I was listening to Car Talk in my office Saturday morning. If you get a chance to tune in to NPR on Saturday mornings, you'll like the show.

Anyway, someone called in with a problem of vibration when they slowed down. He said he could feel it in the pedal. He took the wheel off and hit the caliper with a hammer. The vibration went away for a while, but then came back. They determined that it was due to a warped rotor. But here's the interesting part. It was warped because the wheels were tightened too much. They gave a technical reason why it causes it, but they said that this causes more warped rotors than you think. I never heard of it before then, but maybe....humm?

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'01 CLS #4055 Red/Parchment-all the goodies

 

That is very true. How many dealers or aftermarket shop will tighten your wheels to the correct torque? Not many unless they take pride in their services and understands the importance of correct torqueing to minimze warped rotors. Most shop that I know would just use an air wrench to tighten the lug nuts.



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Frank
01-S White/Parchment
Comptech Sways & Springs

 

Thanks davo!

Now I'm afraid to get new tires!!!!

But seriously... good info....

 

So what is the correct torquing for our wheels?

Spiro

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Black/Black 2001 CL-S
Random Technology Cat
RED AEM CAI
Polarg M6 Roadlamps

 

Where can we get the torque # 's?

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Silver S
Black Xephyr Intake
Valentine 1 (Hard wired)

 

Should be in the manual.....



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2001 Silver 3.2CLS
Muds, Spoiler, Hardwire 8500, Polarg M-6 lamps, K&N filter #33-2178,
Comptech Headers, Sways, mufflers
Planning: SSR 17X7.5 GT1 Wheels, Brembo Brakes.

 

Just don't get too bent out of shape aboutit. Ha!

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Red 3.2 CL-S.
"Life is too short not to be Italian." -Paul Sorvino
"How do you expect your date to turn over if your engine doesn't?" -Original
Proud member of "I didn't hit the curb like a dope and scratch my rims" club.

 

What are other possible reasons for the shaking/vibrating of my steering wheel when I brake. It's not tire pressure and I doubt the alignment is screwed up, everything on it is still stock. If so, I think I may have warped rotors already too, with only 9,500 miles.

 

Do you ever drive aggressively through the twisties?? I think that's how I warped my rotors. There are some incredible roads in Tucson that I used to just absolutely flog my car on. My brakes would fade so bad after just a few minutes and I'd hear this scraping noise. I think it's relatively easy to be hard on these brakes. They've got an awful lot of weight to stop....

 

Well we don't really have any fun twisties here in Miami, but people do say I drive aggressively so that may be it. Let's just say I have never been able to get over 250 miles per tank, so I just stopped calculating my mileage. I've been trying to take the car into the dealer to get Comptech springs and some other stuff taken care off, so I'll just add the brakes to the list. I kinda wanted the Brembos, but $2,000 is a little steep, and I think their prices went up. Besides, then I'd also need new wheels and I rather use those 2,000 towards other things.

 

I think the correct torque for our wheels is 85 ft. lb. I have NEVER let anyone install wheels with a air gun. Tell them what to set the torque wrench at and watch them do it!

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You can never have too much horsepower!

 

Has anybody tried different pads?

I am wondering how much a set of high performance pads would help our brake fade situation.

How about cross-drilled or slotted rotors?

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2001 Silver CL-S