Grrr, is this the warped rotor problem? anytime i brake on any type of surface, i get a shudder from the steering wheel.... is this going to get any worse if i just leave it? or should i get it checked...

 

Yes, get it checked. Again, there are two instances of this issue.

1. Actually warped rotors
2. Brake pad deposits being left on the rotor which makes it feel like they are warped.

Let the dealership know and note that the TSB info is posted here.

 

Mine, too. Ever so slightly but I can feel it, it kind of pulsates. What a bummer, esp. since I suppose, at best, the dealer will swap out the old rotors for exactly the same OEM replacements. At worst, he'll claim never to have heard of the TSB and claim that rotors are wear items.

 

I and most others have had the same thing. It's generally a build up of brake pad material that adheres to the surface of a hot rotor and will happen as a result of repeated last minute hard braking, and if you bring the car to a complete halt and hold the foot brake on. This traps the heat in and accelerates material disposition on the rotor in a very localized region. If you then drive on and don't touch the brake for sometime, the rotor and material will cool rapidly effectively curing a slightly thicker layer of material to the surface. When you brake some of this will be removed, but some will remain causing the vibrations.

You can fix it if your slightly mechanically inclined by installing a set of slightly higher performance brake pads. This will shear of the layer off old pad material during the bedding in process for the pads. Once you've done that you can leave the pads in, or go back to stock. Or you can take you wheel off and sand down the front and rear faces of the disc. You'll see and feel the pad deposits on the rotor. They'll look like anything from thumb size smeared dark patches or similar. It's these patches of material that are probably causing the problem.

I've run Mugen Type S pads for the last 20,000km (with almost daily high speed hard stops) and have hard no more material build up, or vibration under braking. This will also be down to my changing my driving style so that I brake early and lightly so I can coast to a stop using the handbrake if I'm still rolling slightly, and I nearly always use the hand/park brake to hold the car instead of the foot brake.

If you drive an auto you're on your own, but it should be much the same.

Others may have very different opinions, but from my experience the above is what caused my problem, and how I fixed it.

If all else fails go back to your service centre who'll probably just carry out an unneccessary maching of your disks.

 

I am a Manager at tire kingdom, and it is almost always Rotors. Worth checking out.

 

Yeah, that is generally the service center's view of it. Really, it can be pad deposits which do not require turning of the rotors. When you cut the rotors down, it solves the problem, be it pad deposits or actual warping. I have been seeing this come up lately and have had 2 customer fix a shimmy on their own my simply dipping hard into the brakes a couple times to remove the buildup. Severe shaking is probably rotor warpage.

Marcus