Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe
General None Reported / Taken
Aircraft
Taxiing out of ZZZ I noticed consistent left tiller was required to keep the aircraft on centerline. At the time it did not strike me as particularly unusual having experienced similarly 'out of alignment' aircraft without any kind of brake issue. We took off using no flex due to the rain and wet runway. All three of us noted the aircraft experienced unusual shimmy and vibration during the takeoff roll. Shortly after liftoff we got the level 1 alert Brake Temp Diff. At that time the brake temps on the left main gear ranged from 20 to 30. The number 8 brake showed 354; and the remaining brake temps on the right main gear were 36-46. Upon reaching cruise altitude we attempted no less than 3 times to contact the company via SATCOM. After sending an ACARS message the Dispatcher relayed that he then attempted to contact us no less than 3 times via SATCOM. Communication attempts via SATCOM were unsuccessful despite the successful preflight SATCOM link status check and despite successful data transmittal via SATCOM. I relayed the issue to the Dispatcher and asked him to bring maintenance and a SME (Subject Matter Expert) into the loop. I was concerned we had a brake dragging; and wanted everyone's opinions as to the merit of continuing to ZZZ1 vs returning to ZZZ. Via ACARS our Dispatcher advised us; 'after talking with Maintenance Control; we all agreed weight is now the concern. Lighter you are the better. Maintenance Control is digging more into the history of the aircraft. Showing some history with anti-skid on brake 7. Believe that if you came back to ZZZ; you will be heavier than you would in ZZZ1 so I would suggest continuing to ZZZ1. Company would still like you in ZZZ1 but again that is your call.' We consulted the level 2 anti-skid fail checklist for some general systems concept and we thought that the landing weight discussion had a great deal of merit. Our estimated landing weight in ZZZ1 was approximately 318;000 lbs giving us a flaps 50 approach speed of well under the Vr speed from ZZZ. Given the minimal landing distance required in ZZZ1 and the long runways I was reasonably certain I could decelerate the aircraft using autobrakes off; ground spoilers and reversers only. Approximately an hour into cruise the number 8 brake had cooled to 293 and sometime prior to reaching the ETPs (Equal Time Point) it had cooled to approximately -8 just like the rest of the brakes. Being helpful our Dispatcher contacted the ZZZ1 gateway to ask that a fire truck and tug be standing by. No more than 15 minutes later ZZZ1 Control and every subsequent Controller asked the nature of our landing gear problem and what assistance we required after landing. At no time did we ask for or require assistance after landing. Despite this the fire trucks appeared to be all lined up waiting for us and upon block in we were met with numerous questions from the controllers as to why we did not return to ZZZ. Ground spoilers; reversers; and coefficient of friction decelerated the aircraft to 30 kts before I applied the brakes. Exiting the runway the #8 brake was approximately 90 and the rest were at least 40 degrees cooler. By the time we taxied and blocked in the #8 brake had steadily climbed to 431 and the remaining brake temps on the right gear were 144-201. The left main gear brake temps ranged from 68-78.
MD-11 Captain reported a main landing gear brake issue that impacted aircraft handling upon landing.