I bought my polo about 5 weeks ago and it has always juddered quite badly when braking, the steering wheel shakes a lot and the brake pedal pumps under my foot. This is normally either going downhill or at higher speed (above 40mph). It had new discs and pads in May last year and the guy who owned it before me had only had it since November 2010, he said it did it all the time he had it too. I am getting it looked at on Sunday but have just looked at last years MOT advisory's, one of which is this

Offside Front Macpherson strut slightly distorted

would this have anything to do with the juddering at all? The only other thing we can think of is that the guy I bought it from had chucked 15" wheels on it and they've ripped the bodywork to shit and maybe warped the brake discs.(I've took these off and put 13's back on for now.) Any ideas?

Edited 29 April, 201115 yr by new-polo

brakes or suspension can cause the juddering. what type of brake discs and pads? if there cheap ones and they wernt run in (i.e. thrashed from the start etc) that can warp the dsics and you get that horrible vibration when braking above 30 mph. my car is like that at moment. everything judders under braking more than 25 mph. you would be best finding a good place to get the geometry checked and set. not tracking or 4 wheel alignment, full 4 wheel geometry.

The ideal way to check 'run-out' is withe a Dial Test Indicator (D.T.I.), but you can get reasonable results by:

Jacking up front end - (one side at a time if you wish), support on axle stand(s), remove road wheel(s) and place a solid block (concrete or heavy timber) near to the disc to be checked, hold or clamp a marker pen to the block and with the tip in contact with the disc (it may be helpful to get an assistant to do this), turn the disc and see what sort of a trace the marker pen leaves on it. It should be continuous and of an even width.

You can also use a micrometer or vernier calipers to check for variations in the thickness of the disc, but of course, this won't necessarily show up any warping.

Regards.

Thanks guys, I'm not sure but judging by the 2 previous owners they were probably cheap discs and also thrashed (I've seen the way they drive,lol) I am having them checked tomorrow so will try these ideas then and if not will get the wheel geometry done. Any ideas on a rough cost for this?

geomoetry around 50 quid max. i had mine done by some guys and they set it up horrible. went to a proper tyre place and they soughted it out. ask around for somewhere reputable. front brake discs and pads 100 quid max for genuine parts (go for genuine) and labour costs or you can easily do it yourself.

geomoetry around 50 quid max. i had mine done by some guys and they set it up horrible. went to a proper tyre place and they soughted it out. ask around for somewhere reputable. front brake discs and pads 100 quid max for genuine parts (go for genuine) and labour costs or you can easily do it yourself.

Had new discs and pads fitted tonight, it's fab now. No juddering at all, I'll still get the geometry done though just to double check everythings good! Thanks for your help guys!

geomoetry around 50 quid max. i had mine done by some guys and they set it up horrible. went to a proper tyre place and they soughted it out. ask around for somewhere reputable. front brake discs and pads 100 quid max for genuine parts (go for genuine) and labour costs or you can easily do it yourself.

Had new discs and pads fitted tonight, it's fab now. No juddering at all, I'll still get the geometry done though just to double check everythings good! Thanks for your help guys!