Chronic Brake Shaking Issues

[Holla]

More venting than anything here.

 

I've done countless brake jobs on all sorts of cars over the years and never have I had or seen as many issues with warped rotors or shaking brakes as I have in my own car.

 

I've owned my 05 LGT wagon for almost ten years now. I don't think I've ever went more than a couple of months with brakes that felt perfectly smooth.

 

I've never daily driven this car, it sits for months at a time, mostly in my garage. I had always assumed moisture was attacking the rotors, they often get 'stuck' after the car sits for even a few days. But at the same time my truck sits for months on end, 5ft away from my LGT in the same garage and I've never had any issues with it.

 

I had this issue with the stock LGT brakes and now two years later my Brembo's are in the exact same spot with maybe 10k of use. I made it maybe 3 months with them working as expected and since then it's been a gradual transition back to complete warped garbage. I've tried rebedding them countless times. They will get slightly better, never anywhere back to new, but after a few days of sitting, they're worse than before.

 

I'm assuming this is yet again a rotor issue. I know I either need to get my current rotors turned or buy new ones, I'm running Brembo blanks with OEM Brembo pads in the front. I also need to replace my passenger side axle, the boots are torn, I don't believe this is related to the brake shaking though.

 

I've never replaced the front wheel bearings, they're at least 80k worth of use, if not original to the car that has 181k on it now.

 

I replaced both front control arms about 7 years ago for this issue, thinking the bushings were shot. But that didn't seem to be a long term solution.

 

The steering rack and tie rods were replaced due to leakage a few years ago with a 15' STi rack, that didn't seem to help the brakes any.

 

Spec B 6MT swap went in about 6 years ago with different OEM axles, that didn't help any.

 

I've used countless different wheel and tires setups over the years, it's definitely not a wheel or tire issue.

 

The only thing I can really think of is that there is some sort of issue with the bearings and the rotor runout isn't in spec.

 

Under 20mph it's pretty smooth but anything over that I'm at the point now where the steering wheel is oscillating a good 45 degrees side to side with light braking.

 

What am I missing here? Anyone else have chronic brake issues with your LGT?

[B-BGTLimited]

Chronic issues I've had is shitty rebuilt calipers rusting and actually rusting inside the piston bore where the seal is and causing the caliper to stick, which then in turn over heats the rotor and warps them.

 

I'm on my 3rd set of calipers since 2010 I believe... I just did a set maybe 2 months ago, and this time I bought a set of Coated Centric calipers. I'm hoping they last since I will be carrying them over to my 06 Legacy that I'm building. You'd think that a piston dust boot would be enough to prevent rusting in there and all you would need to do is paint the caliper itself to not have the exterior rust, but that hasn't been my luck lately.

 

You would know if had this issue by fact that it would be near impossible to press the piston back into the caliper when doing a pad change, and also I've had times where I've gotten to work and you can see smoke and smell brakes coming from one of the front calipers that is sticking.

[Rusty9]

have you ever replaced the caliper slide pins? if the caliper can't slide freely and evenly on both its going to clamp at an angle and shake.

[IJpie]

I had the same problem in 2012! On advise of my tuner I replaced the standard bushing for Whiteline part number KCA334 - Front Control arm - lower inner rear bushing (anti-lift/caster correction). Don't take the Motorsport version (KCA334M), they are to stiff for street use.

 

No problems afterwards.

Edited January 15, 2021 by IJpie

[Holla]

Chronic issues I've had is shitty rebuilt calipers rusting and actually rusting inside the piston bore where the seal is and causing the caliper to stick, which then in turn over heats the rotor and warps them.

 

I'm on my 3rd set of calipers since 2010 I believe... I just did a set maybe 2 months ago, and this time I bought a set of Coated Centric calipers. I'm hoping they last since I will be carrying them over to my 06 Legacy that I'm building. You'd think that a piston dust boot would be enough to prevent rusting in there and all you would need to do is paint the caliper itself to not have the exterior rust, but that hasn't been my luck lately.

 

You would know if had this issue by fact that it would be near impossible to press the piston back into the caliper when doing a pad change, and also I've had times where I've gotten to work and you can see smoke and smell brakes coming from one of the front calipers that is sticking.

 

I'll need to take a closer look at the calipers when I remove them, thank you for the suggestion! I had the pads off about 6 months ago, they looked worn evenly but I'll need to take a closer look at the pistons.

 

have you ever replaced the caliper slide pins? if the caliper can't slide freely and evenly on both its going to clamp at an angle and shake.

 

I have Brembo's so there is no slide pin. The pads were wearing evenly last time I checked but thank you for the suggestion!

 

I had the same problem in 2012! On advise of my tuner I replaced the standard bushing for Whiteline part number KCA334 - Front Control arm - lower inner rear bushing (anti-lift/caster correction). Don't take the Motorsport version (KCA334M), they are to stiff for street use.

 

No problems afterwards.

 

I'll need to look into this more. When I had replaced the LCA's back 7 years ago, this was my thinking and I had read about issues with this bushing. But I have all OEM stuff so maybe this bushing is just a weak link in the system.

[Max Capacity]

Do you even have the issue after "re-bedding" the brakes ?

 

I have kind of the same issue on my Spec B, mainly only driven on some weekends with the GF so I'm easy on the braking. That allows dust to build up on the rotors.

 

When I'm alone, I'm harder on the brakes, getting the rotors hot.

 

As B-BGTLimited said, there has been an issue with rebuilt calipers. My wagon is on the 5th or 6th free replacement from NAPA in the past 3 years.

 

Check some of the brake sticky's I have posted there, with pictures about the different pad spring clips.

Edited January 15, 2021 by Max Capacity

[Holla]

Do you even have the issue after "re-bedding" the brakes ?

 

I have kind of the same issue on my Spec B, mainly only driven on some weekends with the GF so I'm easy on the braking. That allows dust to build up on the rotors.

 

When I'm alone, I'm harder on the brakes, getting the rotors hot.

 

Yes, when I was in NC a few weeks ago I found some empty roads and really laid into them, over and over trying to rebed them. They did get a little better but now today they are worse than ever, to the point now I don't want to drive the car and this needs to be addressed.

[Max Capacity]

Were you able to smell the brakes when you were re-bedding.

 

In the Spec, I could see dust blow out in the rear view mirror when I stomped the pedal and smell the pads.

[Holla]

Were you able to smell the brakes when you were re-bedding.

 

In the Spec, I could see dust blow out in the rear view mirror when I stomped the pedal and smell the pads.

 

Yes, I had them to the point they were smoking, for better or worse...

[IJpie]

 

 

 

I'll need to look into this more. When I had replaced the LCA's back 7 years ago, this was my thinking and I had read about issues with this bushing. But I have all OEM stuff so maybe this bushing is just a weak link in the system.

 

Be sure to look into it! I have recommended these bushings several times to cars (here in the Netherlands [emoji1]) with similar problems, each time with a positive response that the problem was solved.

[B-BGTLimited]

I'll need to take a closer look at the calipers when I remove them, thank you for the suggestion! I had the pads off about 6 months ago, they looked worn evenly but I'll need to take a closer look at the pistons.

 

I would think with the Brembo's you would not have the same issue I was having... Aluminum caliper vs cast iron... yours shouldn't rust.

[Holla]

Be sure to look into it! I have recommended these bushings several times to cars (here in the Netherlands [emoji1]) with similar problems, each time with a positive response that the problem was solved.

 

This seems like a promising lead. Looks like a 4-6 week lead time for them, and $160 and bushings are always a chore to replace but if this is the answer it would be worth it.

 

Edit: Lead time from Whiteline site, looks like rallysortdirect has them in stock, ordered them today!

 

I would think with the Brembo's you would not have the same issue I was having... Aluminum caliper vs cast iron... yours shouldn't rust.

 

Yes, I've also had this exact same issue with the stock LGT brakes and now the Brembo's. One of the reasons I went to the Brembo's was to try and avoid this problem but yet, here we are again...

Edited January 15, 2021 by Holla

[Nonamedude]

Are you getting steering wheel shake? If so maybe look into the steering damper.

 

 

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[IJpie]

Is your problem been solved?

[norutah]

Check the grommet where the steering column goes thru the firewall. We swapped dashes and replaced the heater core in my wife's wagon. While reassembling I found the grommet was not seated. I seated it and her shaking is gone.

 

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