Pulsing brakes

[gampy63]

This is my 1st post.
I have an 03 liberty sport limited that has begun to have a pulse in the brake pedal and a slight shake to the steering wheel. While helping a friend move about 60 miles, I noticed it real bad with a loaded trailer and braking while going down hills. After pulling both front wheels, I can't see anything that would cause it. How can I tell if I have a warped rotor?

 

[KJowner]

Clamp it tight to the hub with the wheel nuts and measure the runout with a dti.

 

[gampy63]

Is there anything other than a warped rotor that can cause the pulsing?

 

[DadOSix]

Is there anything other than a warped rotor that can cause the pulsing?

sure -

sticking caliper also.
eta : Caliper usually has one pad all worn out if it is sticking

For me, the easiest 'tell' is :

does the brake feel fine when cold?
Yes - Maybe rotor, maybe hose, maybe caliper
No - definitely rotor

if yes:
- use an infrared temp scanner, like those gizmo's that used to be big $ but not now, like harbor freight, lowes, etc - some guys use em for air temp coming out of hvac at home.

Anyway - drive that jeep til it starts carrying on, then pull off and measure each wheel (near the hub) to see where the heat is. A sticky caliper / bad hose, does not release fully and will cause that wheel / hub to run considerably hotter than the rest.

Kind of hard to tell if it is the hose, but if I find a bad caliper, i replace the hose as well. Gotta bleed it anyways and the age of the jeep says the hose needs changed just to be safe.

 

[gampy63]

It pretty much always does it but it's really noticable when I have to hit the brakes hard. Otherwise it's noticable but not bad. I'm assuming whatever it is is on the right side since pulls that way if I let the steering wheel go when I brake.

 

[KJowner]

Sounds like you have a sticky caliper on the right and warped discs. When you replace the discs make sure you clean the hub face otherwise the discs won't run true.
I rebuilt my front calipers with new pistons, but for the effort involved it's easier to buy new ones and not much more expensive.

 

[gampy63]

Thank you. I'm going to be working on it Saturday. In the mean time we will just have to be careful.

 

[Surprisepoptart]

Sometimes just hosing down the rotors with brake cleaner is enough to clear up some pulsing. I don’t know if it just because I always used cheap pads on my other Jeep or what, but sometimes the rotors just get build up on them.

Worth ruling out with a can of brake clean for a few bucks

 

[gampy63]

Thanks. I'll try that 1st. Replacing the rotors or calipers will wipe me out til next month.