need input on warped rotors

[OS]

I have shuddering during braking, they typically say it's "warped rotors", but it seems like this is a misnomer and it's actually caused by uneven brake pad material deposition.

What's the best way to go about fixing this? I have seen these suggestions;

-new rotors, brembo blanks cost $50 each for my car
-resurface rotors, I don't like this because it reduces the life/braking/heat holding of the rotors
-run aggressive pads for a couple stops and swap back to original pads to remove the pad deposits.

I'm leaning towards just getting new rotors since it doesn't cost a whole lot.

 

[NutBucket]

Get new rotors and pads. The way you drive you might as well get high performance pads.

 

[TRUMPHENT]

I didn't think brakepad material stuck to rotors. I had a warped rotor on a brand new Toyota truck. Get it fixed. It will wreck your steering linkage given enough time.

I would have the rotors turned and have new pads installed by a competent brakehop.

 

[deadlyapp]

if you have the money, get ceramic pads, and then just get new rotors. Turning your rotors will pretty much do nothing, as it will make them warp all the faster.

 

[Ronstang]

Resurfacing a rotor is fine. I do it all the time and wouldn't even have a problem doing so on a track car as long as you stay within the recommended tolerances. Take the rotors to the auto parts store and have them check to see if they can turn them. Here it costs about $8 a piece for the job. Brake pad material DOES NOT build up on the rotors....whoever told you that is not a competent person to get advice from about cars.

 

[Alchemist99]

Warped rotors are quite literally warped and the run-out can be measured with a dial gage. It has nothing to do with brake pad material deposition, it is caused by extreme heat differentials, rotors of lower grade steal and annealing processes and size relative to wheel and vehicle weight can influence susceptibility to warping

 

[Ophir]

Originally posted by: Ronstang
Resurfacing a rotor is fine. I do it all the time and wouldn't even have a problem doing so on a track car as long as you stay within the recommended tolerances. Take the rotors to the auto parts store and have them check to see if they can turn them. Here it costs about $8 a piece for the job. Brake pad material DOES NOT build up on the rotors....whoever told you that is not a competent person to get advice from about cars.

^ What he said

 

[m2kewl]

get new rotors and pads.

i'm not a fan of turning them. mainly oems sucks to begin with...that or i got too much $$ to spend

 

[Ronstang]

Originally posted by: m2kewl
get new rotors and pads.

i'm not a fan of turning them. mainly oems sucks to begin with...that or i got too much $$ to spend

More like too little information.

 

[m2kewl]

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: m2kewl
get new rotors and pads.

i'm not a fan of turning them. mainly oems sucks to begin with...that or i got too much $$ to spend

More like too little information.

lol - could be that too.

 

[OS]

Originally posted by: Ronstang
Resurfacing a rotor is fine. I do it all the time and wouldn't even have a problem doing so on a track car as long as you stay within the recommended tolerances. Take the rotors to the auto parts store and have them check to see if they can turn them. Here it costs about $8 a piece for the job. Brake pad material DOES NOT build up on the rotors....whoever told you that is not a competent person to get advice from about cars.

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml

 

[Ronstang]

Originally posted by: OS

Originally posted by: Ronstang
Resurfacing a rotor is fine. I do it all the time and wouldn't even have a problem doing so on a track car as long as you stay within the recommended tolerances. Take the rotors to the auto parts store and have them check to see if they can turn them. Here it costs about $8 a piece for the job. Brake pad material DOES NOT build up on the rotors....whoever told you that is not a competent person to get advice from about cars.

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml

Whatever, I have been working on cars over 25 years and have never seen pad material built up on the rotors. I have seen plenty of warped ones and ones destoyed by the pads wearing through. Just go get your damn rotors turned and stop spending your life in question over everything you read on the internet. That article is overly technical for the sake of the author listening to himself and somehow I doubt you are driving a race car.

 

[CFster]

Warped rotors that are turned will most likely warp again. The metal turns into a spring, and wants to keep bending. It's a waste of money.

For what they cost now, I just replace them.

 

[CFster]

I also think the StopTech article is BS.

Pad material doesn't end up embedded into the rotor - not to any significant effect anyhow. Gases are more of a problem...

And the reason you don't want to come to a complete stop while bedding in brakes is because the rotors are very hot - when you come to a stop the section of the rotor that isn't covered by the pads radiates heat away very quickly. This causes a temperature differential that warps the rotor right off the bat.

You can take this one step further - after a panic stop or any heavy braking situation try to let the car creap forward slowly, to give the rotors a chance to cool evenly.

 

[redgtxdi]

Brake deposits are BS. It's a warped rotor.

One of the things that people don't think about when turning rotors is that the heat has penetrated much deeper than the amount of material to be turned.

Often people think that the rotors warp faster because they are turned thinner. However, a lot is from the fact that the metal is already suffering from heat damage. Hard spots, soft spots, displacement, etc.

These days I typically just replace rotors.

I actually found a great cheap brand from Pep Boys, except after 3 years of great success, their same part # has changed mfgrs and the new mfgr is absolute junk.

If you want to be certain you get good rotors, buy some raybestos or brembo. Yes, they'll cost a lot of money, but it sounds like your foot is like mine & good rotors cost good money.

 

[OS]

http://www.northcoasttuners.com/TSB/03-069.pdf

 

[OS]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_brake

"Warping
Warping can be caused by excessive heat build up, which softens the metal and can allow it to be disfigured. However with most ventilated discs on the market today this is not the common case. Warping can happen with improperly torqued wheels, but the sensation of warped brakes (wheel shimmy under braking) most often is a matter of a brake pad material operating outside of its designed temperature range and it has left a thick(er) than normal deposit in one area of the disc surface, creating a "sticky" spot that will grab every revolution of the disk. Grease or some other foreign material usually deposited on the disc during wheel maintenance can likewise create a slipperly spot on the disc, also creating the sensation of a grab or warped brake disc. "

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: OS

Originally posted by: Ronstang
Resurfacing a rotor is fine. I do it all the time and wouldn't even have a problem doing so on a track car as long as you stay within the recommended tolerances. Take the rotors to the auto parts store and have them check to see if they can turn them. Here it costs about $8 a piece for the job. Brake pad material DOES NOT build up on the rotors....whoever told you that is not a competent person to get advice from about cars.

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml

Whatever, I have been working on cars over 25 years and have never seen pad material built up on the rotors. I have seen plenty of warped ones and ones destoyed by the pads wearing through. Just go get your damn rotors turned and stop spending your life in question over everything you read on the internet. That article is overly technical for the sake of the author listening to himself and somehow I doubt you are driving a race car.

Ive not been working as long on cars(10 years about), but i do have the ase on brakes. rotors will warp. you can measure this with a dial indicator runout/ball joint guage set. rotors will warp and then you can resurface them for cheap. resurfacing is no problem as long as you heed the minimum spec and resurface spec stamped on the rotor hub somewhere. it will not negatively affect rotor heat dissapation all that much and is much cheaper than a rotor. unless you do some sort of highly competitive racing, resurfacing rotors will befine and shouldnt affect braking performance perceptively. May I ask what car do you drive?

 

[Apex]

Wow, those blanks are very reasonably priced for your vehicle.

 

[Crucial]

Even Honda tells you to resurface in that pdf you linked.

 

[Ronstang]

Originally posted by: mwmorph

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: OS

Originally posted by: Ronstang
Resurfacing a rotor is fine. I do it all the time and wouldn't even have a problem doing so on a track car as long as you stay within the recommended tolerances. Take the rotors to the auto parts store and have them check to see if they can turn them. Here it costs about $8 a piece for the job. Brake pad material DOES NOT build up on the rotors....whoever told you that is not a competent person to get advice from about cars.

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml

Whatever, I have been working on cars over 25 years and have never seen pad material built up on the rotors. I have seen plenty of warped ones and ones destoyed by the pads wearing through. Just go get your damn rotors turned and stop spending your life in question over everything you read on the internet. That article is overly technical for the sake of the author listening to himself and somehow I doubt you are driving a race car.

Ive not been working as long on cars(10 years about), but i do have the ase on brakes. rotors will warp. you can measure this with a dial indicator runout/ball joint guage set. rotors will warp and then you can resurface them for cheap. resurfacing is no problem as long as you heed the minimum spec and resurface spec stamped on the rotor hub somewhere. it will not negatively affect rotor heat dissapation all that much and is much cheaper than a rotor. unless you do some sort of highly competitive racing, resurfacing rotors will befine and shouldnt affect braking performance perceptively. May I ask what car do you drive?

I never said they wouldn't warp, so actually we agree. If you want to know what I drive just look in my sig and add a Lexus LS400 and a 93 Taurus SHO 5spd.

 

[SilverTorch]

If the rotors are that cheap, might as well get a new set of rotors and pads.

I would not use ceramic pads, they tend eat at the rotors more than regular pads.

 

[Colt45]

take off tire

put on bolts (nuts if the car uses studs) to hold the rotor on

put dial on base, turn rotor, measure runout.

remove rotor.. measure runout on the hub too. sometimes the hub warps and the rotor is fine

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: mwmorph

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: OS

Originally posted by: Ronstang
Resurfacing a rotor is fine. I do it all the time and wouldn't even have a problem doing so on a track car as long as you stay within the recommended tolerances. Take the rotors to the auto parts store and have them check to see if they can turn them. Here it costs about $8 a piece for the job. Brake pad material DOES NOT build up on the rotors....whoever told you that is not a competent person to get advice from about cars.

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml

Whatever, I have been working on cars over 25 years and have never seen pad material built up on the rotors. I have seen plenty of warped ones and ones destoyed by the pads wearing through. Just go get your damn rotors turned and stop spending your life in question over everything you read on the internet. That article is overly technical for the sake of the author listening to himself and somehow I doubt you are driving a race car.

Ive not been working as long on cars(10 years about), but i do have the ase on brakes. rotors will warp. you can measure this with a dial indicator runout/ball joint guage set. rotors will warp and then you can resurface them for cheap. resurfacing is no problem as long as you heed the minimum spec and resurface spec stamped on the rotor hub somewhere. it will not negatively affect rotor heat dissapation all that much and is much cheaper than a rotor. unless you do some sort of highly competitive racing, resurfacing rotors will befine and shouldnt affect braking performance perceptively. May I ask what car do you drive?

I never said they wouldn't warp, so actually we agree. If you want to know what I drive just look in my sig and add a Lexus LS400 and a 93 Taurus SHO 5spd.

no i was trying to reinforce your words for the op. also the car ownership q is for the op also.

btw, what does sho mean for taurses? i knew someone that would bring 1 of those in to the shop for some matinence and upgrades every once in a while and i could never figure out what sho meant. is it just better compression fro more power or is ti some sort of suspension package?

 

[Tyrant222]

try ebay, brembo blanks that are slotted/drilled with zinc coating are not much more than the blanks.