So I believe I have a problem with the brakes. At first I thought it was the suspension or wheel related, because my car vibrated badly over 60 mph (mostly the steering wheels and pedals).

After driving it for awhile, I noticed sometimes the problem dissapeared all together. Then I noticed when it came back, the brake pedal had way less range of motion (barely touch it and you could feel it braking, very stiff pedal) and the pedal shook badly and the steering wheel shook. Also when coming to a stop during this problem the pedal vibrated REALLY badly and shook the whole car.

If I get the car up to 70 or 80, often times the problem fades away, the pedal becomes looser, and the car rides like a dream. Sometimes it'll stay this way for a few hours before the problem comes back. Is it possible a caliper pin is stuck, or the caliper itself is going bad, or is this a symptom of a faulty master cylinder?

Before I waste a day tearing all my brakes apart, was wondering if this problem sounded familiar to anyone here.

tia

I doubt its brake related.
Had your alignment checked lately?
and had the tires balanced lately?

It takes like 5 minutes to pull the brake caliper pins and lube them up.

1998 dodge avenger 4 cyl AT
Mods are:
Not enough

I have seen pins that were frozen and caused the pads to constantly rub and warp rotors. I'd still start with checking tire balance and alignment first, also check your vacuum line to the brake booster and make sure it isn't loose or damaged.

Erik P.
Official 2GNT thread Hijacker
Some say that he's driven over more Covenant than he's shot, and that his grenades aren't where you'd expect them to be...
All we know is, He's not The Stig... But he is The Stig's Spartan cousin!

only reason I figure it isn't alignment or tire related is because the problem goes away and the car rides like its on rails, all the way up to 90, 95. However other times i'm waiting for parts to start falling off the way it shakes. I'll check the vacuum hose and brake calipers to start with.

Balence or alignment typically with cause vibration at certains speeds and fade away as you go faster. tel tale sign of wheel balence. you may have warped rotors in addition to that but balence the wheels and check the alighnment first.

I might not have explained it clearly enough.

The problem does go away at higher speeds, but then it STAYS gone even when i slow down.

Pretty sure its a stuck caliper pin. Will have to wait until my day off to take them apart and lube em up.

alignment or wheel balance/warper rotors wouldn't explain the sudden change in range of motion of the brake pedal. Instead of having a good 2-3 inches of play before the brakes engage(normal, no vibration when its like this), its more like 1/4" before the brakes are fully engaged (and bad vibration occurs anywhere from 40-60+mph).

does it go away at higher speeds and come back after hard braking? If it does your caliper is stuck, the higher speed is burning the pads down to the point of not contacting the rotor anymore and then when you force the caliper back after braking the pad is rubbing again.

try putting the car in the air and pushing the break pedal as hard as you can for a few moments, put the trans in neutral and leave the ebrake off. spin each wheel by hand and find out which one grabs at specific intervals or doesn't spin as easily as the rest.

Wala! you've found the stuck caliper. The problem could be either a stuck slide (easier and less expensive to fix) or a stuck piston (get a new caliper and flush the shit out of your system)
If it's a stuck slide just get a new slide bolt kit and run some fine emory cloth through the hole and make sure to lube the piss out of the slide bolt. relace/machine your rotors and replace your pads (both sides, don't be captian half-ass)

if the piston in the caliper is stuck it's probably water in the system and you might want to consider rebuilding or replacing the other calipers.

Erik P.
Official 2GNT thread Hijacker
Some say that he's driven over more Covenant than he's shot, and that his grenades aren't where you'd expect them to be...
All we know is, He's not The Stig... But he is The Stig's Spartan cousin!

Sorry to thread jack, But I have a stuck caliper question too. On the freeway. My car sounded like My front driver side tire was rubbing banging around a bit. I thought it was the splash guard loose. When I was parking the car, backing into the spot. I heard a pop pretty loud. If I reverse a few feet then put the car in park I get the pop right as I let up on the brake.

Never done this before

oh this is with the big brakes if it matters

We will build you bigger and stronger


Wake up and drive my ass... More like wake up and fix it.

If the opposite of Pro is Con
then the opposite of Progress is Congress

that loud ping could have been part of your rotor cracking and releasing pressure. not totally 100%sure but i read in some auto magazine (cant member which one) the were testing a lingenfelter corvette the cracked like 3 rotors on the test car but that's just my $0.02