Ok. As some of you know, I changed my brake pads about two weeks ago. Since then, I've been getting a vibe in my steering wheel when braking. It only happens at low speeds. Say, if I'm doing 65 mph and slow to about 10-15 mph and get the brakes good and hot, my steering wheel will ever so slightly vibrate at the lower speeds.

But it never does it at high speeds? The brakes feel good and smooth (except at low speeds when the pads/rotors are hot). The pedal is tight, and it will stop on a dime. It happens after I slow down from high speeds and continue braking at about 30 to 10 mph while the pads are still hot, it will vibrate the steering wheel just enough that you can feel it.

I checked the rotors to see if they were warped, and they turned smoothly without grabbing the pads as I rotated them with the wheels off. The backs of the pads and the sliders were lubricated with silicone grease. The brakes were blead twice, and all the air is supposedly out of the system... hence the tight brake pedal. All the caliper bolts are tight, and the wheels were put back on and tightened by hand to approximatley 100-120 ft-lbs.

I just took my truck out and got it up to about 60 mph and jammed on the brakes to slow down to about 15-20 mph to try to bed the pads in some more. That seemed to help it a little. I've got about 500 miles on these pads, and I've never just slammed down on the brakes until now. Doing that seemed to help. I'm thinking maybe these lifetime pads take longer to "seat in" than a regular pad, and it takes some real hard stops to bed them in properly??? Any opinions?

I just went out and cracked open the front two bleeders to let out any air that may have been in the lines. I didn't hear any air gushing out when I cracked them open, so there's definatley no air in the system. I left the bleeders open about ten seconds or so. Just enough to let some fluid dribble out, and then I tightened them back up. Then I went for a drive, no difference.

Edited to add: The pads are the Duralast Golds (Autozone's premium semi-metallic) with the limited lifetime warranty.

 

I'd say the front rotors are warped. Doesn't take much, more than .003" lateral runout or parallelism variation and you'll feel it. New brake stuff on one end of the truck tends to exaggerate any problems that the other end may have.

 

Well then. I'm yankin' those babies off and getting them turned just enough to make em' smooth. Thanks!

 

Remember to be nice to them at first and give them a chance to seat in before giving them a real work out.

 

For safeties sake check your tie rod ends while your at it. Good luck and let us know hwat you find.

 

Thanks all. I've got to pay my insurance first before I can start in on my brakes. I know it doesn't cost much to turn rotors, but I'm "really" tight on cash right now. And I have to make sure my insurance is paid. But anyway, I'll be sure to take it easy on them the first 500-600 miles Colorado. And peppermrj... I'll check my tie rod ends, but my truck only has 54,000 miles on it. So I don't think I have a problem there. I'll check em' anyway when I get the time.

PS- Hopefully I'll get that electricians job I applied for next Monday and buy me a new STX 4x4! Wish me luck!

 

the rotors may have hard spots in them rather than being warped...put a dial indicator on the rotors and see what the run-out is...either and or resurfacing or replacement(sometimes cheaper)is in order..good luck
...zap!

 

I don't have a dial indicator zap. I'll just get them resurfaced when I get the chance. That should take care of it at least until I sell it. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

Lower ball joints on mine. I had a lot more miles, but I checked the ball joints when I had the rotors off. They had quite a bit of slop in them. Shook the whole truck! You could see the top of the ball joint being hammered up.

Now, new ball joints, upper control arms, Ppitman, idler, shocks, and new tires. Rides like brand new, and no squeaks.

 

Believe it or not I have been told that rotors can actually warp sitting on the shelf.
I had new rotors put on an 88 full size Bronco that I use to have and that hapened. When they told me they warp on the shelf I did not believe them so I looked into it and found out they actually do. Go figure....

 

interesting indeed...