Thumping noise when braking after storage
 

First drive after winter storage. Car has developed a loud thumping when braking. Frequency of thump changes with car speed. Worse when braking hard. Normally I would figure brake rotors, but the car was fine when I put it away in the fall. Wondering if a stuck caliper or pad could cause this ? I also wondered about flat spots on the tires, but figured it would do it all the time, not just when braking.

Any ideas/suggestions before I start ripping things apart ???

I think you hit on everything it could be. Let us know how you make out.

Did the car sit outside? possible that the pads fused to the rotors a bit? Happened to me when my G35 sat out for ~2 months without being driven. Ended up needing new rotors/pads


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Car was in an unheated garage. There is no dragging of the brakes so I don't think the pads froze to the rotors. There also seems to be minimal "pulsing" when braking which I would expect if the rotors were bad. Will be pulling the wheels tomorrow to see if there is anything obvious.

That’s weird that the thumping sound when braking isn’t associated with any steering wheel pulsing. That’d kind of rule out any rotor issues/pad deposits or tie rod issues, but then again every situations different so ya never know


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did one of your shocks leak while in storage?

If it isn't the brakes or the tires I would check the shocks and the rear differential bushing. Not really sure what else it could possibly be.

Got it fixed. Averying was right ! Ended up being the rear brakes. The pads had left "high spots" on the rotors where they sat all winter. Luckily I was able to clean them up with some brake cleaner and sandpaper and the noise is gone.

Glad that fixed it. I wouldn’t expect that to happen with the car sitting indoors though!


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Yes, indoors should be ok, but I washed it just before covering it and I wonder if the pads were wet. Since it was cold out, they may have taken a while to dry out and stuck to the rotor.