Rotated tires the other day before taking 04 screw 4WD to dealer for warped front rotors (less than 15,000 miles). Noticed that the lug holes are about 3/32" larger than lugs allowing the rotor to slip back and forth. Normally I would have thought no big deal after the lug nuts are torqued. However the lug holes are chewed up around the edges where they have obviously been smacking the lugs. Dealer thinks this is no problem. Also they didn't replace the pads when they put on new rotors. They claim Ford says it isn't necessary. Of course I have found through experience that using the old pads worn in to warped rotors can cause the new rotors to warp.

Any thoughts? Have any of you noticed the oversized lug holes on yours. Any vehicle I have had in the past had rotors that fit snugly over the shoulder of the lugs.

Just curious.

 

Because they are all on the same plane, and the lug nuts are shoulder/washered the play/slop is fine. Ford has been doing this since 1997 on light duty, 1999 on superduty and makers like Toyota have been doing this since the '80's on cars. The chewing on the wheels is do to the shoulder lug nuts. They have a little bitting on the underside to grab the wheel.

I'm not sure that I would put old pads on new rotors. I know Ford says it's ok, but they are trying to save money. If you have a bad shock, they will change out the one shock. Now you'd have 3 worn ones and one new one. That will definately affect ride/ braking and cornering. But they will only replace the one.

So, if it were me, I would spring for the extra dough, and put new pads on too.

 

If the lug nuts are properly torqued, the rotor can't move. It's sandwiched between the wheel and hub, and there should be no movement there. If there is, you've got problems.... like loose wheels to start with.

The lug holes can be oversized for clearance so long as the center is a slip-fit over the hub i.e. the rotor (and wheel for that matter) is hub-centric. If it's a lug-centric setup (usually vehicles with tapered-seat lug nuts are lug-centric) then, yes, typically the rotor will be too.

-Joe

 

Thanks for the feedback. However there doesn't appear to be a shoulder on the lugs and the rotor holes are chewed on the edges from the lug threads. I'll double check the lugnut torque specs with the dealer.

Good news is that this all started with the severe vibration problem others have been having and the dealer finally duplicated the vibration. The tech said he thought the wiper blades were going to break the windshield. After this happened to me I noticed the front wheels were so hot I couldn't keep my hands on them but a few seconds. Seems the front calipers are locking up. This could be an ABS problem, master cylinder issue or just brake dust load up causing the pads to get stuck. I'll find out tomorrow.

Thanks for the input.

 

Sounds like bad caliper pistons to me and/or bad brake fluid with excessive corrosion. Check out your caliper slide pins to ensure they are greased.