legacycentral bbs

I wasn't sure if this was more appropriate in the Drivetrain or Wheels tires and brakes forum so I stuck it in here.

Anyways, I had been getting a pulse and shudder when braking at higher speeds over the last month or two, with it getting especially bad over the past few weeks. I figured I warped the hell out of my front rotors and wasn't really too concerned because I have a new set of Mountain front rotors waiting to go in and I planned to swap when the weather would cooperate.

Well I went ahead and changed over to my summer wheels recently and figured I'd take a quick look at my front brakes to see what was going on but not swap yet because I didn't have the time. I didn't notice anything obvious but my driver side axle nut caught my eye because it had come unstaked! I go to look at it and I could turn it with my fingers! I couldn't believe it.

I tightened it down, restaked it and went for a drive. The brake shudder was almost completely gone. Since I've still got a little shutter when braking from higher speeds I figure that the problem caused my front rotors to warp slightly or I cooked my wheel bearing (I think it is the rotors though).

I guess the moral of the story is that when you experience brake shudder and pulsing in the pedal, check your axle nuts too. It could be the problem.

your bearings probably aren't in the best shape because of this either.......

I agree with Legacy777. Even loosening the axle nut while the car is on the ground can cause damage.

As a side note, I had similar shaking and its caused by flat spotted tires because I didnt drive the car often enough!

I really hope it's not the wheel bearing because I just replaced it 6k miles ago and they aren't cheap!

I'll have to double check soon.

You replaced it 6000 miles ago and it has been loose the entire time? Your lucky you didnt become a candidate for the Darwin Award!

Did you use the latest part number for the bearings when you did them?

It hadn't been doing it since I replaced it. It just started doing it slightly a month, month and a half ago. It had only been bad the last couple of weeks. I guess the nut came unstaked and slowly came loose.

I had to replace the driverside bearing only because I had to destroy it to get my axle out. I didn't use a Subaru bearing. I got one from a local parts store. It was a lot cheaper (in more ways then one probably) then the Subaru one. I ran WAY over budget when doing my axles because of all the problems on the driverside so I went cheap. I was a little stressed about it before but if it's messed up then I guess I'm glad it was a cheap one!

I'm sure that what ever happened wasn't good for my bearing (probably shortened it's life a little) but I truly believe that the rotors are causing the slight shudder. Maybe I'm just being optimistic but I think if I swap in my new ones that I'll be ok. I'll jack my car up soon and do a bearing check.