Hey all,

So I was working on my rims yesterday (retouching the white, refinishing the calipers etc.) And while in the process of lowering everything back to the ground I was an idiot and took away the jack stand before I put the wheel on. Thinking that my low profile jack would hold no problem.

At that precise moment, the jack gave and my rotor went crashing to the ground. I panicked at first and then thought, well just put it back up.

Anyways I was driving around today and the one rotor that fell IS SO LOUD! like seriously, how the hell did I warp it like that?!

My question, is there anyway I can refinish or unwarp it? I really want that noise gone. Or do I have to spend my next paycheck on new front brakes?

 

Check the guarding behind the rotor, sometimes if it's a little bent it'll make like scratching noises, but if it is warped, u can get it resurfaced so it's not as loud, but idk how that affects ur performance. You need to provide more details pertaining to the sound the rotor is making.

 

Im guessing the backing plate as said above
thats flimsy metal and often suffers in such an incident
remove the wheel and look for rub marks
also ck for wear against the tie rod or other part on the inner side of the assembly

if you banged the rotor so hard it actually `bent` an edge--thats not resurface~~~

 

Yeah, backing plate scraping sounds much worse than it is. Is it that type of sound? Any pulsing when applying brakes now?

 

The brakes are still spot on but it sounds terrible. No vibration in the steering wheel during breaking but extremely loud grinding noise.

I'll pop off the tire tomorrow to get a better look, I just want the noise gone, it's embarrassing, I mean I play music loud so I don't hear it but it's there.

should I check for any metals that might be coming into contact with the rotor? and if there is should I pull it off? pry it back?

 

As for the noise, it's cyclical (every tire rotation it repeats) its loud when driving slow and the tires aren't rotating as fast and unnoticeable when driving at highway speed. when I turn at slow speed (around a parking lot, low speed residential turn etc.) it picks up and gets louder

 

Its that plate behind your rotors. You might not even have to take off your wheels. Just get a long screwdriver and push it back.

 

ok thanks! I'll be sure to do it tomorrow. I was worried I might have to get new brakes...

...but then I was excited for the prospect of some EBCs...

...catch 22... lolol

 

a small amount of brute force should fix this up for you

 

^Thanks!

 

Problem Solved!

you guys were right, it was the backing plate. It actually bent onto the rotor. I used a screwdriver to bend it back into place. Profit! no more noise!

 

message learned here: Always use jackstands -you never know when that jack will fail!

 

^oh I know! I was actually using a jackstand but I stupidly took it down before I put the wheel on.

Lesson learned, jackstands stay on till the car has 4 attached wheels

 

^

 

wheels on with at least ratchet tight--50 pounds torque
Its hard to get 80 while in the air (without air tool) but 50 will keep them on flat till you can fully torque on the ground

Imagine the floor jack failing WHILE you were under the car,,without stands,,
which happens all the time when someone wants to `just take a quick look`

kersplat!

 

dont ask how so many knew what the problem was right away

 

haha I can imagine that it's probably a common problem, I learned from my buddy who almost lost his life because he didn't torque his lug nuts and a wheel popped off on the highway.

I was driving parallel to him. scariest thing ever man, just seeing a rim riding on the highway by itself.

thankfully he was in the slow lane and he could pull over, I got the tire off the shoulder and all was well... but damn man