Last ditch effort to eliminate dreaded brake 'chudder"

[TurnAround]

Originally Posted by E55AMG2

I've seen it happen even with stock pads/rotors. Riding around constantly on and off the brake pedal (as opposed to letting the car coast) and mashing down on the pedal when stopped (vs just putting enough pressure to keep the car from idling away). These are the things that cause this sort of judder.

Not sure I understand. I don't drive in the city with my foot hovered over the pedal, and braking slightly and often, if that is what is meant. I'm generally a late braker. But.. you are mentioning another behavior that I do have; Once I'm done braking med to hard-ish and come to a stop, I let off all but the minimum pressure needed to keep the car from moving. I developed this habit after reading on forums that hard braking (that's me) followed by hard on pedal at a stop, can 'stick' the pad to the rotor from the heat not having anywhere to escape, and when you finally let off you 'pop' some of the brake pad material off on to the rotor face... IOW.. leave an uneven deposit. You're saying mash harder? Even after braking hard (lots of heat)?

[E55AMG2]

Originally Posted by TurnAround

Not sure I understand. I don't drive in the city with my foot hovered over the pedal, and braking slightly and often, if that is what is meant. I'm generally a late braker. But.. you are mentioning another behavior that I do have; Once I'm done braking med to hard-ish and come to a stop, I let off all but the minimum pressure needed to keep the car from moving. I developed this habit after reading on forums that hard braking (that's me) followed by hard on pedal at a stop, can 'stick' the pad to the rotor from the heat not having anywhere to escape, and when you finally let off you 'pop' some of the brake pad material off on to the rotor face... IOW.. leave an uneven deposit. You're saying mash harder? Even after braking hard (lots of heat)?

Nope. If you're braking late then what I described does not apply. From my experience, the folks complaining of brake judder (that dont have worn out bushings/ball joints) usually brake gently and ride the pedal for a long period of time. Then, once stopped, they mash the pedal down hard like the car is going to bolt away. This behavior is notorious for hotspotting the rotors.

I brake late and hard, then come off the brakes and roll till I need to stop. To stop, I use minimal pedal pressure to keep the car stopped till it's time to move again.

It's likely you've got a busted balljoint if your mechanic has replaced the thrust arm bushings and torqued them with the car weight on them.

[TurnAround]

Originally Posted by E55AMG2

I brake late and hard, then come off the brakes and roll till I need to stop. To stop, I use minimal pedal pressure to keep the car stopped till it's time to move again.

That's me too. That's exactly how I brake. And, if I'm performance driving for fun and for whatever reason am faced with a full stop situation, I've even used the hand brake, once at the full stop, so that the rotor brakes had zero contact and could cool.

Thanks for the info. It sounds like I need to take the car in again and go through it with him (under the car).