OEM doesn't necessarily mean quality. GM went to some pretty poor quality sources for their last generation F-bodies.
pulsing when braking
- Thread starter crinkles
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There are two issues here. OEM rotors and aftermarket rotors. We have discussed the aftermarket rotors and they are prone to warpage. It is important to torque the wheel lugs in a cross pattern, not in the NASCAR in a circle pattern. I have also heard that on many new cars, the rotors tend to warp because the manuf. are making the rotors very thin to save weight, due to CAFE concerns. In the old days it was rare for a new OEM rotor to warp. Now it is common to hear that they do warp. I think the solution is an aftermarket high quality rotor like the Brembo that is specifically rec. for your car. That's why lists for specific makes are so helpful. I also agree with another poster who said to stay away from the drilled and slotted rotors. They tend to develope stress cracks.
I don't know if these pads are available for your calipers, but you could try to get a set of Hawk Blue pads to clean off your rotors. A common cause of the pulsation is being stopped in one place w/ the brakes applied when the rotor/pads are hot. In my case, I used the wrong pads for some track driving even though I wasn't driving nearly hard enough for that to happen. Anyways, upon the recommendation of my brake manufacturers (I have Stoptech's big brake kit up front), I got a set of the above pads. They're extremely abrasive and I drove with them on the way to the track (Infineon/Sears Point from Menlo Park in Calif). The pads eliminated my pulsation problem. Could work for you, but then again you have OEM rotors, so it may not be worth the hassle for you, not to mention they're rather expensive.
Only 45,000 miles?
That is a LOT of miles on a set of brakes.
Rear drum brakes last longer - 2-3 times that long.
But front discs work hard - at those miles, I would expect problems of one sort or another.
That is a LOT of miles on a set of brakes.
Rear drum brakes last longer - 2-3 times that long.
But front discs work hard - at those miles, I would expect problems of one sort or another.
I've seen a ton of cars with warped rotors not because they were cheap, but because people go through drive through car washes with the brakes hot. I see numerous people at the car wash every week that pull in and proceed to spray down the wheels. You can hear the water boiling off the rotors.
can't say that drive through car washes are my problem.
got quoted as follows: by the dealer
$45 for machining disc
$75 for OEM brake pads
$80 for labour on the two.
They said they do not replace rotors until the minimum thickness has been achieved.
Now the question is can I trust the guy at the dealer to use a torque wrench correctly if i paid them $200??
got quoted as follows: by the dealer
$45 for machining disc
$75 for OEM brake pads
$80 for labour on the two.
They said they do not replace rotors until the minimum thickness has been achieved.
Now the question is can I trust the guy at the dealer to use a torque wrench correctly if i paid them $200??
Crinkles, if you have sufficient pad thickness left I would do the re-bedding procedure again, to see if pulsation goes away.
The reason I'm saying this, is because a similar thing happened to my car, few times actually, and the re-bedding fixed the problem. The vibration was very slight an anly noticable above 75mph, if the vibration is really strong then the rotors could be warped or a quide pin is siezed.
I did some research and found out that rotors are really hard to physically warp, most of the time the pulsation is caused by uneven brake pad material distribution. This usually happens when the car comes to a complete stop after hard braking, or high speed braking, example; off ramp with a red light at the end, or cruising on the highway, then the traffic builds up, you have to do a several high speed slow downs, and then the traffic stops. If you think about it it happens all the time in city driving.
In these cases the rotors are really hot, they did not have time to cool down and when you have to stop, a little bit of brake pad material just bakes on the rotor surface, repeat that a few times and you can have pulsating brakes.
But if it is alomst time to change the pads, then change the rotors as well.
The reason I'm saying this, is because a similar thing happened to my car, few times actually, and the re-bedding fixed the problem. The vibration was very slight an anly noticable above 75mph, if the vibration is really strong then the rotors could be warped or a quide pin is siezed.
I did some research and found out that rotors are really hard to physically warp, most of the time the pulsation is caused by uneven brake pad material distribution. This usually happens when the car comes to a complete stop after hard braking, or high speed braking, example; off ramp with a red light at the end, or cruising on the highway, then the traffic builds up, you have to do a several high speed slow downs, and then the traffic stops. If you think about it it happens all the time in city driving.
In these cases the rotors are really hot, they did not have time to cool down and when you have to stop, a little bit of brake pad material just bakes on the rotor surface, repeat that a few times and you can have pulsating brakes.
But if it is alomst time to change the pads, then change the rotors as well.
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No, you can't trust them to use a torque wrench.
An air gun is likely.
Check them yourself. Loosen them and walk up to torque in alternating sequence.
An air gun is likely.
Check them yourself. Loosen them and walk up to torque in alternating sequence.
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