Braking Vibration -- I'm at a loss

CB1111 said:

Which bring up a point that will get me flamed again.

When a manufacturer builds a car, it is a compromise of handling, fuel economy, comfort and NVH (noise, vibration, harshness).

Whenever you add ANY performance part, you need to ask yourself "why didn't the manufacturer use this part?"

While the answer sometimes is "cost", more often than not it is because it affects handling, fuel economy, comfort or NVH.

While threads on mods tout the benefits, there is nary any mention of downsides.

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anotero said:

I keep all those points in mind, for sure. The question is how much deviation from the accepted comfort level is fine and not a sign of a real problem. You know, like when you put stiff springs you expect the ride will get stiffer, and it certainly does. But then you wonder if certain other deviations from the stock ride is just the stiffness due to the new springs, or is something actually broken and brought into the light by the stiff springs. Considering how many parts modern cars have, it become very difficult to diagnose and pinpoint the source of the problem if one exists. I drove for 10k miles with the insert in before I started getting the braking vibrations. Chances are, a combination of wheel bearings going out, some hard braking I did in an attempt to get rid of brake squeaks, and the bending of the insert are the source of the braking vibration. I think a lot of things came together. I bet after the wheel bearing swap tomorrow my car will go back to normal for the most part.

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CB1111 said:

You mean Sunday night isn't here yet?

You'd be surprised at the amount of people that make mods with pre-existing issues or make multiple mods at a time and then try to figure out where a problem lies.

Often it is a combination of individual mods that combine to give unwelcome results.

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anotero said:

You made me look at my watch to make sure today is indeed Saturday.

Life's too short to do mods one at a time, hoping to figure out a problem once it surfaces Go hard or go home.

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CB1111 said:

It's monday morning. How did it go?

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anotero said:

I will not be able to bend my back tomorrow. I replaced both left and right wheel bearings. And I managed to put a small tear in the left ball joint, so will replace that Friday or Saturday.

Impressions: I get barely any steering wheel vibration on good roads at high speed. Overall chassis vibrations have decreased. Ride feels more solid and less jittery on not so great roads. The braking vibration is almost gone. It's still audible a little, but nowhere near what it used to be, even when I press the brake hard. Something is leading me to believe I'm just hitting the natural frequency of the car. Even if the vibration is due to something being amiss, it's minuscule and I can certainly live with it. Overall, I'm satisfied. I feel like I'm getting my car back. Oh, and one of the wheel bearings I removed looked like shit. I think the seal has been broken for a looong time and all its lubricant just leaked out.

Only thing I did not do today is give the 12-point axle bolt the extra 180deg turn after tightening it to the required 200 N-m. My breaker bar is just not long enough. I'll be buying an impact driver tomorrow. Other than that the wheel bearing saga seems to have arrived at its logical end.

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anotero said:

Other than that the wheel bearing saga seems to have arrived at its logical end.

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