All went smooth. Thanks goes out to that dude named Matt for the how-to-articles! You know who you are!

Braking with the Duralast Gold pads is about the same as with the stock brakes. Maybe a little better. I had a little shimmy when braking from 45 mph to about 20. But it seemed to smooth out after I put about 10-15 miles on the pads to break them in properly.

I didn't turn the rotors because there was no grooves in them and they looked very smooth. I'll give an update at about 200 miles to let you know how these brakes perform.

 

Sorry for the double-post. But that shimmy I had earlier today after the brake job is still there. I was hoping it was just the new pads that needed seating. But I have a question. When I did my brake job, I did everything that was supposed to be done.

I took the cap off the master cylinder, opened the bleeders before comressing the caliper pistons back in, lubed the backs of the new pads with silcone grease, greased the sliders, and made sure everything was put back right and tightened well. Last thing I did was bleed the system of air. I have a nice tight pedal, and it stops my truck with minimal effort. But there is a shimmy in it that slightly shakes the steering wheel.

One thing I thought I may have done wrong was to use an impact torque gun to tighten the lug nuts. I didn't put it on the highest torque setting, which was 4. I put it on 3. So, I think I may have over-tightened the lug nuts. Do you think this is the case?

I'm going to loosen them up tommorrow and tighten them by hand. I don't think my rotors are warped because they were smooth as silk before the brake change.

Any info regaurding this issue will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for listening.

 

Even though your rotors were smooth, they could still be off which in turn will cause the shimmy. I'm betting the shimmy is from the rotors.

 

I did a search on google called "brake pad bedding", and it actually says that it takes time for new pads to transfer a film over the rotor. Which they said can cause a vibration or a shimmy. They said it usually clears up within 400-500 miles once the film transfer from the pads to the rotors is complete. We'll see. And I'll keep you updated.

Edited: I don't think its the rotors. There wasn't a hint of vibration while using my old pads. Why would it start "as soon" as I put the new ones on? Doesn't make sense to me.

 

That has happend to me before in my old car. The car didn't shimmy with the old pads and old rotors but once the new pads were put on...the car would shimmy due to wrapped rotors. maybe the rotors were warpping while the old pads were on there and the pads just adjusted as the warp slowly occured therefore the pads warped with the rotor. now that you have a flat surface pad the rotor doesn't match it. it's worth taking a look at.

 

But what if the old pads were worn even on all four corners? Wouldn't that indicate even rotor wear? The shimmy isn't that bad. It's more annoying than anything else. The truck stops fine. I'll give it about 500 miles and see what happens. If they're still shimmying after that, I'll problably get some powerslot rotors.

 

Update! I loosened the "torqued on" lug nuts and tightened them back by hand. Took the truck out for about a 10 mile drive to bed the pads in again, and it seems the brakes are getting ALOT smoother.

I didn't get nearly as much vibration this time. I think the pads just need to seat (bed-in) properly. Do a google search on "Break pad bed", and you'll see what I'm talking about. It says to go easy on your new brakes for at least 400-500 miles to bed them in properly.

Thanks to Jordan not Mike (I think thats who it was?), for the info. Sorry if I got the name wrong, you know who you are!

 

Took a 30 mile trip today. It's still has the shimmy in it. But not as bad as before. I bet it is the rotors. It's definatley in the front because the steering wheel will vibrate when I'm going 45-50 mph and apply moderate brake pressure. It's there at speeds above 60-65 too. Just not as bad. It seems more abrupt at 40-45 mph, and right before I stop if I'm on the pedal hard.

I can live with it though because it's not that bad. But that gives me a good excuse to buy some powerslots. I'll see how it goes after I reach the 500 mile break-in period. If they haven't smoothed out by then, then I know the rotors are warped. But it does seem they are smoothing out little by little.

 

When I said smooth, I meant no pulsating. Not the physical appearance of the rotor itself.

 

I wouldn't hold off to long on changing the rotor or you may end up screwing your pads again. Better safe then sorry. I would assume that if your pulsing in the pedal is smoothing out abit then it's because the pad is starting to form around the warpness. I could be wrong....but just a thought.

 

When the pads went on the first time there shouldn't have been any pulsing to begin with unless a) something was put on wrong during the replacement or 2) the rotors are warped....either way...your pads might get messed up.

 

Lol. Let me clear this up. I have no pulsing in the pedal, I meant the steering wheel would shimmy or (pulsate) when I put the new pads on. lol. It did it when I slowed down from about 60-50 mph all the way down to 5-10 mph. It never did that with the old pads.

Today is a different story though. I went back last night and re-checked to see if all the caliper bolts were tight. They all were snug. But a few of them would tighten up a little more, so I went ahead and did that. And I loosened the lugnuts and tightened them by hand with a lug wrench instead of an impact gun which is a big NO-NO.

Today I put about 40 or 50 more miles on the new pads and the vibration/shimmy/pulsating, whatever you want to call it in the steering wheel is almost gone. You can just barely feel it in the steering wheel right before I stop. Which so happens to be when I put the most pressure on the brake pedal. So it's getting better each time I drive it.

Almost everbody I talk to says that it's just the pads that need time to seat properly. And it feels as if this is whats happening.

Thanks for the warnings though. If I do mess the pads up, I can't say you didn't tell me so.

 

LOL Oh ok...thanks for clearing it up. I always use an impact gun when I tighten my lug nuts....I put them on hand tight first, or as far as I can and then use the gun to tighten them the rest of the way. I remember the first time I used a impact gun on my old sunbird....I tightened the nuts the whole way from start to finish...that was a bad idea....I had to re-thread the bolts afterwards cause they got messed up. The only thing I dont understand is why your pads are taking so long to seat themselves in. I guess every make of pads is different. either way, good luck bud.

 

Ahh, lessons learned.

I problably need to put some more miles on them. I've driven a total of about 100 miles since the brake job. I don't think that's enough time to seat them in yet. Plus, I've been extra-ultra-easy on the brake pedal.

Thanks for the help.

 

My brakes are finally smooth. They just needed more time to "seat". Go to stoptech.com and scroll down and click on the "Technical" link. There show procedures on how to bed-in your new pads. There's some very informative info in there that I didn't even have a clue about until I read it. Check it out, there's some pretty good info in there if you want to get educated on brakes.

Here's one of the many informative links. https://www.f150online.com/forums/li...//stoptech.com