Pulsating brakes/shaking steering wheel

[spasm3]

Originally Posted by greasegunn
Originally Posted by HangFire
Originally Posted by greasegunn
Originally Posted by domer10
I would say warped rotor, this is why I do not cheap out with rotors anymore. I know you said you did not, but from experience this sounds like a warped rotor. The junk metal is proliferating into the mid level options for parts with certain manufacturers unfortunately.


I used top end Raybestos rotors. The thing I can't get my head around is the inconsistency - if the rotor is warped or if there is lateral runout wouldn't it be consistent and not vary?

There is extensive discussion of failure modes leading to shudder here on BITOG, already.

Rotor thickness- rare, but easily checked. Use a micrometer at 8 points around the rotor, any differences should be less than a .001" micrometer can measure.

Rotor was already warped when new - rare, but it happens. Check on vehicle with a dial indicator.

Rotor wears unevenly in thickness - usually only seen on hard use service vehicles with semi-metallic pads. Check with both micrometer and dial indicator.

Rotor warps in use - most common diagnosis, but not nearly as common as commonly thought. In 100% of the many diagnosis I have seen personally, the shop had zero physical evidence (did not use measuring instruments). I have proven a few wrong, and found one of the next two to be the cause.

Rotor was installed a crooked - very common. Check on vehicle with a dial indicator. A rotor installed crooked may not be salvageable. At a minimum the pad buildup needs to be removed.

Rotor has pad imprinting, uneven pad desposits - very common. Especially now with the ongoing elimination of copper in pads, which helped scrape the rotors clean.


How is a rotor installed crooked?


All it takes is a bit of rust, dirt, or paint on the back of the rotor or the hub face.

 

[Trav]

Or the back of the wheels especially if they are alloys. When wheels are removed and put back in a different position on that hub or moved to another hub as done with a tire rotation the deposits on the wheel no longer match up to where they were.
Cleaning the wheels with a wire wheel on a drill or a orbital sander laid flat on the inside of the wheel hub with 150 paper is good enough, just make sure they are spotless.

Do the same with use rotors and put a very thin film of never seize on the wheel hub to prevent further corrosion. In the salt belt make this a part of every brake job or tire rotation.

 

[greasegunn]

Originally Posted by Trav
Or the back of the wheels especially if they are alloys. When wheels are removed and put back in a different position on that hub or moved to another hub as done with a tire rotation the deposits on the wheel no longer match up to where they were.
Cleaning the wheels with a wire wheel on a drill or a orbital sander laid flat on the inside of the wheel hub with 150 paper is good enough, just make sure they are spotless.

Do the same with use rotors and put a very thin film of never seize on the wheel hub to prevent further corrosion. In the salt belt make this a part of every brake job or tire rotation.


Gotcha - I wire brush the wheels by hand - maybe I'll move up to a wire wheel on a drill

 

[Trav]

Sure just take it easy and don't you the harshest wheel they have, there are some medium wheels that will not remove the base metal just polish it if you keep it moving.
Fine, Roloc 2" dia also do a good job in a lower speed drill.

 

[greasegunn]

Originally Posted by Trav
Sure just take it easy and don't you the harshest wheel they have, there are some medium wheels that will not remove the base metal just polish it if you keep it moving.
Fine, Roloc 2" dia also do a good job in a lower speed drill.


Thanks Trav

 

[greasegunn]

Ok - I found some suspension issues. Right upper control arm had a bad ball joint and I repaired that. It also looks like the lower control arm "doughnut" bushings are on their way out. Would this cause the steering wheel to intermittently shake? What is a good after market brand for a control arm with the bushings already installed? I only plan on keeping this 2008 Accord for a couple of more years or so. Thanks.