doubledeala

So i decided to go with racingbrake rotors and hawk ceramic pads in the front and napa rotors and hawk ceramic pads as well.

After a month of usage, the steering wheel shimmy is back while braking from highway speeds to 30's. I rarely depress the brake pedal that hard, how could this be coming back??? I glazed the pads just like the packaging says. The only time that I've ever slammed on the brakes was when i was breaking them in/glazing.

It wouldn't happen to be the rear rotors would it? I'm hoping it's the rears and not the fronts that are warped...
Is it possible to just resurface the rotors to true flatness?

SatinSilverTypS

iTrader: (1)

it's quite possibly your rears. i had a wicked shimmy from rear warped rotors last year.

it is possible to resurface most rotors but you have to ask around to different auto stores/shops to find out what the turnaround time is.

01tl4tl

Sounds like improper pad bedding has caused GLAZE which can be cleaned with a high speed rebed- not stomping on the brakes- badddd

These are performance brakes and the RB rotors are looking for a purple tint when they are really bedded, thats hot hot hot a few times - done right with a cooling drive after
http://heeltoeauto.com/httech/YaBB.pl?num=1184261899

samkws

that's a pretty early warping if that's the real case

btw...how do u like the hawk ceramic pads? i go with HPS coz they have higher temp range than the ceramic, they do stop like a dime like my Wilwood BBK did

01tl4tl

Its really really difficult to warp the RacingBrake rotors

Its usually a case of needs PADS to be deglazed because not being driven hard enough, and rotors not having been brought up to temp and bedded- they need a purple tint- most rotors are cooked at blue- RB likes even more than that!!
If the procedures by heeltoe, excelerate, or StopTech were not followed- redo the whole thing- and then you will be good
You can sandpaper the rotors clean too- if you got hot spots or uneven pad transfer during bedding, and redo the bedding

samkws

any rotors will warp, they are just iron afterall, unless u throw 2000 dollars for the ceramic rotors like the 911

how difficult to warp the rotors? most TL owners here warp the rotors all the time, if i take it to the track and use hawk blue pads i swear i can trash it in less than 3 hrs

even i had my wilwood BBK with 13" 2-piece rotors on i still warped my rotors after one full racing season

warping the rotors is the 2nd most common problem for TL owners here after the tranny

doubledeala

I followed the glazing process exactly as it says on the box. warm it up with some slow mild braking, then do the high speed braking.

The ceramic pads feel fine to me, I never use my brakes to their full potential anyways, so I couldn't tell you the difference.

New finding here - i looked at the rear passy rotor, and, well...take a look.

Pads from the rear passy both look like this. it's a significant dip, if i remember correctly, the pads' surface was nice and flat... did this material come off during bedding???



You can barely feel a ridge on the rotor. Back side is exactly the same... It looks like napa gave me an oversized rotor since the old and new pads aren't big enough to fully cover the rotor.



Just a pic of the other rear rotor.

01tl4tl

If you read www.RacingBrake.com tech info you learn about Iron techniques and heat treatments and inner curved cooling vanes- these rotors are very difficult to warp-
in comparison to most- way better at staying straight

the term GLAZE and Bedding the pads are different things

the box directions are not complete and can lead to problems of misunderstanding and improper technique

Go bed them again!

the rotors are the right size- pads dont go edge to edge, and you need to do a serious bedding again- my rears looked like that for a day when I just changed pads, now they are getting full wear pattern
Calipers fail too~
here is good pad bedding info
http://heeltoeauto.com/httech/YaBB.pl?num=1184261899
and rotor info for the techie people
http://heeltoeauto.com/httech/YaBB.pl?num=1187169748

doubledeala

i don't think bedding will solve the shimmy/warp issue...
Either way, I don't think pads are supposed to wear like the pictures, it seriously looks like the pads had poor manufacturing/casting/or however they make pads.


Nonetheless, i will try bedding again.

samkws

try to use a sand paper to sand it off b4 u put it back on... that will help

01tl4tl

careful with sanding Hawk pads- I know the HPS prohibit that
It could be the NAPA rear rotors are the real problem- I have them on the rear and plan to replace with some RB soon

doubledeala

napa rotors as the problem with that pad wearing out oddly? or the shimmy? shimmy-wise, i can see that, but i dont think it'd cause that kind of wear on the pad.

Ellcapitan

To me, it looks like one of the right side pads got jammed and crooked. I've had that happen to me once, just not as bad, and yep, it was rear Hawk pads.

samkws

your statement is absolutely nonsense, anything that is not RB will raise the problem?

can u explain why hawk PROHIBITS ppl from sanding off the uneven pads? i paid for mine and i can do anything i want with it

sometimes the pads are too new and need to shave off the first coating of the pad to get to the softer compound, the coating causing the compound hard to leave the flim on the rotor therefore making such vibration coz it's not 100% in contact with rotors

i had that problem when i first install the HP Plus at my back with brand new rotors and my mechanic sanded it off a little bit and the problem went away

doubledeala

ellcapitan - i thought it might be that as well, but once i took it off...both the inside and outside pads had the same kind of wear.

I bedded the pads/rotors again last night, i inspected the brakes, i guess i didn't take off enough material to level the pad out.
Strange though, the rb rotors seem to have more wear on the outer half of the radii, you can still see the cross hatching on the inner radii, but on the outer, there are slight concentric lines. This is on both sides...issue?

I hate cars

It's obvious that the pads aren't touching the rotor in the center. The rotor could have a low spot around the center or the pads are defective. Either way, to cause the shimmy, the rotor(s) are warped. Be careful tightening down the lugs. Too much torque can cause the rotors to warp, not just heat. As far as sanding the pads, maybe if they're glazed... but if there's a low spot, you can't possibly accurately sand them down to where they're even. Time for some new pads.

fsttyms1

The rotors arent oversized. your caliper wouldnt fit over them if they were. I can think of a few things causing your issue. Improper instillation, a caliper thats hung, or defictive pads (and due to the pictures i dont think its the later) when installing did you grease the mount surfaces and slider pins?

MrHeeltoe

iTrader: (1)

I am just seeing this thread now. I have some comments regarding the RB rotors:


#1, these are, as 01tl mentioned, really difficult to warp. The material they are made out of and the design of the casting is such that they are very resistant to it.

#2, Hawk pads are high quality and excellent pads. However, they are designed to work with conventional rotors, which the RB is very unconventional. One of you mentioned "it's just iron afterall" but RB uses a special alloy and heat treating. RB recently recognized the need for a special pad compound to match the rotors. Notice RB has their own line of pads available now. These should work better than the Hawks.

#3, also as 01tl mentioned, glazing and bedding are two VERY different things. Indeed, if you did glaze the rotors you could expect them to be shimmying.

#4, I only get these shimmy comments from 2g CL and TL people. Why? I am not sure, but I think it must have something to do with the hub arrangement on the car. Up until recently, Honda required resurfacing all rotors ON THE CAR with a special lathe that bolts to the caliper bracket area. Turing the rotors with them installed on the car was supposed to keep everything true, as if bolting the rotors onto the hubs could cause parallax in an otherwise perfect rotor. Newer models do not require this, which might explain why the 3g and TSX do not complain AT ALL, but I have had a few of the 2gs gripe. The best thing to do in this case is to do a very light resurfacing of the rotors with them on the car.

#5, I highly doubt that the rear rotors would not be causing the shimmy. Although RB recently did finalize their rear rotor for this application and will be for sale through me shortly.

#6, bedding in of RB UP rotors TAKES A LONG TIME and A LOT OF HEAT. So much so that I am convinced that many of you are not doing it correctly. How much smoke would you say is coming off the rotors after bed-in? If there is enough smoke that it concerns you, you just might have gotten them hot enough. Only a little smoke? Nope-not bedded enough. The owner of RB told me it could take up to 500 miles to really get them broken in.

#7, quite simply, driving technique will impact the rotor/pad interface as well. Many people think that going easy on the brakes is necessary. In fact, these rotors like to be used more heavily with higher pedal pressure. This could be a factor for some of you as well.

That's all for now. Hope some of this helps. Remember, RB has a warranty against warping. If you truly have an issue they will inspect and replace for you. But just a warning, I had a customer claim their rotors were warped, and sent them in, and guess what---not warped. Something else caused the problem of shaking. The customer sold the car so we never figured it out.

Marcus

Billy Sacco

If one is going to sand the pads what grit of sandpaper should be used?