2004 MC SS
109k miles

Whenever I apply my brakes I get a pretty distinct shudder through the whole vehicle and in the steering wheel. I've felt similar things on my F150 that were fixed when I replaced the shocks, but that shuddering was also subject to the condition of the road (ie - the worse the road, the worse the shudder). With my Monte, it makes no difference whether the road is great or awful. I replaced tires about 10k miles ago, I’m going to get them rotated and balanced just because they’re newer and I want them baselined after they’ve had some wear. So, my question, apart from tires and/or shocks, what could cause a shudder? I’ve got a leaky CV boot on the front right axle that needs replaced, could that cause the shakiness? Other things to check? Thanks for any input.

 

Warped rotors.

 

Agreed! warped rotors..R and R the brakes....should cure your problem....

 

Probably a stupid question, "R and R the brakes?" I had the rotors turned when I did the pads a year ago or so. Is it possible they were turned too much and they lost their ability to dissipate heat, thus warping them under severe conditions? So basically, I need new rotors?

 

These cars are very heavy, and heavy braking in the wet weather pretty much can warp a rotor quickly.

I wouldn't turn the rotors on these cars EVER, unless I know I purchased a very high quality blank rotor to begin with.

Get a good set of Blank Centric Rotors and the warping will be gone. You will also probably have to change the pads again

 

Just as a follow up to anybody that references this post in the future, my shuddering was caused by my rotors, as suspected. New rotors and new pads took care of all the vibration.

 

They weigh 3300 lbs, lol. That's not a heavy car.

 

i've actually had mine on the scale, and they are VERY HEAVY stock, try a REAL weight of 3870+, mine weighed 3800lbs with just the drivers seat, and a half tank of gas when i ran at the strip last year

 

No, my Camaro weighs close to that, these cars are around 3800 pounds.

That's almost 2 tons.

 

My vote is warped rotors too.

I have NEVER had rotors turned. Modern cars don't usually come with rotors that have enough material to be worth turning. Most of the time I can get two sets of pads to one set of rotors. If I go to change the pads and had no other issues with the brakes, I visually inspect the rotor for dings/gouges and if it's got a consistent texture around it (sometimes slight ripple effect, like grooves on a record, just so long as it's consistent), I re-use the rotors the way they are for a second set of pads. BUT, if you are in doubt, throw them out.