Hey all, currently have a good vibration while braking above 30 MPH in my 08 LR3. vibration gets worse going down hill, better when going up hill. Here is a bit of context as to the history of previous repairs on the vehicle.

Went into a independent shop to have this issue figured out as I did not have the time to fix myself, they found rear brake lines rusted horribly and front rotors and pads with hard spots and slightly warped. they told me they looked over everything else in the front end and didn’t find anything not worthy that was wrong. They re did the brake lines, and gave me pads and rotors to do myself as it’s a quick job.

After getting it home, I replaced pads and rotors, tested for play in all the wheel hubs and took it for a test ride. Vibration is still there, and like I said gets worse down hill.

I’ve heard of this being LCAs, but I don’t have the typical “clunk” that accompanies their failure. I can’t really feel the vibration in my steering wheel, it just seems to be all over the vehicle while braking. Truck has 130,000 on it with no idea how many time the LCAs have been changed if at all.

the front LCA bushings don’t look horrible, but I haven’t prided on them yet so I think that’s what I will do tonight, but does anyone have any suggestions / experience with this? Going to be attempting any further repairs myself as the shop bill hit a bit hard. I have fair experience working on vehicles but I am by no means a mechanic, although I have a full shop of tools at my disposal.

also, side note, while I had the entire left side of the vehicle up in the air, I rotated the tires to see if I could hear any brake drag from a warped rotor ( slim chance I know). The only thing I heard was my front prop shaft (transfer case to front diff) periodically wringing like bell………. I can’t pinpoint it exactly but it almost sounds like something is loose inside the shaft itself……. Always something fun!!

thanks!

 

Vibration is pretty much the first sign of front LCA bushings going out or RUCA going out (rear upper control arms). Those two sets are most prone to busing failure. The cluck is the second, later, sign when the bushing have gotten their worst. With that said, brake vibrations are cause by stuck caliper slide pins and pistons quite often. Warped rotors can happen but quite frankly its just a myth and drives people to pay for parts and services they dont need. I mean even think about it, the calipers are literally designed to float the rotor so even IF a rotor is warped the caliper will move with it. I know for a fact that I have not had a single warped rotor on any vehicle I have owned, ever. Stuck slide pins though have come up (those dang DEEP water crossings!) and pulling, cleaning and re-lubricating has solved mystery vibrations more than once. Another issue is duel piston calipers like on the front of the LR3. If one piston is sluggish or stuck you can have huge vibration issues too. But these usually reflects on the brake pads and skewed pad wear.

 

when I did the pads and rotors on the front, I made sure that the caliper pistons were in good working order, took them out of their housings, cleaned and grease them before reinstalling them. I can’t say the same for the rear, but I will have to tear into that and see if potentially one of the pistons is frozen up in the back. I have had my doubts, if and how badly rotors get warped, I have taken off road vehicles all over the US and beat the brakes up pretty hard in some pretty hot desert climates, and never once have I ever warped rotor.

I will definitely check the front row arms and the rear uppers, I think maybe since it gets worse while braking under heavy load going downhill it points towards the front lowers? When visually inspecting them they don’t seem to be too bad, but I guess will have to push on them with a prybar? Any suggestions on how to go about diagnosing that as for sure the problem? appreciate it

 

You are confusing caliper slide pins and pistons. They are not the same.

 

Yes my bad, meant to say slide pins. Thanks

 

Make sure you DO check those pistons tho.

 

both sides on the front seem to be OK, I was able to push all of them back in with the same amount of force before putting in the new pads. I didn’t notice any leaking brake fluid around any of the boots, and as far as I could tell, visually, they looked fine. would there be something else that I would look for or do to test them? None of them seem seized at all but then again, they are always slightly difficult to push back in with using a crappy piston compression tool.

 

If they push in fine they are likely okay. So its looking more and more like the brake system can be ruled out.

 

This is exactly why I post things here, I feel like this is how I get my thoughts straight when I’m working on a project with his vehicle. I think the next plan of attack is to check for any play in the bushings in the front, and potentially rule out anything in the rear as far as brakes. thinking I will just do the lower control arms myself if that is indeed what’s causing the vibration, I’ve heard they are a bit of a pain, but I have an entire mechanic shop worth of tools at my disposal and I slightly know what I’m doing when it comes to wrenching.

I will definitely post back here when I have either confirmed or denied any play in the bushings.

 

Okay, so I got underneath today after I got to work, pried on the lower control arm bushings, pushing them along the bolt, towards the front and the back of the vehicle. Driver side rear bushing has a very small amount of play, not sure how much is normal, but the passenger side rear bushing can be moved a 1/8th of an inch easily fore and aft. I was able to do this while the vehicle was on the ground, will put it in the air when I get home and try again. Does this seem like enough movement to be the vibration culprit?