Warped Rotors

[Justin Kirkham]

Ok, here's the deal. Under heavy downhill breaking, my car with vibrates a little, especially the steering wheel. When breaking on flat roads, I get no vibration, but I notice that my breaking power goes in a slight cycle. So I figure that I have warped rotors. Here are my two questions. Should they warp after 3 years and only 20,000 miles? Also, is it safe for me to drive another 20,000 miles over the summer on them? I honestly don't want to fix or replace anything on my car before the summer if I don't have to, since I would prefer to not put the wear and tear on them. So, what do you say?

-Justin

[Bobby]

The front rotors on our cars warp with the quickness. Before long they'll start shaking on flat roads too. If you get the rotors on there turned they'll be better for awhile but will warp quicker than they did last time. You're brakes will still work fine , it just depends on how long you can stand the shaking. I live in the mountains so I could only stand it for so long before I replaced the rotors.

[LD]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Bobby:
The front rotors on our cars warp with the quickness. Before long they'll start shaking on flat roads too. If you get the rotors on there turned they'll be better for awhile but will warp quicker than they did last time. You're brakes will still work fine , it just depends on how long you can stand the shaking. I live in the mountains so I could only stand it for so long before I replaced the rotors.<hr></blockquote>

I agree
mine warped pretty quickly, I have 34 thousand miles and am on my second set of rotors and they shake already

[Bliggida]

And here I sit, having raced my car as much or more than all of you, with 113,000 miles before I changed out my pads and resurfaced the stock rotors. Only because the pads worn down, not because the rotors warped.

You're not even suppose to check the brakes for 50,000 miles. You guys might be doing something wrong???

[F1GT]

Mine warped with ~12k miles on the ODO, noticeably too. I finally turned them around 54k and, of course, it's all warped up again now at 97k. I brake hard,.,.,.I was told. I guess I do. But other cars that I've driven and braked hard do not warp. BTW, I still have stock pads, lol.

[black98V6]

it's all in how you drive.. my car has 55k miles with little or no warpage that can be felt.. being someone that had driven crappy vehicles up until this one I listen and feel for the littlest thing constantly..

anyway it's all in how you drive..

[Justin Kirkham]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>anyway it's all in how you drive..
<hr></blockquote>

I disagree. I would have to say that driving down mountain roads and in big cities has an effect on rotors and breaks. I have had a few cars, and in Michigan, little to nothing ever broke on my cars. Now that I have come to Utah, and I drive up and down mountain passes all day, my car is experiencing some problems. The rotors still seem to be going quick to me...

-Justin

[ April 12, 2003: Message edited by: Justin Kirkham ]</p>

[V6Bob]

A common cause of warped rotors on our cars is incorrectly torqued lugnuts. If someone at a garage slapped them on with an air wrench....

[ April 13, 2003: Message edited by: V6Bob ]</p>

[F1GT]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by V6Bob:
A common cause of warped rotors on our cars is incorrectly torqued lugnuts. If someone at a garage slapped them on with an air wrench....

[ April 13, 2003: Message edited by: V6Bob ]<hr></blockquote>

True, but I did not rotate my tires til 20k. Also I use a Snap-On torque wrench set to 100lbs to tighten the nuts. I click it twice to make sure.

My college was up a hill and I had to brake while enging braking down the hill whenever I leave. I think THAT had to do with it. All that heat. Like Justin going up and down that Utah hill. But the school wasn't even that long of a stretch of road....

My previous car(BerettaGT) handled that hill just fine. Absolutely NO WARPAGE from that HILL at all.
2yrs with the BerettaGT and 2 yrs with the 'maro, handling that same hill.

This rotor warpage is VERY common among the 98+ F-bodys.

[raxxus]

Yea yea yea all that its how you drive stuff is bs sometimes [img]smile.gif[/img] I had the same problem for awhile and turned them and it stopped then 6000 miles later they are getting there again. Except this time THEY WILL RECEIVE NO MERCY! I have mashed the brakes several times in pure anger at them! Im going to give them hell, then in a bit replace the front pads/rotors/bleed the brakes/check the caliper bolts, everything, and be nice on her again [img]smile.gif[/img] AT least on braking

[Tyler]

are there any good stock replacement rotors out there that wont warp so easily?

cause im replacing mine in about 2 weeks

[Bliggida]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Tyler:
are there any good stock replacement rotors out there that wont warp so easily?

cause im replacing mine in about 2 weeks<hr></blockquote>
You can warp a set of 5,000 dollar Brembo's. It doesn't matter what you get so long as they are a good quality disc. It is every bit how you drive. Believe it or not, (and you'll learn this when you attend racing school) There is a right and wrong way to brake hard!!!

Lug nut torque has almost nothing to do with warping rotors. And I put mine on ALWAYS with an air impact gun. Since I have air, that probably makes it a lot easier, and hence take my tires off and on a lot more than most people. But I got my pads and rotors to last 113,000 miles with no warping. And after having re-used the factory rotors, and replaced with aftermarket pads I put them back on with an air gun. So far, 15,000 miles have passed with no problems what so ever.

Women will tell you "its all in the technique...not how big your [foot] is" and I think that has some bearing in this discussion.

Cole Trickle was able to race fast, but he burned up the tires. When he finally decided to listen to the mechanic and do it the right way - he saved the tires, and even went faster than he could his own way.

From my experiance the larger majority 75-90% of keeping a vehicle from destructing is by educating the driver on how to drive.
I hit hills everyday - I live in Texas! Along with the other Southwestern states our freeway speeds on average on higher than anywhere in the U.S., so I don't think terrain has much bearing. It could be, not saying it isn't possible, just that I've yet to see that happen in a car thats driven correctly.

[Tyler]

u mentioned that there is a proper way to break without ****ing up the rotors or breakpads..


why dont u spill the beans..


i downshift to slow down most of the time

[Bliggida]

If you do, make sure to match revv the engine so you don't load the valves. I do it all the time too.

Its simple concept, hard to train yourself to do if you are a heavy brake'er.

Soft, consistant pedal pressure, never stab or jab the brakes.

Most people have a tendency to start out hard - WHAM, and lay into the brakes, and then ease off as neccesary.

My personal opinion, is that I think this is caused by folks not paying full attention to the road. You should see your stops coming a quarter to half mile away. Looking ahead can never be stressed enough. Always look ahead.

But anyway, what people should be doing is the exact opposite. Come into the brakes light and evenly. And as needed push consistantly harder.

Do all of your braking before the corner, accelerate out. There's almost never a need to late-brake on the street.

Another point that a lot of people skip is to simply season the brakes. Brakes, just like engines and transmission need a break-in period. Where you go from light and easy and after a cool down, progressively harder, allow to cool, on and so forth. Generally giving the brakes 500 miles to seat the pads and season the rotors will give you a good foundation for long lasting hard grabbing brakes. Most people get new brakes on the car, and go out to the nearest straight stretch with no one behind them to mash them down to see how much more 'braking performance' they gained. When sadly they just killed all of their wear right then and there.

Practice coming to a stop where you never feel the vehicle lunge - inertia from rocking forward then back. This requires a light pedal, and teaches you to get a feel of the brakes on a very intimate level.

Remember, Smooth is fast.
Look ahead, to anticipate your stops.

[apiccola]

In many cases, rotors warp because a caliper is clamping harder than the other calipers. This is usually caused by air entering the brake system and settling in the other brake lines. If you experience warpage, always bleed your brake system ... pressure bleed if you can. Other things that can lead to chronic rotor warpage are: defective proportioning valve, defective ABS motors/valves, clogged/pinched/cavitated lines, defective calipers.

Don't believe a mechanic that says it's your driving ... unless he happens to work in a body shop.