I'm trying to narrow down some weird behavior when I brake...

pretty much the whole cab has always vibrated when I brake anything more than just feathering the pedal. When I come to a hard stop there's thumping that seems to be coming from the front wheels - like the sound when you have a flat. I don't THINK it's warped rotors because I have had that before and it makes the steering wheel go left right left right left right when I would brake - that doesn't happen now, and actually the steering wheel itself seems pretty normal.

My guesses are that either the band(s) in the front tire(s) are broken or there is a rotor problem.

and as far as I know, everything is stock up there.

 

it's hard for me to figure out a sound without ever having heard it myself but if it were me I would pull the front tires off and take a look. Look at the treads on the tires, the rotors, just look at everything to see if something seems out of the ordinary.Maybe somebody else will hollar at ya with a more exact answer but dats all I got.

 

Even thought the symptoms are not the exact same, don't rule out a warped rotor, but it could also be a separated belt in the tire. I cupped tire would also do this. Have you looked the tires over for anything unusual?

 

would a separated belt affect the ride when not braking? Because it seems to ride very well otherwise.

It has about 55k on it and I got it at 45k so I'm sure doing a brake job on it wouldn't be a bad idea either way.

 

Broken/bent caliper pin? Stuck caliper?

Or, going beyond the brakes; spring/coil mount loose/broken? Other suspension loose/broken?

 

it never knocks any other time other than braking?

rotate your tires and see if the sound moves with them.

 

As an additional thought; how about loose lugnuts/broken lugs?

 

mine has the same thing.My brother works at a mechanic shop and i had it checked out.its definately wraped rotors for me.i wouldn't rule that out