Some background info, I have a 07 Journey, 2 previous owners, with 150k miles on it. I had been having a good amount of brake judder, but only when braking at higher speeds on the highway. Not knowing what the previous owners had done to the vehicle I assumed it was the front brakes and purchased the Centric Preferred Axle Pack from TireRack. This comes with the premium rotors and the ceramic posi-quiet pads. After the install I took the car out and made sure to bed in the brakes. I drove the car over the weekend, but no highway driving. Today on my way home I noticed the judder was still there. Any ideas as to what this could be. Also of note when I took the old brakes and rotors off there was still plenty of pad left and the rotors looked to be in decent shape to the naked eye.

 

Your main concern would be your rotors are warped, you'll feel that in the steering wheel when applying your brakes! That can be corrected by a brake shop or Nissan has a machine to true rotors while still on the car. Main cause of warped rotors is over tightening your lugs with a impact gun! Impact guns are great for removing wheels, reinstall must b completed with a torque wrench set at 80 psi with our Nissans! Some judder can be felt if your brake pads don't have the correct spacers!
Good Luck and enjoy the ride...Gary

 

+1 warped rotors!!

 

Sorry they can't read, is the area behind the rotors clean and not built up with rust or dust preventing the rotor from sitting flush? Are the pistons on the calipers functioning as intended?

 

I did tighten them down with an impact wrench, but I doubt that they warped in less than a hundred miles. I will redo the lugs at the 80 ft/lbs you recommend.

 

Everything was clean when I took off the rotors. I also did a good wipe down with brake cleaner. After reading an old post today from another member, I'm kind of leaning toward it being the rear brakes. His problems were very close to mine. I will probably take a look at those this weekend.

 

Hampton, if you can feel the movement or severe vibration in the steering wheel when applying your brakes chances are very good it's your front rotors not the rears! I had a rotor set destroyed on my last Z car because I allowed them to use their impact gun twice while installing my custom aftermarket wheels, then go back because they failed to install the centering rings! Live and learn at a cost! Get your G on a rack, remove your wheels/tires and spin those rotors...should run straight without variation...Gary

 

Buy a dial runout gauge with a magnetic base and you can check for warped rotors yourself. Always better to troubleshoot and FIND the problem rather than throwing parts at a car hoping it fixes the issue. You can get a cheap crappy one for under $50 that will work just fine.

 

Rear brakes were replaced over the weekend and all lug nuts were set to the proper torque values. Brake judder has gone away. I did notice a significant amount of brake dust on the rear brakes.