Brake judder through the pedal and the steering wheel
Owner reports filed with the United States road safety agency return to this one across the later model years of the generation — the fitment above is set to the years those reports actually cover, not to the whole run: the pedal pulses, the steering wheel shakes when the brakes come on, the front discs get machined, and the judder is back well before the next set of pads is due. The repeat is the useful part of the story. A disc that is machined and then judders again was rarely the whole fault — something is still making one part of the disc face run hotter, or thicker, than the rest. This is a heavy truck on a front disc that was sized for a heavy truck, and the two usual culprits are a caliper that no longer slides freely and a wheel that was hammered on with an impact gun instead of torqued in sequence. It is uncomfortable rather than dangerous on its own: the brakes still work, and they still work well enough to stop the truck. What earns the caution is what tends to be underneath it — a caliper that drags is also cooking the fluid and the pads on that corner, and a bearing loose enough to show as judder is a different problem wearing a brake costume. Drive it gently, avoid long descents on the brakes, and get it looked at.
Gen 2Gen 2.51996–1999USWorks worseCommunity consensusSafety-critical
Drive gently — repair soonManeje con cuidado — repare pronto
filteredDoes not fit the vehicle you selected
Provisional matchThis is safety-critical, and the match to your truck is only provisional: it was made on generation, market, year and engine alone. Narrow your selection, and confirm against your own vehicle, before acting on anything here.
Safety notice — Brakes.
This affects a safety-critical system. Reference material only: for safety-critical work, consult a qualified mechanic.
Esto afecta un sistema crítico para la seguridad. Material de referencia únicamente: en trabajos críticos para la seguridad, consulte a un mecánico calificado.
Community consensus. This entry is not backed by factory documentation — treat its values and steps as a starting point, not as if they came from the factory manual.
Consenso de la comunidad. Esta entrada no se apoya en documentación de fábrica — tome los valores y los pasos como punto de partida, no como si vinieran del manual de fábrica.
Symptoms
- The pedal pushes back in a rhythm while you brake
- The steering wheel shakes side to side only when the brakes are applied
- The judder comes back not long after the discs were machined
- One front wheel is far hotter than the other after an ordinary drive
Likely causes
- The disc no longer has the same thickness all the way round
- The caliper slide pins are seized so the pads never fully release
- Wheel nuts tightened unevenly or over-tightened, distorting the disc
- Worn hub bearing letting the disc wobble as it turns
- Pad material baked onto the disc face in patches
Diagnostic steps
- Brake gently from speed and notice whether the shake arrives at the steering wheel, at the pedal, or at bothPoints toThe disc no longer has the same thickness all the way round · Pad material baked onto the disc face in patchesRules outWorn hub bearing letting the disc wobble as it turns
- After an ordinary drive with no heavy braking, hold the back of your hand near each front wheel and compare how much heat comes off themPoints toThe caliper slide pins are seized so the pads never fully releaseRules outWheel nuts tightened unevenly or over-tightened, distorting the disc
- Measure the disc with a micrometer at several points around the face, always at the same radius, and compare the readingsPoints toThe disc no longer has the same thickness all the way roundRules outPad material baked onto the disc face in patches
- With the truck safely raised and supported on stands, rock the wheel top and bottom for play — top and bottom only, because side-to-side movement here is steering linkage and not the hub — then turn the disc against a dial gauge and watch the needlePoints toWorn hub bearing letting the disc wobble as it turnsRules outThe caliper slide pins are seized so the pads never fully release
- Look at the nuts and the hub face for gouging, rust scale or paint, and ask whether the wheel was last put on with an impact gunPoints toWheel nuts tightened unevenly or over-tightened, distorting the discRules outWorn hub bearing letting the disc wobble as it turns
Fix paths
Replace the front discs and pads as a pair
$$Difficulty 3/5
On a truck this old the disc is usually near its wear limit already, so machining buys one season and replacing buys several. Discs and pads are done as an axle pair, and the hub face is cleaned back to bare metal before the new disc goes on — a scale of rust under the disc puts it out of true on the first drive.
Free off and service the caliper
$–$$Difficulty 3/5
Clean and regrease the slide pins, fit new boots, and check the piston retracts. If the caliper has been dragging, the pads on that corner are glazed and the fluid on that circuit has been cooked, so both come out with it.
Clean the hub face and torque the wheel nuts properly
$Difficulty 2/5
Nuts tightened in a criss-cross pattern with a torque wrench, to the factory figure, on a clean hub face. This is the cheapest fix on the list and the one most often skipped, and getting it wrong distorts a brand-new disc on the drive home.
Sources
- NHTSA owner complaint database — 1996 Mitsubishi Monteroarchived copy
- NHTSA owner complaint database — 1997 Mitsubishi Montero — note the year's dataset also carries Montero Sport records, a different platform, which are excluded from what is relied on herearchived copy
- NHTSA owner complaint database — 1998 Mitsubishi Montero (further brake complaints in the fitment range)archived copy
- NHTSA owner complaint database — 1999 Mitsubishi Monteroarchived copy