Warped Rotors

[Bliggida]

:D , as a mechanic, I can tell you that I have never seen air in the lines cause warping. Air in the lines causes your brakes not to work, period.

You need to look at what warping is. Warping is an uneven wear on the rotors. It can be caused by a sticking caliper, bad overall braking system - caliper deflection, or driving style.

90% of $*^*#$&#@ up a car is driving it wrong. You can choose to not believe me if you want, but my experiance will easily prove I know what I'm talking about.

One thing I know is that air in your lines won't lead to warping, it'll lead to your going through a wall!

[apiccola]

If air traps in the rear lines ... furthest from the master cylinder ... the front calipers will bear the brunt of each stop. The increased stress on the front brakes will result in accelerated pad wear and rotor warpage.

[F1GT]

I broke in my brakes and they still warped. I don't ever just slam on it. I step on it then increase the pressure quickly as needed. Never jab then release pressure cuz it's too much brake.

I see many wreckless driving friends treat their car poorly. Never breaking in the engine, brakes, tires, nothing. Yet their brakes are not warped.

[img]graemlins/burnout.gif[/img]

[Dewey]

Yeah, so mine are all effed up too. But I've gotten 17" SS 10 spokes, so I'm in the market for new ones anyway. Options? Only interested in performance, could care less about looks. They must be able to fit 16" wheels too for my winter set. Thx in advance.

[pigglyroot]

go get a few thousands grinded off when you get em turned and it'll holda ya for a good 8 months or so

[Dominic]

The Firebird/Camaro rotors use a different metal compound or non metal compound (depending on the year model) hat for the inside of the rotor. This difference in metal is one theory as to why they warp so easily.

I have never warped a set of Fbody rotors but I do the following:
-- When I come to a stop I pulse brake, not just one hard long brake til I stop, and it seems to help rotor warpage.
-- I always torque my lugs, and I try to keep them at spec.

Higher quality aftermarket rotors will resist warping much better than OEM stock rotors if they're trully designed better.

Warping rotors on the track is MUCH different than warping rotors on the street. One thing people should quit doing is coming down an insterstate ramp at 85mph, slowing to a stop with their foot on the brake, and then leaving their foot on the brake until the light goes green... this done about 10x is a surefire way to warp a set I have found [img]smile.gif[/img] So I don't do that if I can help it.


Bliggida - ... :rolleyes:

[ April 19, 2003: Message edited by: Dominic ]

[ April 19, 2003: Message edited by: Dominic ]</p>

[Bliggida]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by apiccola:
If air traps in the rear lines ... furthest from the master cylinder ... the front calipers will bear the brunt of each stop. The increased stress on the front brakes will result in accelerated pad wear and rotor warpage.<hr></blockquote>
The front brakes do 70% of the braking normally anyway.

Dominic, now what?
Also, lug nut torque won't have anything to do with your rotors warping. Only loose rims. To warp rotors from lug nut torque, you are talking about them being so tight, that the torque passes through the rim, through a 2.5" solid cast steel hub, and then to the hat of the rotor. Also of which isn't directly connected to the actual rotor surface.

[apiccola]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bliggida:
[QB]
The front brakes do 70% of the braking normally anyway.

I don't know the bias ratio for an f-body, but if the front brakes handle 70% of the stop ... what happens when you transfer another 20% of the workload to the front brakes because there's air trapped in the rear lines of the system?

If the rear brakes handle 30% of the stop ... what happens when you transfer another 50% of the workload to the rear brakes because there's air trapped in the front lines?

How much work is transferred to the left, front caliper if there is air trapped in the line of the right, front caliper? Vice versa?

Does the additional workload to an affected caliper add heat and stress to that component?

Will this lead to accelerated pad wear and rotor warpage at the affected component location if left uncorrected?

[wickedfirebird]

buy some rotors for christ sakes, save up for the spray paint next month

[Bliggida]

Apicolla, your theory is intelligent and I can see why that would make sense - smart thinking. But that's not how brakes work. If you lose your rear brakes, then you don't suddenly have 30% braking ability added to your front brakes, they still try to do 70% of the braking, they just don't do so effectively. It takes longer to stop, and causes more wear. More wear doesn't automatically mean warped rotors. Just more wear.

In a late model car it is extremely rare to get a significant amount of air in your lines to cause brake failure. Especially if you haven't done any work to the brakes. Unless you are having a problem with your brake system, and your lines need replaced or something similliar to that in nature, I don't see why you'd have air in your lines. That should not be happening if it is!

Also, if there is air in the lines, drive back to the house and get a buddy. To bleed all four brakes, takes maybe 5 minutes??? If that.

[L32NeedinTurbo]

Late insight but...

I used to have a problem with my front rotors warping on my 2K Dodge Neon. I never mashed the brakes, used my engine to brake, everything to be nice to the brakes. First time they warped, I turned them, thinking that one emergency stop I had to make while on a trip did it. Then they warped again, even after being babied. I decided to replace the front pads from the OEM units to something else (forgot what) that are slightly softer and turned my rotors. Well, they're still baby soft and smooth. Maybe it's your pads???

[ May 15, 2003: Message edited by: L32NeedinTurbo ]</p>

[99redcamaro]

get good aftermarket pads and rotors. don't get the cheap ones from pepboys. get easy on them when new. I think is how you drive BUT also take a look at the parts you are putting on her. Use you common sense. it happened to me, I went to pepboys, got some raybestos pads and rotors. Not only 1 but 4 times they replaced the m****r f.****’s and every time I was going there they were telling me Is you and the way you use them. Well it took a call to the beter bussines bureau to fix the problem with the brakes. I replaced the pepboys raybestos rotors ones with wagner rotors and the problem was gone immediately. I was breaking as always but , QUALITY matters. I’m not saying I got the best rotor on the market, but DO NOT GET the cheap one if you are trying to get performance out of them.
You don’t know how to brake???, get an expedition or suburban, drive slow and learn.
Then take your maro and have fun [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Dark Knight]

It is not all the driver's fault , my 98 went thru 3 sets of rotors becasue of warpage in two years ( about 30,000 miles) and after alot of yelling at the gm dealer i bought a set of aftermarket rotors(powerstop) and pads. I now have over 100,000 miles and no warping, and i didn't change my driving at all so how do you explain that beyond the fact that oem rotors suck on our cars?

[nikon]

I too had the same problem...I replaced my rotors with cross-drilled, however, have you ever heated up metal then dumped ice cold water on it? maybee to break a nut loose?....same thing happens when you hit a puddle and your brakes are hot....another thing, turning your rotors does work however keeping the same pads on the freshly turned rotors can cause damage once again, the pads have comformed to the warped rotor and will try to do the same thing to the new or turned rotors...bligida is correct in everything hes saying, only thing I disagree with is the lug torque...I too keep my lugs torqued properly all the time....just a habit I guess.....but to save alot of time and hassle just go buy some new THICKER rotors, you'll be much happier ;)