doubledeala

Like the title says, I've been plagued with this issue since I bought it in 04. I read around here that I needed to upgrade to better rotors so I got the racing brake ones. A few months later, it was vibrating again and people then say it's because I didn't bed them right so I resurfaced and bed them again with more aggression, I guess. The rotors definitely showed some purple from the heat it generated so it was bedded correctly. A few months later, vibrated again, even after I watched how i hit the brakes...
I've been dealing with the vibration for quite some time now and just getting sick of it. Anyone else found the real cure other than getting new rotors and hoping it doesn't happen again?
I've read that the calipers could be bad, but how? it squeezes the rotors like it should, I can stop on a dime while getting a full body massage.

Now that I'm without a garage, I can't do any of the work myself so I will have to bring it into a shop. Any suggestions/comments/thoughts?

FirePR2002

what pads are you running on the RB rotors out of curiosity?

01tl4tl

call Marcus at MrHeelToe
he knows RB really well and can figure out whats going on
There have been a few rotors that had an issue- back when they started making them for us,,,if yours are older...

what method did you use to bed them?

this is the Heeltoe method based on experience and a combined info of several makers (I helped test and write it)
http://heeltoeauto.com/httech/YaBB.pl?num=1184261899
Has new pics so you can ck your rotors against those partially and fully bedded

You can pick up a shimmy by not braking hard enough too- dragging the brakes to a stop or lots of in town/ freeway commute stoppage,, will require a touch up -rebedding

doubledeala

I picked up the hawk perf. ceramics if I rememer correctly.
I got the rotors and pads circa 2006-2007.

Also, I believe I followed MrHeelToe's bed in procedure...I found a thread regarding bedding of these exact rotors soon after purchasing my pair. Can't imagine who else would have a thread on it?

Looking at the pictures in the thread, mine had no crosshatching after the first bed in. After I resurfaced the rotors, the surface was fairly rough so i thought it was necessary to make the bedding more aggressive. Again, it was nice and smooth after bedding.

fsttyms1

What rotors did you put on? Quality rotors will last. and DONT bed them in like many say right away. Give it a good 500 miles before you do. Cycle the rotors first. I have over 100k on my rotora and they are still butter smooth.

doubledeala

I put on the racing brake ones. I bedded mine right away, so maybe that could be my root cause? although, I can't see what the big deal is with bedding now or later since they'll eventually need to be smoothed out.

01tl4tl

the wrong pads on RB rotors is your problem
You did the performance pad bedding on ceramic pads--kiss them goodbye after that kind of abuse--they are grandma pads compared to these rotors

RB now makes its own pads because the rotors are very hard and eat normal pads!!

you could have one of the bad early sets of rotors
How were they resurfaced and did the shop bother to do any testing first for runout to see if there was a problem??
and same pads went back on afterwards?

Do your rotors have a dimple or 3 on the outer face? you can see a deep depression into the metal about the size of a bb
Thats done on the rotors made after the original problem was found- its a metal hardness test
If yours dont have that- contact marcus if thats where you got them- or whoever the seller was- factory direct etc

01tl4tl

I have put my RB rotors thru severe use,,, past what most drivers ever will, and they are rock steady straight at 30kmiles and barely look broken in

Pads are the most common problem with any vibration issues on the current issue ones

01tl4tl

its ok to bed RB pads and rotors right away- important in fact!
They put the double crosshatch cut on them so there will be bite while they bed

Reason you wait on most brands is to give them several heat cycles to temper the metal and harden it--then do the pad bedding-transfer pad material etc
They are only heat treated once at the factory

RB does the heating/cooling hardening sequence twice- so the rotors come ready to rock and race

01tl4tl

read heeltoe procedure I linked--you either did it,, or something else
RB has a similar method on their site- but not exact same- you may have read that?

pimpin-tl

Change your driving habits. I have never had a issue with rotors on any of my cars.

FirePR2002

my guess is that you're "dragging" the brakes. with the RB rotors, you cannot do that. try braking later and slightly harder or earlier in short "bursts."

doubledeala

01tl4tl, thanks for the replies, I picked up the hawk pads because mrheeltoe had them on a combo special with these rotors so I guess it was a bad combo to begin with?
the shop used a lathe to resurface the rotors, typical resurfacing technique, no?
The shop didn't do a test for runout because I took it off before bringing it in. Wouldn't the runout cause uneven pad wear? my pad wear was within 2 mils on a cheapo caliper.
No dimples on the rotor faces, so I guess no hardness test done.
I followed RB's method the first time and after the resurface, I followed MrHeelToe's method.

Pimpin, I've owned 5 cars and daily driven 7 for at least a year(pickup, suv, coupes, sedans), only my TL has had this rotor issue. Kind of hard to blame my driving habits.

After the first resurface, I watched how I used the brakes and stopped in bursts or hard enough to peel me from the seat, depending on speed. Didn't seem to help at all.

01tl4tl

you have one of the early sets of rotors--contact the seller and see if RB will work with you on replacements--they should never warp for as well for as they are made~
3 sets of pads abused and rotors still perfect is average

on the lathe its easy to ck runout--the rotor is turning...it wobbles or it doesnt
Amazing you found a shop to turn them--most are scared of slotted and tell you they cant be done

2 mm differance in pad depth is a LOT--they only go to 2mm minimum!, and started at 8 or 10mm pad

In the beginning-- Hawk pads were the best choice, so heeltoe offered them
I got hps with my RB rotors
Then 6 months later RB came out with their ET300 and ET500 pads of their own making- made to work with their rotors,,work on other rotors but best on their owm
Same as the rotors will work with other brand pads,, but best with RB stuff

Sure, its been a while since you bought,, but they are not the hardness tested units, and may be part of a suspect batch
you have reason to ask for assistance on a set--and pads

01tl4tl

reminder to all who replaced rear brake pads:
Several makers used and still use the wrong backing plate for the rear pads--
RB was, but fixed the problem when notified- hawk hasnt changed part or book listing
The Problem
The INNER pad for the rear brakes- the correct one has 2 raised button tabs- 1 on each end. 1 holds the noise maker low pad warning tab, and the other is just there empty

On the wrong ones there is a 3rd raised tab in the top center of backing plate
That tab hits the caliper piston instead of full flat pad to rotor contact-tab pushes pad crooked and only gets half of its width touching the rotor!!!
Makes funny brake shake you cant find- I had it, I know

Look inside rear rotors- stick your head under the car from rear and look at rotor inner side for surface rust on half, and shiny on other half of its width from use
Guess whats wrong?~
Remove pads and grind off the 3rd tab
If not much pad wear has occured--its going to be angled -- so you decide if its too much,,time will level it out with use if not severe
--otherwise replace pads

01tl4tl

my personal wear note:
approx 25kmiles on my ET300 pads on RB 1 piece rotors with some extreme use above and beyond what you would think of driving (writer is SCCA race licensed)
Yosemite is my backyard playground~

Pads done for but rotors perfect,,barely broken in- nice blue streaks and a few minor scratches from the metals in the pads
Even got down to 1 mm pad on right side fronts, left side just over 2mm

Guess when the wife mentions a `little brake noise` its time to do the brakes today

I still had that original set of hawk HPS with 5000 miles on them on the RB rotors,, that were swapped out for the ET300s when they were released to public

To make a fair comparison the rotors were cleaned with 120 grit sandpaper to remove old pad material,,then HPS installed- rebedded a few times and went to enjoy some favorite roads

results: The HPS are good pads no doubt and will stop the car- good for most rotors.

The RB pads on RB rotors was 30-40 percent!! more sure-footed feeling under braking with far less fade in repeated 60 to 20mph slow downs for `do or die` mountainside turns

That `stops on a dime and gives 8 cents change` that I knew and loved is missing

Will be ordering some ET500s to test their alleged more aggressive bite,,
seems the wife has learned to drive the car much harder~
I wonder if she snuck off to a track day..that would explain the massive brake dust stuck to the once shiny Enkei 18s! I forgot about that little bonus~ brake dust

the RB pads: with 3 coats synthetic car wax on the rims were fairly clean in comparison- especially for the stopping power they offer

doubledeala

2 mils, not mm, so 2 thousandths of an inch. I dont think that was much at all.

I'll be checking my rear rotors tonight when the sun gets lower for half wear but I do remember having a good percentage of my rear rotors untouched by a pad. MAYBE...I haven't dealt with my car in awhile and now that money is coming easy, I'm giving her some much needed TLC.

fsttyms1

it does make a difference. I have been racing for over 15 years and have never had a rotor warp (even the cheap ones) by cycling them in first. I learned it early on by veteran racers. Going full song on them right away usually leads to warping faster and them not handling heat as well either.

doubledeala

Well, I got an email back from RB, basically said: no change in mfg process, ceramics caused a shimmy for other non-tl customers so try semi metallics, no tl owners have complained about a shimmy, 25% off on our et300s/et500s to try and if it doesn't solve the problem return, gotta take forum info with a grain of salt. Among other things which make this communication less than desirable but at least he's offering a 25% discount on a product I bought 3 years ago. Although I have never had to replace rotors on any of my cars or my family members cars. He suggested getting the pads a try first, then resurface and same pads, lastly check brake components other than rotors.
Also, when getting my resurfacing, make sure to get a TIR(total indicator reading) prior to the machining.
I guess it's my cheaper fix at this point but if it doesn't solve the issue then I'm going to have to pay for the brake work a second and possibly third time if the issue isn't resolved. Or just shell out 3-500 on new rotors and install.

01tl4tl

just put the right pads on and be done with it
They are trying to walk thru the problem to help you fix it in a logical manner

you dont ned to resurface them again unless that shop screwed them up

and you have to admit- anything for a price break from them is good,, since you waited a few years to bring the problem to anyones attention~

If you had called them before self diagnosing, using shop that didnt do any measurement and runout testing,,,trying to resurface,,,
you may have solved the prob and saved money with nothing but the right pads,
clean the rotors with 120 grit and go enjoy

01tl4tl

I would not expect them to admit a past problem, but those of us who experienced it found metal shavings where none should be!
a new set of rotors fixed us up

junteschan

And what particular type of rotor did you install.
Might be changing mine in a few months so I thought of asking around first....thank you.

YeuEmMaiMai

RL 4 piston calipers + custom bracket + '07 370Z rotors and you will never have warped rotors again. Requires wheels that will clear RL Calipers (04+ TL wheels do)
NA-AV6 can make the brakets for you

pimpin-tl

^^ You mean 09 370z rotor? 07-08 was the 350z.

YeuEmMaiMai

^yeah sorry about that it should be 350Z

Go here to see what the setup looks like

https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-cl-2001-2003-50/rotora-big-brake-rotor-replacements-783978/

NVA-AV6 stated that it would be $125 for the custom brakets for a 2002 CL type S