When stopping; my '08 Touring (7500 miles) makes a clunking noise and the front end wiggles. This happens when I am making a very soft stop, not aggressively applying the brakes. I really am almost coasting to a stop with very little brake pedal pressure. The sound is a soft click or clunk and I get several of these before coming to a complete stop. With the sounds, the front end wiggles left to right slightly. It sounds and feels sort of like ABS is switching brake pressure alternately between the two front wheels. This only happens once I am below about 3 mph. It does not happen every time I stop, and I can not establish a pattern. This has happened on all types of street surfaces, wet and dry. Twice I was going to stop by my dealer and get it checked, but of course those times I could not get it to do it. Has anyone else experienced this, or have any suggestions as to the cause?
Yes, I am sure it is not the ICE. That shuts off several seconds before I notice the noise and wiggle.
Funny you would bring this up. My '08 makes a sound during the last 3 mph or so when braking, but without the movement. Always has. It's like the friction brakes are intermittantly grabbing the rotor. I never really considered it an issue, but I wonder now if it is. I'll follow this thread with great interest. Good luck on it.
I'd suggest to NoSUV and taggart that you both try cleaning the front brakes by finding a road with light traffic, speeding up to 45-50 mph, then shift to N and moderately brake until you come to a stop. Repeat several times. Then see if you have the problem with noise and vibration upon very slow-speed braking. If you do, then you may have a warped rotor. If you can demonstrate the problem on demand, then I suggest you make the issue known to your dealer's service advisor.
Thanks, Patrick. I'll try to do that this weekend. I assume by shifting into neutral, that will only use the friction brakes, which is the idea.
Helo, I was talking to a master mechanic that I know at a ball game a few months ago and learned that he owns a 2007 Prius. We exchanged notes about what we learned about the Prius because I recently purchased my 2008. One of the things he mentioned was that the wheel lug nuts should be tightened using a torque wrench, otherwise you could feel a shutter as you come to a complete stop. Wonder if a few of your lug nuts are tightened properly or slightly loose? Hope this helps! Dave
Hey, I appreciate the suggestions. I will try the brake cleaning in neutral. I also have a Torque wrench. Mine is a 2008 Touring model. What is the proper Torque setting for the lug nuts?
Hi NoSUVnow, I just did a quick search on Google for this and found this post: Lug nut torque spec - Tundra Solutions Forum He indicates it should be 76 ft/lbs. Hope this helps! Dave
Yes, that is correct. I do with mine on a routine basis. With the snow and humidity around this area, rust is a constant problem. My brakes always make a scraping sound when I back out of the garage until they get cleaned off. Tom
Whenever I wash the Prius I will hose out the dirt that accumulates on the front wheels and the front disk brake parts. Then I'll take the car for a short drive and do the "shift into N" procedure to clean and dry the front brakes. Yes, 76 ft.-lb is the correct tightening torque for the wheel lug nuts.
