Car shudders when braking.

[Paul Stubbs]

Slowly working out the bugs on my 67 Fury II.
All drum system. In town brakes work fine no issues. When stopping from higher speeds (40ish) and higher pedal force, the car shudders pretty badly.
I have noticed the parking brake cable is disco'd. Would that in itself cause this phenomenon?

 

[Davea Lux]

You should start by pulling all 4 wheels and inspecting the brakes. The shudder can be caused by brake fluid on the lining, a warped drum or cheap brake linings that are glazed or have the wrong type of material installed. Brake shoes made of the finest Chineseium are famous for squeaking, pulling and thumping as the car is stopped. Another possible cause is worn shocks, worn tie rod ends or worn control arm bushings. A disconnected park brake cable should not cause the shudder but it would be wise to repair this problem.

Dave

 

[Paul Stubbs]

Thanks for your reply! The brakes may have some residual fluid on the shoes, I just replaced the rear wheel cylinders. Cause they were leaking. Shoes looked good as far as material thickness.
Front shocks are probably shot, tie rods don't look great either. Wanted to eliminate the park brake cable as the culprit.

 

[496 polara]

My guess would be warped drums.

 

[Mntac]

I had the same bad shudder problem with the 66 wagon. The brake shoes on it were this brown organic material that around town worked fine but heated up bad when used at high speeds. I swapped them out for the old style metallic brake shoes, looked like crushed metal shavings. No more shudder problem.

 

[Gerald Morris]

Slowly working out the bugs on my 67 Fury II.
All drum system. In town brakes work fine no issues. When stopping from higher speeds (40ish) and higher pedal force, the car shudders pretty badly.
I have noticed the parking brake cable is disco'd. Would that in itself cause this phenomenon?

I would bet on taco salad shell drums. I acquired one recently myself, last Thursday, when the front left quarter of the car dropped onto the drum while rolling. It doesn't give me much pedal-chatter, miraculously enough, but I have discovered some the past couple days as I cruise the newly rebuilt and DECENTLY ALIGNED front end at more nromal speeds. I plan to replace that drum, and likely all shoes this Fall, when the ambient day temperatures drop below human body temp. I prefer to work under such conditions, as while working in high fever environments puts me in a suboptimal mental state.

Pay special attention also to your emergency brakes. Those can get in a SORRY state when allowed to run totally slack, take my Word on it. It's happened to me about 8-9 yrs back, with our family '66 Newport. Still, my first bet would be on the drums. Bad bearings can also cause shimmy-n-shake-brake. Try cruising in the quiet hours and listen to your wheels. That can tell you things.