Pulling the trailer up to our property today and on one long downhill I had to quickly reduce speed from 55 to 30.

Under heavy braking it felt like we were on a logging road washboard. Violently shaking.

I then wanted to see if I could recreate this effect. Easily duplicated on different stretches of road.

Brakes done 2 years ago. New front pads, Napa Lifetime rotors.

This doesn’t have the feel of a warped rotor. I’m talking VIOLENT shaking.

Anybody got a suggestion where to start.

I figured I’d wait until I get home next week, but wife wanted me to plug into the braintrust and download

 

Obviously check all caliper pins and bolts. Make sure all the brake pads are in place and even wear, not one side of caliper clamping and the other not

 

How old are your shocks and suspension bushings? Sounds like axle hop.

 

Just throwing some things out there...

• Did you check the brake fluid level?
• Did you change the brake fluid when the hard parts went on?
• If so, all four corners bled?
• Do you have an IR thermometer to see if there is an abnormality in the rotor temperatures, hot or cold?
• Was the wheel pulling in either direction when the shaking was occurring?
• Is your ABS light on or did it come on?
• Is your hydroboost ATF level good?

 

Good suggestions above.

Warped front rotors can cause a violent shaking in the steering wheel. Some pads are more prone to warp calipers than others, but driving style is usually the culprit. Riding the brakes on downhill, especially towing, adds a lot of heat to the brake components. Warping is covered under lifetime warranty.

Also check ball joints, tie rod ends, track bar bushings, etc for play as any of these things being loose multiples the shaking.

Warped rear rotors can often be felt in the brake pedal and seat more than the steering wheel.

 

Just waking up on my side of the country.

Thanks for the checklists. I’ll go through then item by item to eliminate.

Noob… yours sounds like the most likely.

This ain’t no pedal pulsing, oops I warped a rotor. Not ABS pulsing either.

Teeth chattering, turn cream into butter, make James Bond a martini shaking.

As Arnold would say… I’ll be back

 

All items above will require flat solid ground for jacking and blocking. Got to visit a friend to confirm those items.

Stock factory 2001 for both items above. Bilstein front shocks are in my saved for later Amazon, as well as the steering stabilizer. Did the rears last year.

 

Energy suspension bushings, and Bilstein 4600’s are on order as soon as I get home next week. Going to order the 5100 steering stabilizer as well.

We had the front end up in the air and everything in the brakes checked out. No warped rotors, even brake pad wear.
Hands free braking no pull, no pulse in pedal or steering wheel, IR temps consistent.

Did not manifest until very heavy braking. First thing my buddy said was shocks. Back to his place after recreating incident 3 times and started looking at bushings. Bushings in sway bar links are starting to come apart.

Side note…

Yesterday after driving my truck he offered me his lifted, studded 6.0 and cash on a trade. I graciously declined, and we both laughed.

 

I have those same parts on my truck and was impressed by the difference they made over the OEM parts, especially when towing.

 

I did the rears last year, and on Saturday morning at the start of our trip up I was talking to my wife about finishing the shocks job this year.

CFO has approved the funding for upgrades / repairs.

 

 

How is it possible to check for warped rotors on the truck?

Its infinitely unlikely this (warped rotor) is not your problem based on your description. ALL of your bushings, ball joints, bearings, tie rod ends, etc etc etc could be loose and never shake when braking...

 

Your experience reminds me I need to look at my suspension bushings for play, or maybe ball joints. I also have a shake under firm braking when pulling the trailer, that I don't have when driving empty. All of my rotors have a runout of 0.002" or less now, after replacing 3 of them with 0.004" runnout, but I still get some shake.

Back when I did this job using a clamp-on dial indicator, I checked the front rotors. Both were at about 0.004" of runout. I've read 0.002" is the most you want. Checked the surface of the hub and the inside surface of the rotor for roughness/corrosion that might exacerbate the runout, but they were clean.




Might be good to get the runnout numbers and see where you are at.

 

Could it be death wobble? In my experience it's usually initiated during acceleration, not braking... but every truck is different.
Did you check the ball joints when it was in the air?

 

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Ross checked them for warpage with a magnetic base dial indicator.

I have driven a warped rotor truck, even felt the moment when the rotor warped.

This doesn’t feel like that.

Lifetime guarantee on the rotors though, so when I get back home to my stack of receipts the option is there should I need to.

Not sure what they were but I trust Ross.

Everything up front is tight except the sway bar links. 22 year old shocks probably aren’t helping either.
There is no wobble felt in the wheel, nor perceived by the seat of pants.

It’s like leaf spring wrap and unloading under heavy braking causing wheel hop up front.

Similar to rear having the same effect under heavy acceleration.

At any rate I have a plan of action to address the issue. Just a matter of ticking boxes and road testing to confirm.

I won’t consider this a throwing parts at it scenario. Sway bar link bushings need to be replaced. Shocks were already on the list for this years maintenance.