Brake Judder

[RichG]

Hi . i have a 1960 2 door minor with a judder on the front when im braking from 45 mph plus , the steering wheel wobbles quite bad , at 30 mph its ok , wheel dont wobble till i brake , what do u recon ? i think pos need new front drums , ive swapped fronts and back drums still the same , shoes and cylinders look new ish , drums dont look to bad ! but has any one had this problem ? before i buy some new drums ... thanx .

[MarkyB]

As you have swapped the drums over it sounds like they are OK.
Try checking the supension bushes for wear, the wheels for running true and the tyres for any lumps and bumps including the tread area.

[RichG]

thanx i will have a check on them .

[mogbob]

It's worth swopping the wheels themselves around before reaching for your wallet.

Brake shoes.... new / old ... sometimes, filing a slight bevel on the edge prevents initial "grabbing " of the drums.
Did you clean the inside of the drums a bit with emery paper to get rid of any glazing and washed out with meths ?
.
Any evidence of wheel balancing weights.. having fallen off the front wheels.Look for dirt / corrosion indicators, both on the metal edge and inside the wheel ( if "stick on " weights have been used ).
Put it all through it's paces, checking everything ,before reaching a conclusion.(Good tips from MarkyB as always ).

Bob

[minor65]

Here's a link to my brake shudder post

http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f= ... it=shudder

[bmcecosse]

It's almost certainly a suspension bush problem as suggested above...don't buy any drums just yet!

[RichG]

Thanx every one I will look at everything first , I have roughed up the drums and shoes with emery paper . Everything looks ok , can't feel or find any play in bushes on steering or suspension ,but will look closer , thanx again , il keep u posted .

[sirrom]

I had a similar problem and after I replaced the rubbers on the tie bars all came right. Hold on doing anything about the brakes almost sure its the rubbers they have worn down and allowing for movements backwards and forwards under braking.

[RichG]

thanx again for all your answers . could save me a small fortune lol .

[RichG]

hi to all , have had front and rear brake drums checked and skimmed , and after a quick road test last night , fingers crossed !! brakes seem to be 99% better , still just a very slight steering shudder , at 50 + , but i can live with that for now , just got to bed the brakes back in now , so thanx to all replies , and happy motoring ps may see some of you at the national rally if any one is going ..

[bmcecosse]

I'm amazed.....you had already swapped drums about.... Skimmed drums mean the shoes don't contact over the whole surface - so they will wear down very unevenly, and very quickly until they take the new shape. Good luck with it.

[RichG]

thanx , yes i thought it may wear the shoes down a bit , i am thinking of changing all the bushes as well , pos the poly bushes. But as it is raining today , i cant go and give her a decent run , to make sure she is better , but hoping to go to the national weekend in her , so that should give me chance to tell better , i cant find any play in any of the bushes , and they dont look to bad condition wise. but it cant hurt changing them, can it ? all repairs add to reliability , and mot man stays happy lol .

[bmcecosse]

I'm sure you'll be ok for many thousands of miles. If the bushes are good - don't do unnecessary work. My top tip is to drain the dampers and refill with SAE 40 oil - for general handling and braking stability improvement!

[alexmcguffie]

Mine used to have the same judder years ago. Re-balancing/adjusting the front brakes helped, but fitting new drums fixed it completely. Never measured them and it might sound unlikely, but I wonder if old drums wear oval and cause the judder...

[RichG]

thanx again , for the useful tip , i will do exactly that ,mind you since i fitted new rear springs on her she handles loads better now she is not sitting on her bump stops with just 2 of us in the car , and we arnt that heavy lol ,

[RichG]

i think it could be a strong possibility they do wear oval , i know with discs on modern day cars , they wear out of true and cause brake judders , so i plumbed for a skim , it hasnt cost much so i may just buy some new drums shortly , to be sure ,

[bmcecosse]

I've never known a drum to wear oval - after all - why would it? It's being rubbed round all the time. But perhaps I suppose if they got REALLY stinking hot - and then the car was stopped and held with foot on the pedal...... It was always important on rallies to NOT sit at the end of the stage with foot on brake pedal - warped discs would be the result.....not sure if same could apply to drums...but maybe !

[RichG]

i have comec across hi spots and low spots on drums before , due to casting materials and the way they were machined originally i expect , all 4 of my drums had got run out radially , and also a run out from the outer lip to the inside of drum , they have been machined so they are now true , they seem ok so far , but time will tell no doubt , but the judder is now 95 % better only slight now ,