I recently replaced my front rotors with some new brembo blanks. At the same time i put axxis ultimates in front and rear.

It only took a month or so till the front rotors were very warped. So, i took them to the shop and had them turned....not more than a month later they are again warped. I can't turn the again because they were so warped the first time that the guy said I was pretty much down to the minimum thickness and that they couldn't be turned again.

I'm just wondering what could have caused this...... The only things that I could possibly think of are:
-driving in the rain cooled them too fast and they warped
-my calipers are shot and are applying uneven pressure which could warp them? (my last set of pads wore out very unevenly. One pad (inner or outer) was comletely gone, while the other was practically brand new. I blamed this on the slide pins not being lubed up enough, so i lubed them when I did the rotor/pad change)


So, now I have to buy new front rotors. Is there anything I can do to ENSURE that I won't be warping them again? Can I get better rotors? cry treatment? Is it possible that my calipers are shot and they are causing the warping? (the car has 200k miles on it)

TIA!

 

you might very well need new or rebuilt calipers. Another question is do you always use a torque wrench when tightening the lug nuts? Several years ago I bought one after the first time I tightened the lugs on my old car by hand and warped the rotors. I haven't had much of any problems since.

 

You blamed this on the slide pins, but after you lubed them did you check that the caliper actually did slide properly? Maybe it was stuck for some other reason...

 

Make sure your calipers are working properly. and also make sure you torque your lug nuts to 80 foot pounds. ( im pretty sure this is the setting)

 

Read this article from StopTech...it may help explain what's happening. Good Luck!

http://www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/...otors_myth.htm



[Modified by kmurph, 5:37 PM 3/19/2003]

 

patrick: yes, i use a torque wrench, although it only goes up to 75 ftlbs....i do the last little bit by hand. But there is no way that its off by enough to hurt the calipers. Plus, i'd never had problems before this, and before (years ago) I just did it all by hand.

JimBlake: how do you check to see if they move properly? the pistons seemed to move fine, and the slide pins seemed to work fine when I moved them by hand.

cjohnson: how to I check the calipers?

kmurph: thanks for posting that, i read that while I was researching what pads/rotors to buy. I've been as careful as possible to do everything they said in the article that could help them from warping/getting deposits.

 

I'm guessing that you just push/pulled the slide pins & they move freely. That's just part of the story.

Pre-assemble everything & make sure it moves like it should. For example, put the caliper on without the pads in it. The big clamp-like body of the caliper has to slide side-to-side without hanging up on anything. Look to find where the parts slide against each other & make sure they're clean & straight.

The inboard pad has to slide - you'll see marks where it has worn the surfaces of the caliper and/or the surfaces of those little spring clips. I sometimes have to file the paint off of the pad backing plates so they slide smoothly. Anti-seize paste or brake grease on some of those parts, but be careful it never gets on the rotors or the friction material of the pads.

 

One of the most common ways to warp the rotors is to put on performance pads and then use the new found increase in braking to the maximum. The problem lies in the size of the rotors, they just aren't large enough(or have enough mass) to manage the increase in heat the new pads can allow them to generate. Adding some type of ducting to direct air into the center of the rotor may allow them to survive the increased temps without warping, otherwise you will have to increase the mass either with larger diameter or thicker rotors...

 

Did you bed the rotors and pads? If you didn't that is the FIRST thing you should look at. Take it as - I didn't know - and do it again. If you can have them turned, great... Just remember to bed in the pads and rotors. Whenever you do anything aftermarket brakes its just one of those things you got to do.

 

Hey Colin,
It's Eric from CMS. I have a set of front calipers for the G2 in stock. E-mail me at the shop to let me know if you're interested. We had a friend of mine order them and then decide to hold off so we'll have no problem massaging the price a little for you.
Also, how are your rear brakes working? Also, about how hard and how often do you brake? I doubt that you would be braking THAT hard but I know that California has a lot more traffic than here in OH so I imagine you have to stop more often than we do here.

 

I had a similar problem. Except I caught it in time before my rotors warped. I just installed Brembo blanks and Axxis brake pads. I found one of my pins was stuck and not pushing back. I fixed this by finally getting it out and lubing it up. Then other back one was doing the same thing. But both of pins were working all right. I did noticed that these Axxis brake pads fit too tightly in, so I ended up grinding the ends. I was told they are to fit loosely so they can slide back and forth. You might want to check this.

 

Hey is this Colin from G2IC? wusup?

Your car seems to be giving you lots of trouble eh? What's with the motor now??
Good luck on your brake issue, can't really help you out.

 

fastbrakes: I haven't been taking the pads to the max at all....or at least I wouldn't say so. Its been all street driving, and really nothing that aggressive. I did have to stop quick a couple times because of traffic slowing down...but the brakes should have had time to cool afterwards. And the braking really wasn't that hard. I don't see how the problem could be due to my braking too hard. I researched on this board before I bought the setup and many people recommended it to me. And they were using it for street, autocross, and even some real track racing. And there is no way i'm putting that much heat into them just driving on the street. Thats why i'm wondering about the calipers. Maybe they aren't "floating" back enough and thus keeping friction on the pad...thus more heat all the time.


XScream:I bedded the pads according to the instructions that came w/ them. I even bedded them again after I turned the rotors.


Eric: Yeah, i just got your email. I'll be hittin ya back w/ a response asap! thanks man.

Teg96: My pins definitely aren't stuck, but they might be sticking a little. When everything is apart I can move all the parts, but really there isn't any way of me knowing whats going on when i'm driving. Also, i didn't have any fitment problems w/ my pads. They fit perfectly. Thusfar I'm VERY happy with the pads.


Jon, yeah, its the same, one and only colin....wait, there's a kolin too....ok so i'm not the one and only. But yeah, my car has been giving me a lot of trouble, just a lot of bad luck I guess, not to mention the body has 200k on it now, so that doesn't help. Bad news about the motor.....its gotta come out I just talked to the machine shop and it turns out my rings are washed out. So, its sorta back to square one.


thanks guys.

 

over tightened the lug nuts unevenly

 

is that supposed to be a joke?

 

you can warp the rotors by overtightening them.. honda only need to be tourqed to 80lbs no more..

 

you're joking too right? did you guys just completley ignore all the previous replies to my post??

 

Have you seen what a impact can do to a rotor when to "zip" on the lug nuts? - this is not a joke

 

are you downshifting at all? that could be your problem. stop downshifting.

 

XScream: i'm not denying that it can warp the rotors. I'm just saying that that is NOT the problem. As I have already stated I torqued the lugs properly!!!!! Thats why i'm so baffled as to why people keep commenting on it....they aren't being of any help what so ever.

Thunderthigh: Yes, i downshift sometimes.....but this was never a problem before. Could you fill me in on exactly why downshifting would cause my rotors to warp? It doesn't make much sense to me...... thanks.

 

Did you break them in properly?

 

VtegGSR:

 

Well there you go. When breaking in brakes it specifically says not to make any quick or hard stops. That could be your problem right there. You said you had to make a quick stop. It doesnt take much if you dont break them in right

 

I didn't have to do any quick stops till quite awhile after the brakes had been bedded and I had been driving w/ them for a couple weeks. Oh....and you bed the pads by DOING hard stops (you work your way up to harder and harder stops and make sure you heat the pads up real good).

 

No you dont by doing complete hard stops. Your not supposed to come to a complete stop. You may have glazed the rotors.