Hey H-T, I have a 2000 Civic Si with Brembo Blank rotors and pads on the front. For about the past month ive noticed that when attempting to slow down from doing anything over 50mph my steering wheel starts to shake really bad and when I let off the brakes it stops. I just had these rotors installed less than 4 months ago, so I doubt that could be causing the issue. Any suggestions as to what might be causing this?

 

First, lift the front end check for play in the suspension. It could be any joint in the front, including the rack and pinion. Check the tires for bubbles, and you can get it balanced.

But, most likely your rotors are bad. You could have got a bad set, or they already warped. They should still be under warranty though.

 

This tool a dial caliper/indicater can help you test your rotors.

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web...22987830-P_x_x

 

Sounds like warped rotors. But some people will tell you that there is no such thing as warped rotors but instead it is something called brake roughness. Funny thing about it? The description of both things is exactly the same.

 

sounds like rotors. when you put the pads and rotors on did you bed everything in? Improper bedding can cause premature rotor issues.. unless somehow a wheel bearing, ball joint, or bushing in the front suspension went bad

 

Something is loose in ur suspension and steering. Your rotors are a symptom of the problem. There shouldn't be any shaking of the steering wheel. If u just replace the rotors, you're not solving the problem.

Get underneath the car and shake every component to find the play.

 

I've had severely warped rotors cause wheel play, I had one suddenly warp so bad it snapped off the hub on my 1 ton tow vehicle

 

How was the bed in procedure done? I think there maybe uneven deposits of brake pad material on the rotor from improper bed in.

Ideally, one set of ten consecutive 60-10MPH slow downs will ensure proper even transfer of brake pad material, do not stop during this process.
Over bed-in pads/rotors cannot happen, but under bed-in is possible.
This is not the same as overheating the brakes. Do not overheat the brakes as this will cause glazing and improper bed in.
After bedding in the brakes drive to allow the brakes to cool to a normal temperature, again do not stop. When cooled to normal temps you will be able to stop and drive normally.

Find an empty straight stretch of highway, usually late at night or mid day before lunch. Do not be too aggressive(locking up the wheels/activating ABS will not induce heat into the rotor), do not drag/ride/overheat the brakes, slow the car down normally like when coming to an off ramp. Decelerate from 60-10MPH consistently. 60>50>40>30>20>10<accelerate up to 60, and start over. You want to maintain heat in the rotor.

If you have more aggressive pads you will need to be more aggressive in bed-in of the pads. Do one set, let the rotors/brakes cool to normal by driving at the highest safe speed, once the brakes have cooled begin again with the second set of bed in procedure. This will require a second set of slow downs from 80-40MPH or possibly higher, depending on pad material. Track pads are designed to work at higher temperatures, a higher bed in temperature will need to be attained for a linear transfer of material.

The purpose of bed in is three fold;
Induce enough heat to burn off any of the manufacturing bonding resins that may be on the surface of the pad.
Transfer pad material to the rotor.
To mechanically match the pad and rotor interface for maximum surface area contact.
Actually if the bed-in was done incorrectly, or not fully, there would be uneven deposits on the rotor. When heat is induced into the rotor during braking the uneven deposits will cause for uneven braking. Due to the non-linear transfer the pad material will build up where it bed in, and not where it was not bed in. This will exacerbate the non-linear transfer.

This needs to be corrected, by proper bed in procedures, otherwise hard spots(cementite) will be created on the rotor. Cementite is a change of the molecular structure of the cast iron. This cannot be machined away.

Rotors do not warp.
One of three things.
Rotor run-out, this can occur if the machining process for the rotor was inconsistent.
Uneven transfer of pad material.
Hard/Hot spotting of the rotor. Cementite formation.

It doesn't take much for a driver to feel a change in the rotors surface. 001-.0005" is the range of annoying to feeling the change. Uneven pad deposits are easily in this thickness.

Initiating proper pad bed in procedure will wipe away the build up of material and bed-in a linear layer of material. IF cementite has not formed. But if cementite has formed there is little to nothing to be done. Machining the rotor will not remove deep cementite. Hopefully your rotors just have uneven pad material and can be re-bed-in.

Rotors should not be machined as part of routing maintenance.
Machining should be avoided as it takes away mass from the rotor, mass is what is needed to absorb/dissipate the heat from braking.
Rotors machined too thin will cause a pulsating in the pedal, when hot the areas between the disc veins will collapse under pressure. The rotor simply looses its ability to maintain shape.

Only machine a rotor if;
Excessive runout.
Deep scoring.
Heavy corrosion/pitting.

Try re-bedding the pads first. Make sure your wheel lug nuts are not overly tight. 80-100 ftlbs is adequate.

 

Warped rotors. No such thing as warped rotors. Semantics. Whatever you call it-Steering wheel vibrates when braking? Messed up rotors. Replace them and make sure you're installing everything properly and bed in the pads.

 

Semantics? This isn't opiniated twaddle. It's data.

Pad and Rotor Bed-In Theory, Definitions and Procedures
The "Warped" Brake Disc and Other Myths of the Braking System
Thought this was Honda-Tech, not Honda-Throw parts at the problem til it goes away.

If the bed in procedure was done wrong from the start it doesn't matter how many times the rotors are changed, the end results will be the same.

awood202 try re-bed-in the pads as mentioned above.

 

Didn't I say to make the the pads were bedded?

I don't care what you call it, bottom line is: the rotors are messed up to the point that they cause vibration. Yes? The semantics are arguing about what it's called and the tech behind it.

For the second time; If your rotors are causing vibration, replace them and make sure the pads are bedded correctly.

 

And if the bed-in was done incorrectly, rebedding the pads using the correct procedure will wipe away and bed in the brake pad material evenly, eliminating the issue IF cementite has not occurred.

There is no need to spend time/money replacing the rotors if they simply need to be properly bed in.

 

had something simular to this happen to my hatch when i got it, turned out to be a bad wheel bearing. Jacked the car up and shook the wheel from top to bottom and would wobble with everything tight, new bearing installed and problem never came back

 

Wasting your time. These kids dont like to be told they're wrong. And are not man enough to admit it, instead like to play word games and go off subject...



https://honda-tech.com/forums/tech-misc-15/60-mph-vibration-3068998/

 

I don't give a **** WHAT you guys are calling it now. That was the point I was trying to make except you can't teach an old dog new tricks apparently. The outcome is the same WHATEVER it is called.

If you geniuses would think about it, if brakes do NOT warp and CANNOT warp, then they NEVER warped. Correct yes? The condition remains the same today as it was back in the past. Correct yes? The symptoms remained the same today as it was back in the past. Correct yes? The disposition remains the same today as it was back in the past. Correct yes? So that means the terminology was the only thing that was incorrect yes?

Then all you people are arguing about is some sorry wording. The fact of the matter is, steering wheel shaking while braking is the the rotors. YOU people are talking about PREVENTION. I'm talking about disposition.

Critical thinking is dying fast in the world.

 

Yes, bad habits are what we are discussing. The bad habit of incorrect pad bed-in. And the incorrect bad habit assessment of 'warped rotors'.
Says the fellow whom throws out insult after insult after hard data is posed.
Or was that sardonically stated?

 

Please. Where did I ever dispute your data? In either thread? All I've been saying is that, even though the terminology used in the past was technically incorrect, the resulting condition was the same, both past and present. So if we were talking about the same thing then "warped rotors" existed. Only the old school name given to the problem was incorrect.

Warped rotors, brake roughness, cenemite embedding, Rotor run-out, whatever. When my steering wheel vibrates when I'm braking I need to look to my rotors as the problem.

 

No one is arguing semantics.
Definition of "warped"-to bend or twist out of shape, especially from a straight or flat form, as timbers or flooring.


The rotors are not warped. They suffer from "thickness variation" High and low spots on the rotors face. Not a deformation of the metal....

 

Did I say the rotor was deformed? Show me where I said that. Show me where I attempted to quote the dictionary definition. Show me where I said heat was a factor.
You're still arguing semantics (I really don't think you know what that word means). The name of the condition is incorrect. The outcome "The steering wheel is shaking" is not. Check your rotors. Period.

 

You know what? You guys win. "There is no such thing as warped rotors."

 

People tend to forget that just because your rotors are semi-new, they are still prone to deformation.

 

Ehh, rotors are warped. Lol.
Mabe you guys are getting too technical.

 

A quality brand OE spec'd rotor will be pretty damn hard to deform.
The heat needed to be generated would boil the brake fluid first.
Cheap 'light weight' rotors and
This kind of deformation is possible, but it is temporary. When the rotor cools back down it will retake it's original shape.



Too technical, at Honda-Tech? Never.

 

From personal experience, I had the following three items causing brake vibrations over the years of driving my ED. They are:
-steering rack end bushing,
-upper balljoints (this is what happens when you are too low and whack your fenders kids!!),
-bad right front caliper (I threw a lot of parts at the car until I found this last one).

 

WARPED ROTORS



this is a good read
http://www.stoptech.com/technical-su...nd-other-myths