Brakes – general things, vibrations and other problems
Many Discovery (or New Defender) drivers know the problem that the steering wheel vibrates when braking or even visibly wobbles back and forth to both sides. The brake system of these vehicles is due dess high vehicle weight very starkt stressed and thus exposed to high loads. Usually the flutter then comes at speeds of more than 80km / h particularly strongly to the appearance.
A common cause of this is that the brake discs do not have the same thickness around their entire circumference. Interestingly, this problem is particularly common after brake discs have been replaced, usually after about 100 – 6,000km of driving – in other words, during the disc’s braking-in phase.
The causes of these differences in material thickness often arise from:
- general problems in the brake system, such as a change in the geometry of the brake system,
- decentering of the discs,
- dirt, rust or burrs on the hub, etc. (Thus, when installing new brake discs, the brake system should be checked and cleaned very carefully).
- Another problem what can be the cause here is a one-sided pulling of the brake. (To fix this would have to maintain or renew the pistons or cylinders of the system, because otherwise the problem occurs again with new brake discs. )
- Another cause is an overload of the brake disc during the break-in phase, for example, by emergency braking..
If such a non-uniformity is once present in the brake disc, actually only the removal and turning of the disc helps (price about 100€). Then the thickness of the disc is again completely uniform and the flutter is a thing of the past. In rare cases, self-healing is also reported if the flutter is very small. This can occur if, when braking, the thicker areas are ground away faster than the thinner ones due to the heavier load – but is admittedly rather unlikely.
Steering wheel flutter – avoid vibrations when braking
The most important tips to avoid the occurrence of this problem are these:
- Reasonable and extensive braking of the brake disc after a change
- Use high quality brake discs
- Well-maintained and cleanly functioning brake system
Braking in – how to do it right?
There are different opinions about braking in brake discs. Based on our experience and the information provided by our suppliers, we recommend this method: after changing the brake discs, the braking system should definitely be applied frequently for the period of the first approx. 1-2 tank fillings (i.e. approx. 700-1,200km), but only very carefully (low pedal pressure) and overloading (e.g. operation with a heavy trailer, pass descents in the mountains) should be avoided. Full braking should only be carried out when necessary. However, if in these first 1,200km the drive was almost exclusively on the highway with cruise control 90km/h, the braking-in time will of course be extended accordingly, since in a constant drive of course no braking-in is carried out at all.
Choosing the right brake discs or pads
There are a large number of manufacturers of brake discs in the market. In some cases, the brake discs from accessories are of higher quality and performance than the original brake discs. What we ourselves use on our vehicles and also often install are the systems from the company EBC.
Als Beläge empfehlen wir in der Kombination dann häufig die EBC Green oder die EBC Yellow Serie.
Here you can see the braking of the EBC Turbo Grooves (left and right) and the EBC Black Dash (center) with the EBC Yellow pads.
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Note:
All information is, as always, to the best of my knowledge and belief but without warranty.
