I am afraid to ask, due to an avalanche response of "OF COURSE WE DID", but here goes. You all did "bed in " the new pads did you not?? I have used all brands over the years of green stuff , red stuff, yellow stuff, and yes, brown stuff. In all of my vehicles from the 5500 lb Avalanche and Lexus Luxury POS to HHR and Cobalt. The best results have come from ME doing the work, and "bedding in" the new pads/rotors. Bendix Ceramic pads have been my go-to.

Brakes are funny things. I've read about and seen some quite foolish installs. But then I am rather anal in my approach. I DON"T use an impact tool to reinstall tires. That is just me. Result? I have never, ever, repeat ever warped a rotor.

Don't get me wrong, I don't putt-putt around . My time is spent city and Interstate driving. Coming to stops from 70-75 is the norm at exit ramps.

How often do I change pads/rotors? Pads when needed, before they are down to 20% left. This way I haven't scarred or grooved a rotor and can simply replace the pads.

My stock rotors were replaced @ 20K for a set of EBC slotted ones. They weren't to my liking so when the fancy EBC red stuff pads wore out @ 50K, I went back to Stock rotors and Bendix pads.

Bendix pads are still going @ 106K but will be replaced before 110K

Bottom line I guess is "who knows what you have if you haven't watched the mechanic or done the work yourself? Skipping the bedding process or doing it half-arse only leads to problems down the road. This is where the pads have the opportunity to leave a lot of unwanted deposits on the rotors.

 

Yes somebody with the same brake ideas I was trained with!
I even take the time to clean my pads every spring when I put on my summer wheels and yes I use a torque wrench 100 ft lbs , just as the manual states , I torque the caliper bracket and the caliper slide bolts also. And most important clean the rear shoes and adjust the star adjuster every oil change , overkill maybe, brake judder , not at all!
As for the lower control arm bushing and sway bar I have replaced that stuff back at 65,000 miles or so, I now have 185,000 miles on the clock and no judder!

 

I don't usually bother doing more than a couple panic stops after changing pads. I do at least new pads at least once a year, sometimes twice. I put around 70,000 miles a year on the car.

I am convinced that 90% of the juddering comes from the LCA bushings. Yes, doing other things seems to make it go away for a while; but, all of those other things involve jacking the car up and in some way moving the LCA around in a non-standard way.

I have "solved" mine by: new struts, new hubs, new pads, new rotors, adjusting the drums looser, adjusting the drums tighter. Each time it came back in few thousand miles.

New LCAs it is actually "cured".