Rotors Keep Warping?!?!
 

So I swapped out my OEM rotors for Zimmerman rotors with new Akebono pads. First set of rotors warpped within days with new pads. I had them switched out by Amazon for replacements. Kept my existing pads as they are still new and put the new Zimmerman rotors on again. First few days they felt great but now when I hit my brakes, the car shakes. Should I replace the rotors again but get brand new pads again also? I hear a lot of BMW guys running Zimmerman rotors with Akebono pads but no idea what is wrong with mine :(

Ravi,

Better if you can measure the Rotors, & the pads as well, they could be remanufactured or something,

and also investigate the vent room & the drilled holes careFULLY, if there are some kind of crack....

ZAYED,,

I just told Amazon to send me all new goods and they are as long they get the damaged ones back again so let's try ONE MORE TIME.

I did paint the calipers while on the car so maybe that could be the culprit?

I did new OEM rotors with new Akebono pads, and I have had no problems? I'm wondering about the Zimmerman rotors? keep us posted.

Agreed,, thick paint or thick primer could interrupt the surface between the pistons.....

ZAYED,,

So pistons might be clogged? Anyways my rotors look like ass now anyways so def need to change them.

Thats werid... why not oem rotors and akebono pads brahhh

I would but I just paid like $250 for these and no question asked return policy from Amazon.

I don’t think pistons clogged,

After receiving the new Rotors & Pads, need to see the area between the pistons, if there any kind trammels or something....

ZAYED,,

I replaced them all oem new and than re freshend up my calipers and I have no issues. Did you spray the calipers while off the car?

Brake pads are too hard and causing higher rotor temps because the friction coefficient is higher than with softer pads although dusty give better grip with reduced brake pressure, so either keep on changing rotors or go to softer pads. The other possible cause could be cold water washing the car immediately after hard driving. Or material thickness and rotor mass is below that of the OEMs. I see people trying to save a few pounds on rotational mass\ but at the sacrifice of the heat sink of a good heavy rotor. Have you ever seen a 20 pound rotor on a dump truck? Mass absorbs heat slower and will handle higher temps for a longer time. If by chance you do a lot of high speed slow downs you might consider venting the rotors to the wind stream, or a few miles of normal driving without the use of severe braking will cool the rotors to live another day.

Are you verifying the warped rotor by checking run-out with a dial indicator? Vibration while braking could be caused by pretty much anything in the front end. Ball joints, loose lug bolts, wheel bearings, etc. I know it's a pain in the ass, but definitely worth checking into.

Well my rotors were fine before I replaced them. I got all my ball joints replaced and ****. I got Amazon to send me new everything so will swap and go from there

Actually Zimmerman is same weight as OEM

Easy solution. Stop hitting the brakes ;)

Make sure all moving parts on the calipers are nice and clean
 

hit with anti seize on everything moving or sliding.
Also do a flush on the calipers since the fluid most have boiled.

Yeah I am thinking doing a brake flush once everything is apart... :)

Are you sure you are not over torquing the lug nuts. That's a known cause of rotor warp.
110 ft/pounds

It was done by hand actually but I dunno **** is frustrating lol

P.S. Since these rotors rust instantly, can I just engine paint to paint the hats? I had them painted no but still shows a bit of rust or adding clear coat would be better to it?

I spray painted mine with heat proof silver paint. The look good and it seems to stick.

Lets start over djrabbi, what were the issues with the OEM setup- worn out-Y
Are the Zimmerman the same configuration ie, drilled, or slotted, both? do the ventilation fins on the new rotors go from outer edge and then exit near the hub, are they directional one left one right, just checking. Did you remove the cosmoline from the new rotors with a cleaner such as intake air cleaner or rubbing alcohol. Did you then break in the new setup with long slow stops or did you just see how good it would stop immediately. Did you notice any blueing of the rotor which would signify excess heat? If you have access to a laser thermometer see what the rotors temp runs after normal driving stop and starts. Are the brakes really hot after normal driving whereas you can smell the brakes? Lastly make sure there is no kinking of the brake lines which would not allow the reduction of brake pressure when you let off the brakes. Lastly go back to OEM rotors and try again with the new pads, but I would think the pads are the issue.

What Akebono set have you got?

OEM rotors were done so thought I would take a chance on Zimmerman.

They are OE replacement according to Amazon, which are drilled. I am using Akebono EUR983, which bite nicely after a while. There is some vibration when brakes are applied but my set before that was terrible so I just assume it will get just as bad.

Ohhh rotors look like they have "hot spots" on them.

http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps623b3eb2.jpg

Did you also do the rear brakes the same Zimm and Ake?

Rears are perfectly fine.... :(

They may weigh the same, but I'm still going to blame the manufacturing of the rotors in your case. For sure those rotors can not be made to the same exact specifications as the OEM otherwise you would be paying almost OEM prices. Also, get a torque wrench! Proper and even lug torque is pretty cruicial as Jnash mentioned. You can find one for around $100.

Also, how do the hub faces look on the wheel bearings? If there is any corrosion or scale between the hub and rotor you will get run-out that will cause your vibrations.

I think it could be the wheel bearing cause at low speeds gives me a howling/rubbing sound while I hit the brakes?

i have a solution!


sell it! first you had a problem with a stripped screw, now this. what's next? wheel falling off?

Got new rotors in and these have the coating on it! Thank god and hopefully these come out better.

Think I should tell paint the hats?

Painted always looks better than rust. As far as the noise, It's probably the tires scrubbing when you hit the brakes. That's a whole lot of car those rubbers are in charge of stopping.

What do you mean "by-hand"? you hand tightened the wheel bolts just by hand? How can you tell you tightened them enough? They maybe working loose over a few days.

"Bleed the brakes when this is all apart" ??
You mean after everything is put back together I hope.

I am not sure of your skill levels but if this is the first time you have worked on brakes then, although in theory its a relatively easy task to change rotors/pads, you may have other issues that you are not realizing. A worn suspension can cause this, bad rotors, sticking piston, over tight lug nuts, not following new pad/rotors run-in procedures, bad wheel bearing etc etc. You need to carefully check all these to correctly diagnose the problem. Typically a warped rotor will only make the car shake when braking. Does that change when you turn and brake at the same time?
Have you checked the wheel bearings end play?
Do the pistons move in and out without any obstruction?
Have you checked the run-in/out (side movement) on the bad rotors when you rotate them by hand?
Do you have SBC on this car?

I will be interested to see if this problem is solved with your (3rd set?) of rotors and it will be a surprise to me if you have in fact had a rash of bad rotors since I have never and changed plenty over the years including the brands you have.

You can always take a suspected "bad" rotor to an auto-parts and have them put it on their rotor turning machine and see if its got run-out. The classic symptom of warped rotors is a pulsing in the brake pedal when stopping from high speeds. Sometimes that's accompanied by a simultaneous wobbling of the steering wheel.

How are you driving after putting the new stuff on? You're not going out and doing hard stops soon after the new parts are put on are you? The new pads and rotors need to bed into each other and will not have proper braking till you drive around a lil bit on em. The very tiny high spots on the rotors/pads need to mate to each other. If you brake hard before this happens you end up with hot spots and glazed pads, and glazed pads will lead to more and more heat as they slip rather then try to bite.

Put the new stuff on and drive it easy/normal for a couple days.

A dial indicator on the hub to make sure that's not warped and warping the new rotor is a good idea as well. As was also mentioned don't go crazy on lug nut torque.

I'm of this school for bedding-in pads and rotors. Its all about the dust layer and I am convinced it makes a difference in the performance of the braking system.
http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm

After warping rotors on two vehicles trying this method I'm back to just driving normally or a little easy for a couple days.

user error? installer or driver? or possibly bad batch of rotors?

I actually pay someone to do my work haha. If I still had my civic I would tackle this. Let's see if rotors are even warped by my shop. Going this weekend to get it fixed/looked at. If he says they aren't warped then they aren't I guess.

For what it's worth I installed the cheaper, non coated Zimmerman rotors and they warped within 2k miles.
Swapped OEM rotors, akeenbo pads and flushed the fluid. Vibration gone for the last 12k miles or so.

Between the rusting hats and the vibration I always recommend people spend the extra for the OEM.

Good luck!

Yeah Let's see this time around...I got coated ones this time.