"Warping" Rotors!

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J

JZiggy

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I installed front brakes on my 95 Civic:

1st: Premium Beck Arnley rotors + Axxis deluxe pads
Bad vibration occurred after a couple thousand miles.

2nd: eBay Brakelabs rotors + (same) Axxis deluxe pads
Followed break-in procedure. Vibration occured after 200 miles. eBay seller was kind enough to refund the rotors in full.

Now I'm planning to use the same pads (I have had great luck with these before!) and some high-quality Brembo rotors.

Can ya'll recommend a break-in procedure?
 
Check the net for break in procedure. Most are like accelerate to 30mph, hold brake till 10mph, etc, and repeat until you reached 60mph give or take.
 
Are you properly torquing the nuts? I don't think that you problem is break-in procedure if that is your question.
 
I will double-check the mounting surfaces of the flange, rotor, and wheel. I *always* use a torque wrench when I reinstall the wheels. Caliper pins, pad slides, etc. are all greased with high-quality lubes.
 
We only know if the discs warped if the run out and thickness is measured before and after the judder. In most cases of so-called warped rotors the judder is caused by uneven deposits of brake pad material built up on the rotors. A quick diagnostic is to lightly sandpaper the rotors and see if the judder goes away temporarily. I've had great success with Axxis (Repco) pads, but maybe these are a bad batch or they changed their formulation.

More:
http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml
http://www.powerbrake.co.za/downloads/tech_01_judder.pdf
 
Originally Posted By: Ken2
We only know if the discs warped if the run out and thickness is measured before and after the judder. In most cases of so-called warped rotors the judder is caused by uneven deposits of brake pad material built up on the rotors. A quick diagnostic is to lightly sandpaper the rotors and see if the judder goes away temporarily. I've had great success with Axxis (Repco) pads, but maybe these are a bad batch or they changed their formulation.

More:
http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml
http://www.powerbrake.co.za/downloads/tech_01_judder.pdf


Agree with you. I usually say "warped" too because of the feel, but in reality it always appears to be from deposits on the rotor surface. I've been using Napa Tru Stop pads and have had good luck with them (no causing deposits and good braking)
 
Sanding rotors will cause a better feel if they are warped or not.
It is not a test for warped rotors. It helps either way.

If TWO new sets of rotors failed in such a short time, it is kinda rare.
I suspect installation error, and possible break in error.
How to break them in? Forget the race only stuff about pad deposition on the rotor. It does not apply to street pads in normal driving.
Just drive normally. The break in will take 50-500 miles.
 
always always hand torque the lugs before you put any heat in the rotors. I agree with ken2 that a lot of "warped rotors" are rotors with deposited brake pad material. I've never had a rotor that was really warped , clean up with turning, only replacement. I have not had a warped rotor since i use the torque wrench and hawk pads.I even take the wrench with me when i get new tires, loosen and torque them in the parking lot before the rotors see any heat.
 
Plus I believe one of the primary ways pad material is deposited unevenly on the rotor surface is staying on the brakes after a hard stop - at a stop light after very hard braking, for example. Keeping the car moving, even very slowly, or shifting to neutral and releasing the brakes may prevent some of this.
 
Originally Posted By: 09_GXP
This article sums up the different bed-in procedures for different pads. Personally, I always follow the HAWK procedure and have never had any issues, even when running cheap Chinese rotors with racing pads in auto-x applications.

http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=85&


I also following HAWKS break in procedure. NEVER had problems either, I have Napa (now white box) rotors and pads.
 
Cool, thanks for the ideas. Sounds like I should do a "gentle" break in procedure and call it good.
 
Sometimes if there are bad ball joints or wheel bearings, that can contribute to pulsation as well. I'm comparing apples to oranges, but that is from an old Ford I had once. Bad front end parts kept killing the rotors.
 
This thread makes me a little sick to my stomach. I had nearly identical experience with brembo rotors and hawk hps pads. Turned the rotors, warp came back. bought new rotors, warp came back. Turned 2nd set of rotors and got OEM pads ond BOOM problem solved. Thos 80 hawk pads were the worst money Ive ever spent on ANYTHING. Tons of noise, brake dust, constant headaches. Now the car brakes like new....no drama. Just get OEM pads and forgetabouttit man. OEM was 45 bucks so theyre cheap too.

I think the problem was wifey didnt stop hard ENOUGH to break loose the deposits...but that still didnt excuse the noise and constant wheel pain ruining brake dust.
 
Your Brembo rotors should come with proper seat instructions, just installed brembo oe style and they had them.
 
I fixed a brake squeak on the Honda by doing a hard break-in procedure. The pads just needed re-bedding with the rotors.
 
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