Brake Problems

Mar 11th, 2003, 12:35 PM

I have a 2001 Frontier SE 4x4 crew cab. The truck vibrates when you hit the brakes almost feels like a pulsating/shaking. I brought the truck to Nissan they replaced all the abs sensors and the main abs computer put new front brake pads on and checked everything else. drove the truck out of the parking lot got to a stop sign and it still did it. took the truck back they drove and looked again and told me that frontier trucks all do that and there is no problem. What the hell!! do you guys know what could be wrong or if not can you recomend the best brake pads,rotors,drums for this truck and ill fix it myself. thanks

jadcock · Mar 11th, 2003, 01:56 PM

If the pulsating is directly related to speed, then I would suspect contaminated or warped brake surfaces. Have a brake shop check it out. They'll measure the runout on the brakes and tell you if they need to be scraped (turned).

Ag Bullet · Mar 11th, 2003, 06:55 PM

Sounds like the problem is in the rotors if after all that it is doing the same thing. Maybe they are warped, which is a pretty common occurance with the Frontiers. IMHO, the rotors are way too small for such a heavy vehicle.

I recently switched out my rotors for cross-drilled Brembos and replaced the lines with AC's stainless steel lines. My brakes are a lot more solid now and it takes considerably more effort to floor them to the point of the ABS kicking in. I have pics in my album...

jadcock · Mar 12th, 2003, 07:31 AM

I have a related experience with a non-Nissan vehicle. My Cadillac is a FWD chassis, and the front brakes seem to get overheated quickly. The rotors would warp pretty consistently every 15k-18k miles. I put on a set of Autospecialty cross-drilled rotors and they've been great for over 20,000 miles now. The brakes stay cooler, so they don't warp as easily. Gasses don't build up between the pad and the rotor, so stopping distances are lower. Here's a link to a review they did on a 4wd Isuzu:

http://www.off-road.com/isuzu/womb_brakes.html

Mar 12th, 2003, 01:05 PM

Thanks guy's sounds like i will be getting new brakes very soon. I will probobly get the bigger rotors. I dont baby my truck I drive it like a truck like it should be driven. nissan said slow down sooner and dont hit the brakes hard. Sorry not my style.

Ag Bullet · Mar 12th, 2003, 02:14 PM

Well there isn't a big brake kit out yet for our trucks, so it will take some research, fabbing and $$ to change the size. I have about 1,00o miles on the new rotors and pads and it had made a nice difference. I had a similar set up on a previous car and never had a problem either. I only changed the pads out once in the 65k miles I had the rotors.

CarGuy · Mar 12th, 2003, 02:38 PM

rusty,
It definitely sounds like your problem is the rotors - IMHO, the dealership should have looked at that b4 anything else. Also, if you've never had the rotors turned, then I doubt its a run-out problem. My nissan pu has 235k miles on it, and the rotors have been turned several times - they are still within a nice tolerance. The key to smooth and strong brakes are decent pads - IMHO. Your rotors are probably warped due to non-decent brake pads over-heating the system. This can be resolved by getting a softer/better material pad (the pads may wear faster but the rotors will stay undamaged… I would much rather replace $40 brake pads every once in awhile, than $140 rotors!!). My suggestion would be to get the original rotors turned - They are probably still good bc the truck seems fairly new as a 2001 model. Then find a parts place that sales Bendix brake pads - get the semi-metallic "quiet ride for foreign vehicles" pads and you should have no more worries

Best of Luck

gspot · Mar 12th, 2003, 03:20 PM

I'd march back to the f---ing dealer and demand my money back (assuming it wasn't done under warranty). They always like to pull that "it's normal" crap when they either don't know what is wrong or there is a known defect that they don't want to admit to. They should be diagnosing the problem before they replace stuff.

c_zermeno · Jan 25th, 2004, 04:14 PM

Before i bought my 2001 Nissan Frontier SE CREW CAB v6 auto, i had a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee, its breaks seemed more responsive and more quick to stop. I noticed that when i would idol and hit the breaks. When i do that in the Nissan it seems to make a rubbing sound. And i do notice that when we break it vibrates unusally. Maybe even the shoks?