recently, i've noticed that when i slammed on the breaks, the front end of my car makes some disturbing noises. it sounds like and feels like driving over those road bumps in the middle of the road. and im sure its not that because there were none when i felt it.
my friend told me that its just my wheels skipping due to the fact that the road was wet and my wheels locked. but im still skepticle.
i recently installed some coilovers. could it be something that i forgot to tighten all the way or something?

 

it could also be warped brake rotors....before I put on my cross drilled, my stock ones did exactly what u described ur car doing and they were warped...

 

ohh i seee.

what causes warped rotors? and can it be seen with thte naked eye?

 

rotors warp when they are heated up...or if they are old and getting thin, they heat up more easily...most likely u won't be able to see warpage when they are on the car...u can pull them off and check them against a flat surface

 

Slow down guys, first off, if you step on the brakes at high speeds and feel a shaking/wobbling it could be considered 'warped' rotors. But if you hear a 'bump,bump,bump' sound when braking, your friend could be right - it may have been you losing traction, especially if you can't recreate the sound. If you go out driving, go up to about 60 and lightly put pressure on the brakes - if you feel a really bad vibration/oscillation and you hear a on and off rubbing/scraping sound, it could be your rotors.

HOWEVER, odds are that your rotors are not actually warped - rotors can crack and warp from being installed improperly and impact, but a huge misconception among mechanics and car owners alike is that their rotors are warped when they hear or feel that vibration. Actually, it is more likely that the rotors simply have uneven brake material deposits on the rotor that may have occurred due to improper bedding or stopping on hot brakes, which results in pad material being transferred to the face of the rotor. This layer of pad material will cause vibration when braking, and usually will warrant replacing the rotor, machining the rotor with a lathe, re-bedding the brakes or sanding the rotor with garnet paper to remove the pad material.

Here are a couple of sites that describe what I am talking about:
http://www.g2ic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107749
http://stoptech.com/whitepaper...h.htm

 

thanks for that information. helped a lot.