Intermittent Braking Peculiarity

[Bron Swanson]

I have a 2024 Big Bend (2 door) that I purchased in November. I got my first oil change / the works with Ford about a month ago (4500-ish miles).

Right around the time of the oil change, I started getting a weird breaking peculiarity. I don't remember if it started a day or two before the oil change, or after...but I am so OCD about how my car driving feels that I am guessing I would have made the dealership aware if it was happening before I got my oil changed.

When coming to a stop, or releasing the brake to move, I will randomly get what feels like "not everything clamped / released at once". I am not sure if it is something clamping, then releasing, then clamping again...or if something is clamping/releasing out of sync with the rest of the braking system.

I don't know how to describe it exactly, but it feels like one or more of the brakes is a half second behind the others and clamps down or releases after the others have engaged/disengaged.

Or perhaps another way to put it is it almost feels like if you had a lot of weight shifting in the vehicle suddenly, which would give a feeling of something "pushing/pulling" briefly when finishing a stop or beginning a movement forward. However, I have changed nothing in the configuration of my vehicle in several months, so there is no new weight situation that could be causing it.

It happens randomly if stopping on / releasing up a slope, down a slope, or on level ground.

Sometimes I get it basically half the time when stopping / starting during a drive, while other times I might only get it once or twice in an entire drive.

All that said, I took my Bronco back to the same dealer a few weeks later, and they said everything looks good from what they can see. I actually dropped it off for a few days, and they checked the alignment as well as the brakes. "Everything looks good, it just drives that way".

The pedal doesn't feel any different than it did a month ago, I feel no excessive heat from one tire over the others when I get out, and I get no system warnings of any sort.

Thankfully I am not getting any sorts of actual braking issues at speed. I have not had a single incident of applying the brake at any speed of note and feeling like something has slipped/missed/etc.

It seems odd that it would start at 4500ish miles right after getting an oil change, but this last month is also the warmest the car has gotten since I have owned it (90s in southern Ohio). Not sure why heat would matter, but...

Any thoughts?

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[G1D1UP]

Air conditioning on or off? I'm just wondering if your feeling a power surge or lunge in vehicle because taxing of the engine while A/C is on. I sometimes feel that in the AZ heat.

 

[adam1991]

I agree, it could be anything. Step 1 is to force yourself to stop thinking about it in terms of the oil change, and start thinking about anything else that might have changed at the same time.

 

[Bron Swanson]

Air conditioning on or off? I'm just wondering if your feeling a power surge or lunge in vehicle because taxing of the engine while A/C is on. I sometimes feel that in the AZ heat.

I don't normally have my AC on even in the heat (I like the windows down), so I don't think that would be it.

But power surge / lunge is definitely an interesting thought to keep in mind (and also another interesting way of describing the sensation).

 

[Bron Swanson]

I agree, it could be anything. Step 1 is to force yourself to stop thinking about it in terms of the oil change, and start thinking about anything else that might have changed at the same time.

Aside from window tinting and mud flaps (both done in 2024), I have not altered the vehicle in any way. Additionally, no off-roading or big pothole hits or anything of the sort.

As far as I know, the vehicle is essentially stock.

The weather / seasons changing is the only thing I can think of. We have a fair amount of pollen / dust in my area, but I wouldn't think that would be enough to cause any sort of issues with buildup anywhere.

(Apologies for my ignorance, I am not a car guy, but it is all I know to think of when I read google hits where people talk about buildup on the pads).

 

[adam1991]

Aside from window tinting and mud flaps (both done in 2024), I have not altered the vehicle in any way. Additionally, no off-roading or big pothole hits or anything of the sort.

As far as I know, the vehicle is essentially stock.

The weather / seasons changing is the only thing I can think of. We have a fair amount of pollen / dust in my area, but I wouldn't think that would be enough to cause any sort of issues with buildup anywhere.

(Apologies for my ignorance, I am not a car guy, but it is all I know to think of when I read google hits where people talk about buildup on the pads).

I get it, it can be very tough to think about what might have changed. That's why we're here. The A/C surge thing was a good example. I'm not saying that's it, but it is a good example of "hey, I never though of that".

So you took it to the dealer for an oil change. No doubt they did everything they could to find other stuff to work on and get paid for. Did they rotate the tires? Poke at things while the tires were off? Did they update any firmware?

 

[KABQ]

There's a known condition with driveshaft binding when releasing the brakes. Mine does it intermittently. It's almost like a clunk and then the rear settles as I come off the brakes. It actually feels a lot like what you've described.

 

[Bron Swanson]

I get it, it can be very tough to think about what might have changed. That's why we're here. The A/C surge thing was a good example. I'm not saying that's it, but it is a good example of "hey, I never though of that".

So you took it to the dealer for an oil change. No doubt they did everything they could to find other stuff to work on and get paid for. Did they rotate the tires? Poke at things while the tires were off? Did they update any firmware?

If they did everything covered by "The Works", here is what Ford's site says:

• Tire Rotation and Pressure Check
• Brake Inspection
• Vehicle Checkup
• Fluid Top-Off
• Battery Test
• Filter Check
• Belts and Hoses Check

No Firmware updates to my knowledge.

All tests came back good, no issues of note that they reported.

 

[Bron Swanson]

There's a known condition with driveshaft binding when releasing the brakes. Mine does it intermittently. It's almost like a clunk and then the rear settles as I come off the brakes. It actually feels a lot like what you've described.

Interesting to hear!

I could get used to it if I knew it wasn't going to cause any damage. I had a baaaaad experience with a 2012 Ford Focus (the whole automated manual transmission debacle), so when a car has anything off about it, my paranoia converts to "welp the car is going to die at any moment"

 

[itwelder]

Lug nuts? Any time someone touches the weels other than me, I re-torque mine. I had a friend at work who had his tires rotated by the dealer, a month later his wheel fell off on the freeway and rolled a mile down the road (no injuries or accidents thank goodness).

 

[Nc211]

Not just you, and I think what you’re saying is like sometimes it needs a split second or two to figure out what you’re wanting it to do? Mine does that sometimes as I’m coming in/out of the garage (did it again just a few minutes ago while slowing pulling out from the garage). Wanting to gently slow the roll, but will actually stop the car entirely and takes it a moment to start moving again on its own, no input from the gas pedal, slight downward angle/slope of the garage and driveway. Or when I am backing it in, no obstacle warnings going off, and the faintest touch of the brake pedal, will make it stop sometimes and again take a second for it to figure out I want to keep crawling backwards. Like it gets confused. That sound familiar?

It doesn’t do it when I’m out on the road or at the stop lights though. It’s normal. It’s just at idle speed (or very close to it), and not all of the time either.

 

[Lej512]

I have a 2024 Big Bend (2 door) that I purchased in November. I got my first oil change / the works with Ford about a month ago (4500-ish miles).

Right around the time of the oil change, I started getting a weird breaking peculiarity. I don't remember if it started a day or two before the oil change, or after...but I am so OCD about how my car driving feels that I am guessing I would have made the dealership aware if it was happening before I got my oil changed.

When coming to a stop, or releasing the brake to move, I will randomly get what feels like "not everything clamped / released at once". I am not sure if it is something clamping, then releasing, then clamping again...or if something is clamping/releasing out of sync with the rest of the braking system.

I don't know how to describe it exactly, but it feels like one or more of the brakes is a half second behind the others and clamps down or releases after the others have engaged/disengaged.

Or perhaps another way to put it is it almost feels like if you had a lot of weight shifting in the vehicle suddenly, which would give a feeling of something "pushing/pulling" briefly when finishing a stop or beginning a movement forward. However, I have changed nothing in the configuration of my vehicle in several months, so there is no new weight situation that could be causing it.

It happens randomly if stopping on / releasing up a slope, down a slope, or on level ground.

Sometimes I get it basically half the time when stopping / starting during a drive, while other times I might only get it once or twice in an entire drive.

All that said, I took my Bronco back to the same dealer a few weeks later, and they said everything looks good from what they can see. I actually dropped it off for a few days, and they checked the alignment as well as the brakes. "Everything looks good, it just drives that way".

The pedal doesn't feel any different than it did a month ago, I feel no excessive heat from one tire over the others when I get out, and I get no system warnings of any sort.

Thankfully I am not getting any sorts of actual braking issues at speed. I have not had a single incident of applying the brake at any speed of note and feeling like something has slipped/missed/etc.

It seems odd that it would start at 4500ish miles right after getting an oil change, but this last month is also the warmest the car has gotten since I have owned it (90s in southern Ohio). Not sure why heat would matter, but...

Any thoughts?

My 2023 BD Sasquatch does the same thing 99% of the time. I just assumed it was the braking system releasing. Never been off road, 12K miles, I've just gotten used to it.

 

[Bron Swanson]

Lug nuts? Any time someone touches the weels other than me, I re-torque mine. I had a friend at work who had his tires rotated by the dealer, a month later his wheel fell off on the freeway and rolled a mile down the road (no injuries or accidents thank goodness).

Will have to give them a look the next time I am out there!

 

[Bron Swanson]

Not just you, and I think what you’re saying is like sometimes it needs a split second or two to figure out what you’re wanting it to do? Mine does that sometimes as I’m coming in/out of the garage (did it again just a few minutes ago while slowing pulling out from the garage). Wanting to gently slow the roll, but will actually stop the car entirely and takes it a moment to start moving again on its own, no input from the gas pedal, slight downward angle/slope of the garage and driveway. Or when I am backing it in, no obstacle warnings going off, and the faintest touch of the brake pedal, will make it stop sometimes and again take a second for it to figure out I want to keep crawling backwards. Like it gets confused. That sound familiar?

It doesn’t do it when I’m out on the road or at the stop lights though. It’s normal. It’s just at idle speed (or very close to it), and not all of the time either.

Appreciate you commenting! It is really helping ease my mind a bit that others might have the same issue. Obviously the preference is there being no issue, but at least I am not getting any comments like "oh yeah, mine was doing that right before it split in half on the highway like that scene in one of the Herbie the Love Bug movies"

Thanks to KABQ's wording, I googled and actually got a result right back on this forum that seems to be the same situation that I am having: https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...thud-clunk-after-releasing-brake.95839/page-3

The more feedback I get, the more it sounds like a known issue that I was blissfully unaware of until recently.

 

[Bron Swanson]

My 2023 BD Sasquatch does the same thing 99% of the time. I just assumed it was the braking system releasing. Never been off road, 12K miles, I've just gotten used to it.

Appreciate your reply. Mark another one for team "not something I broke so don't blame me, Ford"

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