Brakes grabbing/slipping or shuddering

Lately my braking is.....well, rather lumpy. Its hard to describe...but it feels similar to when you apply the brakes to a bicycle with a bent wheel. I'm pretty sure the rotors are not warped, and the pads are just a few months old. The "pulsing" or "catching" happens more rapidly at speed, and i can feel it quite heavily, though much more slowly when coming to a stop.
Another odd thing is that i dont feel it when i initially press the pedal, but if i apply the brakes a little harder, the problem starts up, and i can feel that pulsing/catching/grabbing effect.
There was a post back in 2004 about this issue, and a few people had the same problem, but nobody seemed to have a solution. One suggested sway bar bushings?

Thanks!
Mr Mook

(this may be entirely unrelated, but my girlfriends cavalier just got new brakes on all fours back in august, and her's are shuddering too)

did you have the roters turned? how many miles on the truck?

I have a prelude si once. I have the fronts turned (about 145k on them) and new pads too. 4 months later I was back to replace the roters since they are to far gone to be returned again.

Whoops- i'm driving a 95 Rodeo, 5 sp, 4x4, front and rear discs.

Mr Mook

The truck itself has 120k on it, and while i'm not certain, i think the rotors have been replaced within the past 5 years, but i'll have to check with the previous owner.
I diddnt turn them. I was going to replace the rotors and pads when i got the truck, just for good measure, but my backyard mechanic (aka my boy Jimmy) and i couldnt figure out how to get the front rotors off. There's that big ol' autolock hub in the way, and we werent sure how to remove it. While we were changing the pads, we did an eye-ball assessment of the rotors, and they seemed pretty true; no visible warping.

Mr Mook

Some possibilities are that 1) you have crap brake pads that have already worn out to the metal in a couple of months and have gouged your disc brakes (happened to me). Buy only OEM or NAPA brake pads.

2) Your discs were already grooved and your old pads were perfectly grooved to match and when you put on the new pads the brakes shuddered due to perfectly flat, quality brake pads rubbing against a rough surface. Machine your discs.

If your brakes did not shudder with the old pads that means that it can only be a brake issue and not a sway bar issue.

John

did you have the roters turned? how many miles on the truck?

I have a prelude si once. I have the fronts turned (about 145k on them) and new pads too. 4 months later I was back to replace the roters since they are to far gone to be returned again.