I have a 2001 Wolverine -when I apply the rear brake at slow speeds I hear a clunk sound - when I apply the rear brake hard at a faster speed the rear end clatters or kinda vibrates pretty hard. The pads are good - although there seems to be some play in the caliper as I can move it back and forth slightly by hand -but the bolts are tight. Or could it be a wheel bearing or something in the rear diff. Thanks, Ty My Site

 

make sure your rims are tight to the axil

 

They are I checked.

 

Did you check to see that you dont have a bent or warped rotor?

 

The rotor does not seem to be bent or warped - although there is some grooving from once wearing the pads down to the metal during a ride a while ago. When i apply the brake lightley to slow down everything feels okay but when I apply brake hard that's when something shudders or vibrates pretty hard.

 

CHECK THE AXEL BERINGS MY HONDA DID THAT ONCE & MY CARRIER & BERINGS WERE SHOT

 

You may be on the right track with the floppy caliper... see if there are some bushings you can replace in the caliper to keep it a little straighter and lose the slop.

 

thanks I will check both those things out.

 

The stock Warriror/ Wolverine rear brake rotor is very poor quality, warps very easily. Mine got hot from running a bit with the parking brake on, trashed the caliper and the rotor, didn't groove it, it just curved from the heat. An aftermarket Banshee rotor has been in there ever since with no problems. Shuddering when brakes are applied is almost always a rotor problem, it may not look bad, but take it off and put it on a flat surface, like a piece of glass, and it will be easy to see any problems. Even a little warp will give you problems. As for your caliper moving side to side, it's supposed to move a little, to keep the pads "floating" on the rotor surface,to give you even wear and better stopping.

 

95wolv has a point. The LT250 I had before my Raptor had a problem like that. The bushings in the caliper froze up and would not let the caliper slide free. I bought the bike from my uncle who never took the time to find out what was up... he just kept riding it. It wore out one of the brake pads and the rotor ended up getting overheated and getting warped to one side.... kinda cupped. I took the cheap route and beat it out flat, fixed the caliper problem and never had a problem with it since. Probably not the best way to do it but it worked for me at the time. I wouldn't think of doing that on my Raptor but then again it's my baby!!

Just start looking at the different brake components and see what looks like it might be out of whack. Chances are that something will stand out and will clue you in. Look for abnormal wear or signs of parts that are loose, moving around like they shouldn't and so on. You'll figure it out. Could be as simple as a set of contaminated brake pads... they don't like it if you get grease or oil on the pads normally.

Good luck!