Brake Judder and Wheel misalignment

MTB Nut

Ok, this is my bike

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12730205

I have Avid Elixer 4 brakes on it and the front break has started 'juddering' like crazy under heavy.ish braking and when I was riding tonight I started getting random heavy rubbing on the rotar. When I checked the front wheel etc the top of the wheel looked like it had been pulled towards the brake caliper side of the bike leaving far less clearance on the left side of the forks.

I recently upgraded (well I hope so) my Specialized skewers to Hope ones, could this be anything to do with the problem? If not, could a disc brake be capable of pulling the wheel to the left and out of line? If not this either any suggestions?

I have reseated the font wheel and all looks aligned now, however, I am still getting brake 'judder' under heavier braking and now the front brake lever feels much slacker.

Any help greatly appreciated.

On a brighter note I'm sitting here right now aware of the lovely burning muscle sensation in my calves and thighs after tonights jaunt. Gotta love the pain. :twisted:


Really Pi55ed off now.

Anonymous

It is possible for a brake to pull a wheel down out of the dropouts, are you sure the skewers are done up tight?
The best skewers you could get hold of are steel shimano ones.

nicklouse

Spoke tension off?

is the rotor being moved by the pads?

oh and by re seating your wheel you mean it is fully seated in the drop outs. and not at some, it makes everything else seem OK, but is not seated in the drop outs.

MTB Nut

nicklouse wrote:

Spoke tension off?

is the rotor being moved by the pads?

oh and by re seating your wheel you mean it is fully seated in the drop outs. and not at some, it makes everything else seem OK, but is not seated in the drop outs.

Yep fully seated in the drop outs. It's tricky to say whether the rotor is being moved by the pads as I'm riding and braking at speed when it occurs.

MTB Nut

yeehaamcgee wrote:

It is possible for a brake to pull a wheel down out of the dropouts, are you sure the skewers are done up tight?
The best skewers you could get hold of are steel shimano ones.

Yeah, I remember you telling me this in my other post (linked above) when you saw my Hope skewers.

Regardless, all tinkering will have to wait until after work tomorrow night now. Nuckin Fackered! Gonna be another long day thinking about my bike when I should be working. ................GODDAMIT.......!

Anonymous

It can be a real pain. I found that in order to get the skewers tight enough to stop my wheel moving in the dropout, I needed some sort of extension bar on the clamp, which makes trailside fixes impossible, unless you carry a length of bar in your camelbak.

MTB Nut

yeehaamcgee wrote:

It can be a real pain. I found that in order to get the skewers tight enough to stop my wheel moving in the dropout, I needed some sort of extension bar on the clamp, which makes trailside fixes impossible, unless you carry a length of bar in your camelbak.

Holy hell, that's some leverage u need there my man. Visions of you trailside using a crowbar on your bike. :P

Seriously though, My bike has Rock Shox Reba SL's on it and I'm always a little worried I'll damage the fork by clamping too tight.

nicklouse

MTB Nut wrote:

nicklouse wrote:

Spoke tension off?

is the rotor being moved by the pads?

oh and by re seating your wheel you mean it is fully seated in the drop outs. and not at some, it makes everything else seem OK, but is not seated in the drop outs.

Yep fully seated in the drop outs. It's tricky to say whether the rotor is being moved by the pads as I'm riding and braking at speed when it occurs.

its is easy to see.

just pull the lever and look. you dont need to be riding.

dr feelgood

I'm having a similar problem if anyone can help at all please?
my front wheel is pulling to the left almost to the point of the tyre touching the fork when under heavyish braking - has anyone any idea how I can solve this or what could be causing it?

Cheers,
Phil.

gtd.

dr feelgood
Play in the bearings?

Macster1

@ DR Feelgood,

Hi, I have a Rockhopper Pro Disc and a few months ago happened to look down at my wheel when braking only to see the front wheel curving right over and nearly hitting the forks!

I pulled over and for some weird reason found my QR was loose [sabotage I reckon], so I did it back up nice and tight. It didn't solve the issue :?

Took it to my local Evans @ West Croydon and the diagnosis was loose spokes! The mechanic, (Rich), sorted both wheels the same day and the problem was solved. I did have them re-tensioned again a few days later as there was a small flex of about 2cm under heavy braking but they have been fine since. Give your spokes a squeeze, 2 at a time and see if they are loose, i.e. flexing; if so that might be the issue making the wheel rim bow!

HTH

Baz

shefbiker

i have had a similar problem on my commuter (cannondale badboy). under heavy braking the whole wheel/axle/hub slewed towards the disc side, and repetitions effectively loosened the QR. it got so bad that i thought i'd damaged the forks in an accident a while back and swapped them at significant expense... in the end it turned out that where the paint has got chewed up at the dropouts, the aluminimum of the fork has corroded/oxidised slightly. This oxidation has in effect filled in the little teeth on the outside faces of the hub and, although to a lesser degree, the teeth on the QR skewers, so they just don't bite effectively any more. I can only assume that this corrosion/oxidation involves some sort of volumetric expansion.
To solve it, i have to periodically just clean out between the little teeth with a little screwdriver, and then do the QR up nice and tight (as tight as i can by hand... not with an extension bar!) and problem solved for another 6 months. It seems particulaly bad when the roads are salty...
maybe this is your issue?