Warped Rotors -Myth or Fact?

[easyasone2three]

My 01 C5 has severe brake "shutter" when braking from high speeds. This seems to be a fairly common thing with these cars (and with the Toyota Tundra also among others) and there is some debate on the cause and a permanent fix.

I stumbled on this article saying that there is no such thing as a warped brake rotor:

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml#

My questions are:

1.) Do rotors warp or not?

2.) Is the "bedding in" or breakin for new pads and rotors important?

 

[mrvette]

IMO, I have never seen a warped rotor, even those 3/8" thin junk on Jap imports I have never seen a UNwarped brake drum though, those vary a LOT,....sometimes you even had to grind them....

now plenty of damage from worn out pads, that's for sure....no issue....

IF YOU SEE BROWN stains on your wheels, you are grinding steel on your rotors....BLACK ONLY is brake dust....

now for some reason the front on a shark are not a run out problem, but it's more critical in the rear...I dunno why, just is....I just shim with aluminum foil over the hubs till I can't feel any much runout, and call it a day.....

I just take a trip up to speed and slam on the brakes....pads are then broken in....nothing differant for decades on that....

:smash:

 

[MYBAD79]

Might be a problem with GM rotors.... I had this rotor warping (steering wheel shaking) problem with two '99 Camaros..... AutoZone rotors and pads fixed it, the stock GM rotors lasted 6 months, the zone stuff 100000 miles and 6 years, rotors were still good when I sold the cars.... :thumbs:

 

[mrvette]

Might be a problem with GM rotors.... I had this rotor warping (steering wheel shaking) problem with two '99 Camaros..... AutoZone rotors and pads fixed it, the stock GM rotors lasted 6 months, the zone stuff 100000 miles and 6 years, rotors were still good when I sold the cars.... :thumbs:

HUmphgh....new cars....here my wife's '99 Escort with 150k miles has OEM rotors....any clue as to WTF happened with the Camaros?? were they vented?? or just a plain disc??

:twitch:

 

[MYBAD79]

The Camaros have vented rotors (Firebirds and Camaros have the same rotors), it's a well known problem, there are plenty of threads about rotors on F-body forums - wtf.... now that they don't make Camaros anymore they install the shitty rotors on Vettes ??? :cussing::cussing:

 

[mrvette]

I have heard comments about C5+ rotors and warping, but when seeing a couple of them, they the same thickness/construction as the C3 rotors, and they aren't a issue....so I figgered it was BS....

makes me wonder who /where they made....

:ill:

 

[turtlevette]

1.) Do rotors warp or not?

2.) Is the "bedding in" or breakin for new pads and rotors important?

You got to be bad ass to warp a rotor. I don't see you doing that.

They probably need turning but i would be very surprised if you warped them with heat.

Some of the racing pads need bedding in. You got to get them really hot to do that. A lot of vette owners think that is abusing their car and never get it done properly.

 

[guru]

I have warped a bunch of rotors in my 98 firebird.

Yes, they will warp.

 

[MYBAD79]

I have warped a bunch of rotors in my 98 firebird.

Yes, they will warp.

What brand rotors ? I think I have never been easy on my brakes and my 'Zone" rotors never warped...

 

[easyasone2three]

I have heard comments about C5+ rotors and warping, but when seeing a couple of them, they the same thickness/construction as the C3 rotors, and they aren't a issue....so I figgered it was BS....

makes me wonder who /where they made....

:ill:

I believe that the C5 OEM's are made in Brazil.

 

[easyasone2three]

I have warped a bunch of rotors in my 98 firebird.

Yes, they will warp.

What brand rotors ? I think I have never been easy on my brakes and my 'Zone" rotors never warped...

I don'tknow about AutoZone but NAPA sells Raybestos and I hear goodthings about them for $50 each. For that price it wouldn't pay to mess around with turning my old rotors.

Some people over at the other place are getting pulsing or shuddering again only a short time after having their rotors turned and replacing pads.

Some people swear by the bedding in process for eliminating the problem but I have never done this on any other car I have owned.

 

[BBShark]

I used to have problems with "warped rotors" on my 90. I found that most of my problems were caused by overzealous tightening of the lugnuts which caused some heat related distortion. Also, I'm guessing here, but I think floating calipers are more sensitive to rotor surface irregularities than the fixed calipers of earlier generations.


.

 

[MYBAD79]

Some people over at the other place are getting pulsing or shuddering again only a short time after having their rotors turned and replacing pads.

I can confirm this.... the dealer turned the rotors of my wife's Camaro back in 2002 because we complained about the pulsing - it was "covered" under warranty.... 2 weeks later the pulsing returned and I bought new rotors/pads at the Zone and never had a problem since...

Napa - no idea what brand they're selling but it's probably just as good as the China stuff I bought at the zone.... sad enough that the China stuff lasts longer than the junk that comes standard on our cars.... :tomato::confused2::twitch:

 

[mrvette]

Some people over at the other place are getting pulsing or shuddering again only a short time after having their rotors turned and replacing pads.

I can confirm this.... the dealer turned the rotors of my wife's Camaro back in 2002 because we complained about the pulsing - it was "covered" under warranty.... 2 weeks later the pulsing returned and I bought new rotors/pads at the Zone and never had a problem since...

Napa - no idea what brand they're selling but it's probably just as good as the China stuff I bought at the zone.... sad enough that the China stuff lasts longer than the junk that comes standard on our cars.... :tomato::confused2::twitch:

Back then Zone shit WAS American, but they switched over since then...the first set of Zone lower ball joints went into this car no sweat, but a couple years ago they were not even close to fitting the lower arm...so went to NAPA and they worked fine and much better looking fit/finish--as if someone actually cared....

I bought NAPA rotors for my '72 for only 30 bux each they are on there now...not China, according to the box...clearly said made in USA....

Now a daze I go to O'Reilly as I don't even have to drive but a mile....lazy...

 

[badbirdcage]

Now everybody buys the cheapest iron they can find. That includes NAPA (and I work as a counterman for them).

I have several friends who auto cross C-5's and before they go out for a two or three day event they stock up on an extra set of rotors. Front and Rear. They usually eat a set every two or three day event. It's not warping, it is heat soak and the rotors end up looking like tempered glass that has been damaged. Lots and lots of little cracks everywhere.

These guys use the HAWK racing pads.

Rich:drink:

 

[easyasone2three]

Now everybody buys the cheapest iron they can find. That includes NAPA (and I work as a counterman for them).

I have several friends who auto cross C-5's and before they go out for a two or three day event they stock up on an extra set of rotors. Front and Rear. They usually eat a set every two or three day event. It's not warping, it is heat soak and the rotors end up looking like tempered glass that has been damaged. Lots and lots of little cracks everywhere.

These guys use the HAWK racing pads.

Rich:drink:

So what is a good alternative fix? I can't afford $4,000 for Wilwoods. I guess since I'm not real hard on the brakes I'd be OK with the NAPA's?