Shuddering Brakes, Warped Rotors, Off Center Calipers??

[joreill1]

About 8 months after I bought it, I noticed some shudder when braking on my 02 Liberty (I've only owned it for about a year and a half). When I was going slow (20mph or less) I could hear the brakes squeaking and it was pretty much in time with the tire rotation.

I went to do a brake change about 6 months ago and when I did I noticed that the rotors were warped. As I was replacing them I kinda noticed that the piston on the caliper is off-center, has anyone else with an 02 noticed this?

I went ahead and replaced the pads and rotors with Napa parts, upper grades of both.

Now, I'm getting the shudder back. I haven't had them resurfaced yet, but I'm looking into it. Has anyone else had continuous rotor warpage problems? Is there anyway to prevent it?

I haven't done any towing, but I do a lot of highway driving in Jersey (stop and go at 70mph) , I normally try to be as gentle as possible with the brakes.

 

[t_bois]

Did you clean the rotors with brake cleaner before you installed them? How many miles did you put on the vehicle before the problem came back? A lot of manufactures coat the rotors when grease to stop them from rusting and if it's not cleaned off it can cause many braking issues.

Some rotors get hard spots in them when they get hot. I'd have them turned (if you pull them yourself, it's cheap to do) and take the pads back to NAPA (complain that they didn't stop good and caused the rotors to warp). Try to get some that are softer. The harder pads wear longer but are tougher on the rotors. Be sure to clean the rotors with brake clean before you put everything back together.

If you want to spend the money, have the rotors cryogenically treated BEFORE you get them turned. This helps to stablize the metal. Being from NJ, you may find a place that does this locally. I'm not sure how much $$ this will cost. Here's a link to read:

http://www.roadfly.com/cars/afterma...-the-only-thing-that-works-better-frozen.html

 

[JeepJeepster]

What kind of pads did you get?

How many miles are on the new brakes?

I do not think a set of rotors should warp after 6months.

 

[-=JoN=-]

shouldnt warp in 6 mos...yes..unless the brakes were hot, and you drove through a puddle....

over tightened wheels....

or could just be defective...

i dont have much like w/ brake life myself....i've on my 3rd set in 5 years....

 

[joreill1]

I cleaned the rotors before installing them with brake cleaner, but I didn't grease them. I do a lot of driving, over the 6 months I probably put on about 10,000 miles. I'll go to Napa and get a new set of pads and resurface the rotors at a local shop.

My biggest fear is that I've had to stop quick a couple times and the brakes seem to lock up and the jeep skids. If I pump them, its ok, but I don't always have time or distance for that.

 

[JeepJeepster]

You dont have ABS it seems.

Just dont break so hard. You need to find what it takes to lock the brakes up then let off alittle. Its kinda 2nd nature for me now. I can tell when the tires start to slip in a certain situation then I back off some. You may also need better tires.

What tires do you have?

 

[Dave]

I cleaned the rotors before installing them with brake cleaner, but I didn't grease them. I do a lot of driving, over the 6 months I probably put on about 10,000 miles. I'll go to Napa and get a new set of pads and resurface the rotors at a local shop.

Something does not sound right. You did a complete brake job, new rotors and all and 6 months/10,000 miles later you got warped rotors?? I would tell them something is defective. Napa stuff is usually pretty good. I have done disk brake jobs with Napa parts and not had them go bad in that short a time.

I could see it if you just had the old rotors resurfaced but you replaced them. Because when you resurface rotors, you take material off, and then the rotor is thinner and does not dissipitate heat as well as a thicker rotor does. Then it warps. Even then they have to be within specs or shouldn't be resurfaced.....I would complain NICELY and try to get some sort of big discount or something especially if you still have the receipt..

Let us know how you make out. Good luck.

Dave

 

[JeepJeepster]

Ive always thought the same thing about getting rotors resurfaced but I had mine resurfaced around 15k and they have been doing great for the past 15k. They hardly took any material off at all but it was enough to get the shaking out when braking. Smooth as silk now!

 

[t_bois]

There is a spec for the rotor thickness. As long as you haven't exceeded that spec, you shouldn't have a problem with the rotors unless there was a problem with the casting to start with.

I'm not sure why you said:

"I cleaned the rotors before installing them with brake cleaner, but I didn't grease them."

Never apply grease or anything to the rotor surface or the rotor side of the brake pad, the rotors and pad should be absolutely clean when you install them. No greasy finger prints on these surfaces!

When you get the rotors turned, ask the guy if both rotors were bad, or if just one was bad. Note which one it was and if this happens again and it's the same rotor, then that rotor is bad.

You said:

"My biggest fear is that I've had to stop quick a couple times and the brakes seem to lock up and the jeep skids."

This sounds like the brakes may be grabbing, which means something has contaminated the pads or rotor surface. Definitely change to a different type of brake pad.