Hey all, the brake pads and rotors on the F150 are only about 1 year or so old, but since about 6 months ago the trucks been shaking alot like the rotors are warped. The pads and rotors were both Autozone- Semi Metallic pads and Duralast rotors. Also, could the shaking be caused by the brake fluid needing to be changed? Thanks!
Why are my rotors warping? Or is it...?
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Not your fluid.
Might be worth checking your rear brakes to see if they're not contributing and overheating your fronts.
Also try lightly pushing your e-brake pedal with your finger on the release doohicky to see if you can feel warped drums.
Might be worth checking your rear brakes to see if they're not contributing and overheating your fronts.
Also try lightly pushing your e-brake pedal with your finger on the release doohicky to see if you can feel warped drums.
More than likely cheap rotors. I've had good luck with Advance Auto Parts rotors, and you can get discount coupon codes for the online store (you can order online, then p/u at the local store). I got a set of Bosch rotors at O'Reilley's for my son's truck and they are good too.
Cheap rotors combined with possibly overtorquing the lug nuts?
Ford trucks of that vintage can warp, both my dad and uncle fought with it since new.
On the 2wd they are part of the hub and pricey.
On the 2wd they are part of the hub and pricey.
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Cheap rotors combined with possibly overtorquing the lug nuts?
+1 definitely look at the torque.
Cheap rotors combined with possibly overtorquing the lug nuts?
+1 definitely look at the torque.
I have done bench tests on over torquing and have been unable to identify issues with this. I tried many patterns as well from the commmon star approach to sequentially tightening lug nuts. No difference could be detected. Torque up to 150 ft-lbs could not get measurable deformation of the rotor. I would like to see someone else's testing that proves my testing was flawed. It was done with a height gage searching for high/ low spots with different torques and tightening patterns. I was expecting to find deformation but could.
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Ford trucks of that vintage can warp, both my dad and uncle fought with it since new.
On the 2wd they are part of the hub and pricey.
The 2WD ones of that vintage warp easily as they were woefully undersized for the vehicle. The aftermarket ones are mostly junk as the setup has a rotor hub and bearing as one piece and they tend to use cheap bearings.
Ford trucks of that vintage can warp, both my dad and uncle fought with it since new.
On the 2wd they are part of the hub and pricey.
The 2WD ones of that vintage warp easily as they were woefully undersized for the vehicle. The aftermarket ones are mostly junk as the setup has a rotor hub and bearing as one piece and they tend to use cheap bearings.
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Ford trucks of that vintage can warp, both my dad and uncle fought with it since new.
On the 2wd they are part of the hub and pricey.
Very true sir and I share the exact same experience with my 2008, the hubs last as long as the pads. Although I have never experienced a vibration from them, I suspect the OP may have a wheel bearing issue.
Ford trucks of that vintage can warp, both my dad and uncle fought with it since new.
On the 2wd they are part of the hub and pricey.
Very true sir and I share the exact same experience with my 2008, the hubs last as long as the pads. Although I have never experienced a vibration from them, I suspect the OP may have a wheel bearing issue.
Originally Posted By: spk2000
I have done bench tests on over torquing and have been unable to identify issues with this. I tried many patterns as well from the commmon star approach to sequentially tightening lug nuts. No difference could be detected. Torque up to 150 ft-lbs could not get measurable deformation of the rotor. I would like to see someone else's testing that proves my testing was flawed. It was done with a height gage searching for high/ low spots with different torques and tightening patterns. I was expecting to find deformation but could.
The over/uneven torque doesn't cause a instant problem, have to go through a month or two of heat cool cycles before warpage is likely to be noticeable...
I have done bench tests on over torquing and have been unable to identify issues with this. I tried many patterns as well from the commmon star approach to sequentially tightening lug nuts. No difference could be detected. Torque up to 150 ft-lbs could not get measurable deformation of the rotor. I would like to see someone else's testing that proves my testing was flawed. It was done with a height gage searching for high/ low spots with different torques and tightening patterns. I was expecting to find deformation but could.
The over/uneven torque doesn't cause a instant problem, have to go through a month or two of heat cool cycles before warpage is likely to be noticeable...
Start with checking the hubs for lateral runout. Then get the rotors turned or new ones, remove any rust on the hub and check lateral runout on the rotors.
Do you know the rotors are actually warped or could they just be not of uniform thickness?
Do you know the rotors are actually warped or could they just be not of uniform thickness?
Obligatory Chinese rotor warning:
do you have rotors on the rear, or drums?
if your front rotors are warping then there's a good chance being a 10 year old truck you need new front hubs.
i had went with the cheapest rotors and cheapest pads from autozone a few years back for my 2005 altima. after a year i started getting pulsation i knew there was nothing wrong with the car. i never measured runout but figured it was most likely caused by cheap pads and runout on the new rotors. I paid $20 for the rear set of pads.
The thing with buying new rotors is unless specifically advertised and even then there's no guarantee that a new rotor has zero runout. napa has premium rotors stating no more than 0.002" runout then there cheaper line states up to 0.004". you take your chances with anything mail order. unless you measure new rotors prior to install, you can't necessarily blame thinner rotors or because they're chinese. if you started with some amount of runout from the get go then that's the cause.
if your front rotors are warping then there's a good chance being a 10 year old truck you need new front hubs.
i had went with the cheapest rotors and cheapest pads from autozone a few years back for my 2005 altima. after a year i started getting pulsation i knew there was nothing wrong with the car. i never measured runout but figured it was most likely caused by cheap pads and runout on the new rotors. I paid $20 for the rear set of pads.
The thing with buying new rotors is unless specifically advertised and even then there's no guarantee that a new rotor has zero runout. napa has premium rotors stating no more than 0.002" runout then there cheaper line states up to 0.004". you take your chances with anything mail order. unless you measure new rotors prior to install, you can't necessarily blame thinner rotors or because they're chinese. if you started with some amount of runout from the get go then that's the cause.
Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
Obligatory Chinese rotor warning:
Not helpful, as so many rotors are now made in China, both the good ones and the bad ones. You can post this over and over and over (which you do), but that doesn't make it more useful.
Originally Posted By: Donald
Start with checking the hubs for lateral runout. Then get the rotors turned or new ones, remove any rust on the hub and check lateral runout on the rotors.
Do you know the rotors are actually warped or could they just be not of uniform thickness?
This. When people say "warped" rotors what they usually are experiencing is rotors that are worn unevenly from runout, pad deposits or something else.
You need to start looking into things like runout in the rotor or hub, junk between the rotor or hub and those kind of things.
Here's a document from Raybestos you may find helpful:
http://www.raybestosbrakes.com/magnoliaPublic/dms/bpi/raybestos/pdf/BPI-06-13.pdf
I'm surprised someone hasn't yet come into this thread and claimed only pad deposits cause pedal pulsation, which isn't exactly accurate. Pad deposits could be a cause of the pulsation, but you also need to check runout and some other things as Donald mentioned.
Obligatory Chinese rotor warning:
Not helpful, as so many rotors are now made in China, both the good ones and the bad ones. You can post this over and over and over (which you do), but that doesn't make it more useful.
Originally Posted By: Donald
Start with checking the hubs for lateral runout. Then get the rotors turned or new ones, remove any rust on the hub and check lateral runout on the rotors.
Do you know the rotors are actually warped or could they just be not of uniform thickness?
This. When people say "warped" rotors what they usually are experiencing is rotors that are worn unevenly from runout, pad deposits or something else.
You need to start looking into things like runout in the rotor or hub, junk between the rotor or hub and those kind of things.
Here's a document from Raybestos you may find helpful:
http://www.raybestosbrakes.com/magnoliaPublic/dms/bpi/raybestos/pdf/BPI-06-13.pdf
I'm surprised someone hasn't yet come into this thread and claimed only pad deposits cause pedal pulsation, which isn't exactly accurate. Pad deposits could be a cause of the pulsation, but you also need to check runout and some other things as Donald mentioned.
Some people re-index the rotor on the hub to reduce runout. There are also shims.
While there may be places that turn rotors on the vehicle when I have asked people look at me and mentally say "what century are you from?"
Some turn new rotors to get them perfect.
If you have runout as things wear it will just get worse.
While there may be places that turn rotors on the vehicle when I have asked people look at me and mentally say "what century are you from?"
Some turn new rotors to get them perfect.
If you have runout as things wear it will just get worse.
Originally Posted By: stephen9666
Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
Obligatory Chinese rotor warning:
Not helpful, as so many rotors are now made in China, both the good ones and the bad ones. You can post this over and over and over (which you do), but that doesn't make it more useful.
It does if the person looking to buy rotors doesn't know that some manufacturers cheap out like that.
Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
Obligatory Chinese rotor warning:
Not helpful, as so many rotors are now made in China, both the good ones and the bad ones. You can post this over and over and over (which you do), but that doesn't make it more useful.
It does if the person looking to buy rotors doesn't know that some manufacturers cheap out like that.
Originally Posted By: TFB1
The over/uneven torque doesn't cause a instant problem, have to go through a month or two of heat cool cycles before warpage is likely to be noticeable...
Exactly!
The over/uneven torque doesn't cause a instant problem, have to go through a month or two of heat cool cycles before warpage is likely to be noticeable...
Exactly!
Originally Posted By: Donald
Some people re-index the rotor on the hub to reduce runout. There are also shims.
While there may be places that turn rotors on the vehicle when I have asked people look at me and mentally say "what century are you from?"
Some turn new rotors to get them perfect.
If you have runout as things wear it will just get worse.
Assuming the OPs truck is 2wd, that cannot be done. The hub, bearing and rotor are one piece. The rotors have to be cut on car as there is no adapter for a bench lathe. Cutting them only makes the problem worse on those trucks.
There is a kit from Centric that uses a 4WD sealed hub bearing and the 4WD rotors to get rid of the OE style front rotor assembly.
Some people re-index the rotor on the hub to reduce runout. There are also shims.
While there may be places that turn rotors on the vehicle when I have asked people look at me and mentally say "what century are you from?"
Some turn new rotors to get them perfect.
If you have runout as things wear it will just get worse.
Assuming the OPs truck is 2wd, that cannot be done. The hub, bearing and rotor are one piece. The rotors have to be cut on car as there is no adapter for a bench lathe. Cutting them only makes the problem worse on those trucks.
There is a kit from Centric that uses a 4WD sealed hub bearing and the 4WD rotors to get rid of the OE style front rotor assembly.
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