I do some towing with my F250 (weekend/sick day trips to the boat ramp) around 50k miles I replaced the front brakes and rotors. Now when I am slowing down on the highway the vehicle shakes a bit. My thought was the rear brakes but when inspecting them they look fine. (rear rotors?) the vehicle currently has 58k miles.
Shaking under those conditions commonly does come from problems with rotors, but you would be rarely, if ever, be able to see that by visual inspection. Often you can’t even feel it.
Next time the truck is out, pick a safe & quite stretch of read and slow down with the parking brake only. If it is the rears you should be able to feel it.
I hate to say it too, but especially if you used economy grade brake parts when you did the fronts I wouldn’t rule those out.
You should also have all of the suspension/steering inspected too since things like this can also come from worn parts there.
Cig,
Thanks for the help! I followed your advice and tested the rear brakes via. the parking brake and found no shudder. (ONLY HIT 2 CARS!) When I finished braking with the brake pedel the shuddering commenced once again. Last year I replaced the front pads with supposedly good quality ceramic pads. The rotors were replaced as well but unfortunately I was not particular in what make/type my rotors were…should I have been and what would you suggest?
I’m not an expert - just a guy who has had problems with economy grade brake rotors. As I understand it the steel can be of questionable quality so they can easily develop problems. I’d buy a middle-grade or higher, brand name (Bendix, Raybestos, etc).
One thing you can try with the current rotors is to do a few really hard stops from a reasonable speed (55-60) - don’t lock them up, just brake really hard and come off the brakes before full stop & then drive a few minutes to let them cool in between. Apparently sometimes the rotor surface gets slightly uneven just from small amounts of pad residue. I’ve never had success with this but others have.
Then here’s a list of things that you need to make sure of when doing the brakes to ensure that the rotors wear evenly:
- make sure the rotor-hub mating surface is perfectly smooth - not rust deposits or other contaminants. I always put a thin film of brake grease on the hub to keep rust from forming too.
- make sure that the caliper slides are well lubed and not sticking at all. If they stick, the pads can drag which overheats the rotors as you drive.
- make sure to find the right torque for your lug nuts and always install lugs using a torque wrench. Uneven torque will produce problems.
I’m sure there’s more and perhaps others will chime in.
And don’t forget that worn front end parts can be a factor - wheel bearings, tie rods, etc.
I had the same issue. Replace the calipers. My front caliper slide pins were seized. You could try cleaning and lubing. I just replaced them.
Had one case with my 03, summer intern to paint wheels, put the cone shaped lugnuts on backwards.