Downsides to driving with warped rotors ?

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chefwong

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Don't have major vibrations on the front end. Just doing my yearly checkup and when I brake during decel, the steering the little shimmy shake for a ever-so 2 seconds. Don't notice it until now....when I look with the shimmy without holding the steering wheel.

It's not a easy fix to get it turned....

Brembo Rotors on a BBK kit....and replacement rotors will probab run 1K for the fronts ... I only plan to keep the car for another year.
 
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Unless it bothers you??? Have you tried a few hard braking applications to see if there is some crud build up on the rotors?
 
1K for rotors??? what kind of car is this on?
54.gif
 
I've always wondered if it got bad enough if the shaking would wreck your tie rod ends, ball joints, suspension bushings, wheel bearings...
 
I would assume/expect so on warped rotors that is that noticable. Just not sure how it applies to something you only notice if you don't hold the steering wheel --- brake and *look* for warped rotors...
 
They will only get worse and as they do so they will pull your car out of alignment. Any emergency breaking will accelerate both the warpage and your alignment going down the tubes.

I know, I've tried to go as long as possible with warped rotors and ended up paying for the break job, new tires, and the alignment.

Can you make it another year? I don't know. Depends on how you drive and how much you brake and how you brake.
 
Get them resurfaced, just part of the cost of maintaining the vehicle properly.....and one of the hidden costs of modifying a car with expensive aftermarket components...the running costs goes up.
 
It's really going to depend on the individual vehicle, your driving, and the current condition of the brakes.

I drove with warped rotors for over 10,000 miles. I had bought new rotors from EBC, I was just procrastinating and didn't want to spend the money on the rest of the parts. Finally the brake pads wore down to where the wear indicators started making noise and that bothered me enough to get the brakes done. I didn't need an alignment, nor did I have any tire wear issues or anything like that. Once the brakes were replaced the truck stopped and drove basically like new again. This might not be the case for you though. Different vehicles, tires, suspension systems, drivers, etc. will all play a role, so run the warped rotors at your own risk.
 
You will see increased stopping distance, increased brake fade, and additional heat build-up will cause them to warp further and further if driven hard. You will also stress the pads with heat and may develop chips or cracks which will eat into those rotors and accelerate the pad wear, heat, and warpage.

$1000 for a pair of rotors.

And people wonder why I drive the sorry old pieces of [censored] I enjoy. Let's see here, my last GM A-body took $20 rotors. My wife's Durango enjoys $30 rotors. And in the unlikely event that my 30-year old rotors on the Torino need replacing (because they knew how to make them back in the day) I would be spending $58 each. Except I wouldn't. I'll take the ones on the wagon in for resurfacing and put THEM on the sedan before I get new ones. That or if they aren't warped at all, sand down the facings to get all the surface rust off, and put them on as is with new pads.

OH MY GOD I AM SO CHEAP SOMEONE PUT ME OUT OF MY BLISS
 
The rotors could be warped, or they could have uneven deposits on them from pad material.
Hard braking from 75 to 20 a number of times can help with deposits.
Of course, do this is a safe place.
High performance brakes have more problems than regular street types.
 
If somebody who is driving a vehicle which needs $1000 rotors, I can't imagine that owner would tolerate any shudder in braking of his beloved quarter million dollar Ferrari Testarossa.

- Vikas
 
Originally Posted By: chefwong
These are Brembo rotors on a BBK


Still.

The only rotors I could see getting anywhere near that much are carbon fiber jobs on ultra-exotics.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
I've always wondered if it got bad enough if the shaking would wreck your tie rod ends, ball joints, suspension bushings, wheel bearings...


I would think it most certainly would.
 
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