Warped rotors or something else?

[2013 Geee T]

When I hit the brakes sometimes at freeway speeds the steering wheel will shake as if the rotors are warped. But I dont notice it at lower speed braking like on the street. I dont remember doing any hard braking anything else that would have warped the rotors.

Could it be a tire balance problem?

 

[jivepepper]

Sounds like rotors to me if so ford resurfaced/turned mine and it fixed the problem thats when I still had a warrenty.

 

[KJ Hoppus]

turn them if that fixes it great if not it could be a bad calipar aswell.

 

[johnnyboy1111]

rotors

most likely rotors, when you do a brake job last? cut them & put new pads, thats a one hour job, remember to open bleeders when compressing pistons! look it up on the Bullitt site....its a snap......

 

[Cobra Jay]

When I hit the brakes sometimes at freeway speeds the steering wheel will shake as if the rotors are warped. But I dont notice it at lower speed braking like on the street. I dont remember doing any hard braking anything else that would have warped the rotors.

Could it be a tire balance problem?

If it only does it when you're breaking then it's the rotors.

Check the wheel bearings while you've got it apart.

 

[jfranci3]

It's probably not the rotors unless they're cracked. It could be a bad strut (bounce both sides of the car), an uneven deposit of pad substance on the rotor surface (did you change pads), or a bad bushing. Are you getting pedal feed back or just the steering wheel?

 

[XtorT'r]

turn them if that fixes it great if not it could be a bad calipar aswell.

if you get all the rotors off you should usually be able to tell if the calipers are bad. of course your gonna have to play with them a bit when they are off the car.

 

[rhyrlik]

It could be a pad problem. If you don't break-in the rotors/pads, then friction material may become imbedded in the rotor causing uneven pull. It will feel like a warped rotor, but it isn't. In any case, resurfacing/new pads are the answer.

 

[jfranci3]

It could be a pad problem. If you don't break-in the rotors/pads, then friction material may become imbedded in the rotor causing uneven pull. It will feel like a warped rotor, but it isn't. In any case, resurfacing/new pads are the answer.

Brake pad material is SUPPOSED to attach itself to the rotor surface. The pad leaves a thin layer of film on the rotor surface. After driving on the track, I've left a very thick layer on the rotor, and I still had smooth braking. Problems can occur when you have dissimilar films (you put two different types of pads on the same rotor).

 

[2013 Geee T]

They are the original brakes (18000 miles). It feels like warped rotors but like I said it only does it when braking at higher speeds. Now that I think about it I only notice it in the steering wheel and not in the pedal.

 

[jfranci3]

That sounds more like a suspension issue than a brake issue. Does the car react in any way when you turn hard left or right?

 

[rhyrlik]

Brake pad material is SUPPOSED to attach itself to the rotor surface. The pad leaves a thin layer of film on the rotor surface. After driving on the track, I've left a very thick layer on the rotor, and I still had smooth braking. Problems can occur when you have dissimilar films (you put two different types of pads on the same rotor).

How did you determine the thickness of the film? How did you measure for evenness? If the layer is uneven, would that not cause vibration?

 

[dmsead]

Here's an interesting link about brakes:stoptech.com

 

[rhyrlik]

"Regardless of pad composition, if both disc and pad are not properly broken in, material transfer between the two materials can take place in a random fashion - resulting is uneven deposits and vibration under braking. "

That, indeed, was good reading!

 

[jfranci3]

How did you determine the thickness of the film? How did you measure for evenness? If the layer is uneven, would that not cause vibration?

It doesn't take much, braking for from your foot is amplifed a lot. This likely isn't the problem. I'd check your suspension components out.

 

[FallenPhoenix]

tire out of balance?

 

[tarch]

could be rotors or imbalanced tires,

OR it could also be that the lug nuts are not tightened equally for each stud

 

[2013 Geee T]

I was thinking unbalanced tires since it only does it at higher speeds. I noticed yesterday that I do feel it in the pedal a little but the steering wheel is what really shakes. Also I noticed that when I use lighter pressure on the brakes when slowing down on the freeway it shakes it but it doesnt when to coming to a full stop on the street where I would apply the brakes harder. Wouldnt warped rotors do it all the time?

 

[FallenPhoenix]

warped rotors (in my experience) have a shimmy you can feel through the pedal and the entire car. My rotors were badly warped though, so I don't know if it would be the same on mildly warped rotors. Check to see if you may be missing any weights around the rims of your wheels. There's one on each of mine, and I've got the bullits like you do.

 

[2013 Geee T]

I was thinking maybe I would just deal with it until its time for new tires which should be less than 6 months away and see if a new balance on the tires help. Or maybe I will rotate them since and see if it makes a difference.