UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hello All,

New to the forum.

My Polo SE70 currently has a shake when braking. The shaking is very noticeable braking from 60mph in normal conditions. Braking from 50 or 40mph, the shaking is a lot less.

The shake comes through the brake pedal and a lot more from the steering wheel when braking.

Checked Pads and discs, and cleaned up the sliders and callipers. This seems to of helped a little, yet still more or less the same.

Is this a common problem on the SE70 model? Is there anything else I should check for?

I’m tempted, if the calipers need to be checked, to perhaps upgrade the front breaks for something better overall.

I know it’s only a 70bhp car, so perhaps a upgrade is little silly to some. Just see what opinions I have if any

I would like to possibly upgrade the suspension since it’s bit roly poly and I would like to lower the car a little.

is there such upgrades available for my SE70 or what upgrades are available?

Bit about my Polo. I brought the car nearly 4 years ago as my first car. Mileage was 15700, and currently at 43300miles on a 2010 reg.

The discs and pads were changed 2 years ago at a local garage.

Since I am here, does the SE70 have any other problems that may occur in time besides normal wear and tear?

Kind regards

James

Difficult to say, remotely, really to check the discs for run out you would need to use a heavy stand and a DTI, most people don't have that kit.
If you are up to working on your own brakes, I'd remove the discs and check the condition of the hub surface that the discs sit on and make that as clean as possible, ie free of all rusting, then fit new discs and pads, buy maybe Pagid from ECP. Just cleaning up the hub face by itself will do very little if the disc(s) have been sitting at a slight angle on a rusty hub.
Maybe before doing that, check the steering rods to make sure that the TREs and inner articulation joint are still tight, ie not worn, also check the lower wishbone/TCA rear mounting bushes to make sure that they are not tearing.
If any/all of that is beyond you, book it into a proper VW indie for rectification.

My money is firmly on a disc or discs being distorted.

Had the same symptoms when braking that the OP has described on a couple of cars in the 1980’s. Warped / distorted front brake discs was the cause.

Last time that I had that was after coming back from a 14 day holiday, jumped into wife's 1994 Fiesta with the 1.6 Zetec engine, slowed down for the first corner and things felt a bit nasty! After completing that shopping trip got it home and wheels off - the vented disc on one side had cracked/sheared at the inner edge and these discs were still plenty thick enough - not good, a new pair of disks and pads sorted that out.

In all fairness to Ford, that was probably in the transition period from cars never needing to get discs replaced in normal use - and cars needing discs replaced with every or every other set of pads!