Weird brake problem never solved

Hey guys how's it going? Hope y'all are staying safe.

So to start this thread I'm gonna do the best I can at explaining the issue.

I've had my Crewmax for 10 years now, its sitting on a the Pro Comp Nitro body lift, have replaced the rotors and pads to better and newer ones (probably around 30-40k miles on the new ones) and have had this issue pop up at times.

The issue being, when I come down or go into a off ramp/roundabout interchange at "faster" than listed speed given by the mph sign and then go to tap on my breaks to slow down slightly they become really hard/stiff and almost sound like the metal is scratching or screeching and that I cant apply more pressure on the break till I let the truck take the speed then gradually slow down then brakes are fine as I speed back up on the freeway.

Its really the best way I can describe it but it does happen, not ALL THE TIME but enough for me to remember the times it has.

Brakes are fine, never any issue, check my pads regularly.

 

Sounds like a possible vacuum leak issue, its probably the most common, but you may need to also inspect your hoses, brake booster and valve, these last 2 you may need a shop to look at.. Sounds like the system panic brakes, but releases once it recalculates the pedal travel vs vehicle speed. I'm no expert, but that's where I would start. Btw, after your lift did you get your sensors calibrated?

 

When you did your brakes last did you make sure all pins and or slots/clips the pads would ride in are clean and lubed? I find because of heat/dirt/rain these areas of the caliper tend to get beat up/corroded and need some cleanup and anti-seize (high temp) to keep those areas in good condition. If you don't clean or replace the hardware in the caliper the pads will hang up and not slide like they should.

So with that being said, maybe your pads are not sliding correctly in your tight turns like you mention and cause momentary brake fade from heat/or being cocked? (oops not politically correct) I have had this happen on my Landcruiser because it is hard on brake calipers from heat. Most times I can not get a second set of pads to work properly because the calipers are shot internally from heat/corrosion, and I don't bother trying to rebuild them, I just buy new ones and keep rolling. And it may not even be the heat just the pads hanging up and not sliding correctly in the turn. It may apply the brakes at an angle because of not sliding correctly in the turn and that is why you maybe only notice it in the tight turn. Also when going straight and or slight turn there is no side force being put on the wheel and transmitting that to the brake caliper/pads.

This may not be the problem but I would at least inspect the calipers by disassembly and a detailed visual inspection.

 

@blackdemon_tt I did not have them re-calibrated so could also be thats what is attributing to it.

Shows I never really got into the truck game until 10 years later sadly.

 

Are you sure your calipers and pins aren’t rusted and getting stuck? I just did my brakes on my 2018 at about 26k miles cause I had really bad shuddering when the stock ones got hot. Did front first and drove to do the bedding and the driver rear still stock rotor was about 70-80f hotter than the rest. Did the rears the next day and found out the pin on the passenger side was rusted over and wouldn’t move. That was causing the issue with my drivers side for some reason.

There is also a way to test if the booster holds pressure. Something about holding the pedal when you start and see if it holds pressure. If you search google it’ll be there.

 

No biggie man.... I've owned my truck since 07 and I'm still not into it... get your sensor calibrated, and double check your hardware, can't hurt to take a double look.. Since most of the basic systems have now been attached to a computer calibration is a must, I've been in another forum, where some complained about systems going sideways after a lift and most of the time stuff gets fixed, if I remember correctly its a 0 point calibration and I do believe its free99 at the stealership......

 

Thoughts that came to my head:

Did you ever check or replace your brake shims? If not they can eventually get worn down. This could result in a piece of the brake shim making contact with the rotor or other metal parts of the brake system, something you'd probably hear coming off the highways and breaking fast.

If your caliper pins and such are old, dirty, or un-greased, as well as the back of the pads, they could cause squeaking.

You could be having issues with one or more of your wheel bearings starting to wear out, but usually only if you feel some steering wheel vibration on these hard braking scenarios.

Your trucks vehicle stability control (VSC) could be sensing you're going very fast into these interchanges and as a result could be taking over the breaking force for you at different wheels so you don't wipe out...then once you let off the brakes the truck senses if its safer to let you break or if VSC should take over again possibly. I think it could be something like this since you're taking a roundabout faster than posted and are running a body lift, could be your truck trying to save your butt from a roll or slide and just applying hard breaking?

Definitely weird stuff, maybe its a simple calibration so the truck knows what's up

 

I had an old Ford that did that , turned out to be a check valve . Found it by accident when doing the brake lines .

 

This didn't sound like your issue, but there was a TSB for the rear wheel bearings like Hbbtundra08 mentioned. Mine went bad on my 2010 and when I went around a curve about 40 mph or slower it sounded like metal scraping. Only happened in curves going pretty slow, braking had no effect on the sound.

 

Also with the metal sounds on the turn that could be your heat shield on the rear brakes. My 10 did that, especially noticeable in the summer.

 

New to this but I have had my 2010 since 2009. Im about to put a lift on my truck. Someone mentioned a calibration after getting a lift. What is being calibrated?

 

zero point calibration. will keep the ABS from going ape shit when you turn.

 

0 point calibration.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/how-to-zero-point-calibration-vsc.51060/

 

I take it that your rig has VSC? If it does you might try what timsp8 mentioned as those computers go bonkers sometimes. It won't hurt to try.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ibrate-your-vsc-computer-the-easy-way.467485/

 

So on my way to work today it happened again, was going off the feed ramp taking the downward turn on to the access road so a gradual 180 degree turn, and was going a little to fast and it happened again. What I did notice is the slip indicator started flashing as I started trying to press on the break to slow down and the noise happened again. Turned off my radio to try and hear it better which I also felt in the break pedal but again almost like a grinding noise along with it sounding springy. Once I got on a straight path the breaks were back to normal. Any thoughts?

 

When applying the brakes did you feel like you were just a bit out of control? Is the turn off camber? In other words is the curve leaning into the right turn or in the opposite direction away from the turn?

 

This is starting to sound like you have a small leak somewhere, air in the system, or the master cylinder is starting to fail. Check your rear brakes, I over focused on my front brakes and found an issue on the rears. Additionally my bleeders were tight, but fluid was seeping through

 

Sounds like VSC an ABS ... if the light is going off while it happens , its just trying to controll the vehicle in the corner and with braking... if while stopped you push and hold the trac button it will turn on auto lsd , then still holding - will turn VSC off n keep auto lsd , a little bit longer of a hold will turn it all off.. see if when its completely off it doesnt fix it... just a heads up in this form the Tundra is all Raw it now depends on the driver for all of its functions an inputs

 

That is what I was thinking also. The VSC is trying to control your rig in that particular curve since you like to take it fast. I believe your only 2 choices are 1) disable it as NueveTundra said or 2) take that curve slower, I know not as fun, but the truck is trying to protect you. But if you really want to have fun disable all of it and hope you keep all four wheels on the ground.