Brake Upgrade Issues

[billh]

I upgraded my brakes to the '97 versions with a kit purchased from one of the advertisers in this group. When I attempt to slow down gradually from anything above 50 MPH, the steering wheel shakes... A LOT. This indicates the need to turn the rotors. If I hit the brakes hard, the car stops fine. The supplied rotors were new.

Question: Is this normal? If so, I'll just have the rotors turned.
Thanks
Bill

 

[pjtoledo]

No, it is not normal. And no, don't turn the rotors. Sounds more like you may have other worn suspension parts. Did you clean the rotors before installing them? Did you try bedding the pads? You might want to re-install the rotors and make sure all the mounting surfaces are clean. Contact the seller, keep him in the loop, don't just go out and ruin a new set of rotors by turning them. Check for runout, roundness, all that stuff.

Perry

 

[K-Dawg]

What he said.

 

[billh]

No, it is not normal. And no, don't turn the rotors. Sounds more like you may have other worn suspension parts. Did you clean the rotors before installing them? Did you try bedding the pads? You might want to re-install the rotors and make sure all the mounting surfaces are clean. Contact the seller, keep him in the loop, don't just go out and ruin a new set of rotors by turning them. Check for runout, roundness, all that stuff.

Perry

No other problems with suspension. SInce the upgrade was installed professionally, I had the tech re-check everything. He suggested having the rotors turned on the car. He didn't have the tooling to do this. I had it done yesterday by another shop to the tune of $114.00. Brakes work perfectally now. The tech didn't measure the runout, but he said he could see the rotor runout before turning them.

When I did the brake upgrade, I had a choice of getting the parts locally, or buying them from one of the Forum's advertisers. Local purchase would have been about $75.00 more. Won't make that mistake again.

 

[slickn56]

I wouldnt put it past the tech who did your upgrade to torque the wheels on to tight with an air gun, thus warping your rotors. Happens all the time. I would believe that happening before getting a bad set of rotors from a dealer.

 

[Mike Kopstain]

Bill told me that the mechanic could visually see that the rotor was warped. Of this I had three comments:

1. Why did he proceed to install it
2. If it was warped bad enough to visualize, even with the brakes fully released, the car would have been pulsating while rolling
3. We use new rotors, not re-turns and have never had one come back. It's especially weird that two falty rotors would end up in the same person's hands.

I do appreciate that you didn't jump the gun and go on a rampage Bill. As I said in the email, I'm happy to help. Just got to know the rest of the details.

 

[billh]

The tech who installed the brake upgrade used a torque wrench on the wheels.
The shop that turned the rotors was not the same shop that did the brake upgrade. Nobody made any mistakes as far as installation, I had everything re-checked.
I was told, by the people who turned the rotors, that they could see the runout in the rotors only when the machine that they use to turn them on the car was spinning them. The first guy doesn't have this or any other brake machining tooling. Since he had to spin them with the wheels off the car, he couldn't see any problems. Since everything was new, he wasn't looking for any problems anyway. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the wheels clamp the rotors against the hubs? If this is true, the guy who did the upgrade wouldn't have any way to know that he had a problem.

 

[Mike Kopstain]

Bill, the point is we've never sent out one bad rotor, let alone two to the same person.

Did you get me the order number or date of purchase so I could look it up?

Just email me with those details.

~ Mike