'01 Camry front brakes/tires jerking on downhill

- M
- Me
  
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posted
19 years ago

Mon, Jul 12, 2004 7:20 PM

Appreciate the several responses to my inquiry about this issue. Some responses were quiet technical. Queried why front brakes/tires on '01 Camry with less than 30K miles were jerking on long downhill road. Had the car at the dealer for servicing this week. They did a visual inspection of brakes, suspension, front end, etc. and said all was OK. Speculated that I must have been on slick stretch of pavement (no rain that day) and what I experienced was the ABS kicking in. I guess that is possible but answers like that make us non-mechanical types even more wary of noises, vibrations, etc. And that is why we come to newsgroups and forums like this, before letting some shop tell us / charge us whatever they want. Thanks again to all who try to provide logical answers.

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- Art
  
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posted
19 years ago

Mon, Jul 12, 2004 7:36 PM

Are you sure it wasn't the autotransmission searching for the right gear to use?

Camry

at

brakes,

vibrations,

- W
- Winston
  
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posted
19 years ago

Fri, Aug 20, 2004 4:23 AM

Can you describe the phenomenon more completely? Would you describe this as a vibration in the front end? Does the steering wheel vibrate in sync? If so, you might have the ball joints inspected.

--Winston

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- Daniel M. Dreifus
  
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posted
19 years ago

Fri, Aug 20, 2004 1:59 PM

Usually this means the brake rotors are warped. This cannot be seen just by looking at them. They can be checked with a dial indicator on a magnetic base to measure runout. Make sure your shop uses a torque wrench for the wheels to insure even tightening and avoid overtightening. Warpage in the brake rotor means that instead of remaining perfectly flat while spinning, there's an uneven portion that can be felt when the pads contact the surface. Brakes work by converting the energy of forward motion to heat, which is then dissipated by the brake rotors. It is this heating of the rotors which can result in warping, especially if the lug nuts were incorrectly installed. Rotors can be "turned" to grind away and "true" the surface, or replaced. Brake calipers should also be checked to insure a pad is not "sticking" but sliding smoothly and retracting fully.