it roll forward slowly and then lift off the brake. I was doing this thinking it would prevent hotspots and disc warping rather than material transfer.

Have the front hubs checked for run out. This is a know fault on the ford mk1 focus where the hubs become out of shape and eventually go through pads and discs all the time.

I had thought about that. Wouldn't that throw the wheel out of balance also? When the discs and pads are new there's not a hint of vibration whether braking or not.

Do you have standard or aftermarket alloy wheels fitted ?

Do you have standard or aftermarket alloy wheels fitted ?

Hi, original alloys. Out of interest, how would aftermarket alloys cause trouble?

Hi, original alloys. Out of interest, how would aftermarket alloys cause trouble?

The centre bore of the alloy on aftermarket alloys is often not a correct fit on the octavia hub. This could cause wobble and loosening of wheel bolts.

Try doing some hard stops and using the handbrake when stationary rather than the foot brake. I had faint brake judder after replacing disks and pads but it has completely gone now.

The VRS's are overbraked for size of car so unless driven quiet spirited alot and actully use the brakes they start to rust up.

I have bosch discs and pads all round and class myself as quiet a spirited driver but noticed my front discs were starting to rust on edges.

I did a trackday abit after and absoultly cooked the brakes but after they had cleared the glaze off pads brakes have been fantastic since and have no rust on dics surface, even cured noise in reverse for a while from back brakes.

If the steering wheel wobbles under braking its front brakes, if you can only feel it through pedal or pedal and seat its rear brakes

you may have worn wishbone bushes / balljoints

worth getting them checked, i'm sure this is the cause of the clunks and general woollyness from the front end of my car, all the arb bushes, links and bearings have been changed

Try doing some hard stops and using the handbrake when stationary rather than the foot brake. I had faint brake judder after replacing disks and pads but it has completely gone now.

I had the impression that once the material was on the disk, you were stuffed.

The VRS's are overbraked for size of car so unless driven quiet spirited alot and actully use the brakes they start to rust up.

I have bosch discs and pads all round and class myself as quiet a spirited driver but noticed my front discs were starting to rust on edges.

I did a trackday abit after and absoultly cooked the brakes but after they had cleared the glaze off pads brakes have been fantastic since and have no rust on dics surface, even cured noise in reverse for a while from back brakes.

If the steering wheel wobbles under braking its front brakes, if you can only feel it through pedal or pedal and seat its rear brakes

Definitely the fronts. You can feel it through the steering wheel when braking at speed. Interesting that a couple of you have mentioned to have a spate of hard braking. Looking at the disks they look fine though, as mentioned there about 4 weeks old. The previous disks took longer before I started to notice anything.

you may have worn wishbone bushes / balljoints

worth getting them checked, i'm sure this is the cause of the clunks and general woollyness from the front end of my car, all the arb bushes, links and bearings have been changed

My gut feeling is material transfer, due to it behaving fine when the pads and disks are new, but I really don't drive it hard.

Spoke to my local garage today. After describing the symptoms he asked if I brake hard :-)

He reckons that its material transfer too.

They fit apec disks/pads and offer a 2 year warranty, which I've decided to go for.

If they go again, they replace free of charge as long as I don't turn up with blue disks.

I'll be uber careful and if they do go again, then it must be something else.

I'll get them to double check all the front bits at the same time. I imagine they will do anyway as part of the warranty.

Cheers for everyone’s suggestions.

We'll see how it goes.....

Hubs.

And yes it has probably buggered your discs because of it.

Hubs.

And yes it has probably buggered your discs because of it.

But wouldn't I feel the hubs when the disks and pads are new? I imagine it would through the wheel balance out.

Not necessarily. Not if the damage is slight. Slight enough to increase the wear on your disks where the balance is out though, which eventually gets really noticeable.

This happens more often than most people realise.

The garage has replaced the front disks and pads. They said that the back ones were not doing much so the fronts were doing all the work.

Luckily I had a set of back disks and pads in my boot so they fitted them at the same time.

I'll be driving like a granddad for next few hundred miles...

I have a similar problem with brake vibration returning - did your problem get solved?

Hiya

The garage said to go easy for the first 500 miles (a bit excessive imo). I've only done 450 to date, but they are okay so far.

My feeling at the moment is that it was a combination of the rear brakes not doing their fair share of braking and maybe not letting them bed in properly.

I've also changed my driving habits so I use the hand brake when stationary.

It will be interesting to see how things go when I start driving normally again.