Are my rotors warped? Help

[Ryukyu]

When braking at freeway speeds, there is noticable shuddering or shaking through the steering wheel and the car itself. Are my rotors warped? Or could it be the pads or something else? Once again I don't know where to take my car to in San Diego to check it out. Any good experiences with brake/alignment shops in SD? Thanks guys! Patrick

[Blaze]

Casual driving should not warp your rotors.
Have you machined them once before.
Or have you tracked the car?

Shuddering under a light or medium load generally means they're warped or you have other issues in the system. (issues that will lead to warped rotors).

Pull one off and run it down to the shop and see what they say?
Some shop will even do free inspections if you don't have an extra car.

Blaze

[wsEVO562]

have you rotated your wheels lately, or removed them??? reason being when I rotated my wheels a while back I drove at highway speeds and felt the same vibration/shuttering you described,when braking...turns out me and my buddy tightened the lug nuts to tight ,according to my other friend (mechanic)

So we loosened them then retightened them to factory torque, and presto no more shuttering 8)

oh yeah I don't remember the specs on torquing the lugs.. sorry
hope this helps, if not betta check tha rotors

[nine4surfah]

the last time this occured to me was when my tires were worn!! stock advan dont last very long. give them a check.

[turbrodude]

I'm bettin on warped rotors or pad deposits on the rotors. Reasonably hard street driving with the stock brakes can lead to this shuddering while braking at higher speeds. If you get the rotors turned, it will fix the problem. But most likely it will come back in another 5-10k miles. The stock braking system needs a little work. I have already turned my rotors twice and they're pretty much done with.

[CT9A RS]

yeah i have to agree with turbrodude.

jus get some two piece rotors and some pads with more bite.

Maybe like the Stasis rotors and Ferodo DS2500 pads like on SCC's project evo.

I dont know if neones had experience with those.

[G20]

I believe your rotors are warped. It happened to me one after I installed Ferrodo 2500 pads and did some hard braking on the street and track.

[turbrodude]

GT40 Mark had some 2 piece rotors last time I saw his car. He had to tweak the stock brake pads a little bit for some reason. Didn't quite fit I guess. But I'm definitly getting some 2 peice rotors in the next few months. There is a lot of history with Evo rotors sucking in the past and they still suck. Its like the car was designed to make that single great 60-0 stop in 100 feet (or whatever). Try it twice within 30 seconds and rotors go bye-bye.

[donatevo]

When braking at freeway speeds, there is noticable shuddering or shaking through the steering wheel and the car itself. Are my rotors warped? Or could it be the pads or something else? Once again I don't know where to take my car to in San Diego to check it out. Any good experiences with brake/alignment shops in SD? Thanks guys! PatrickThat happened to me on my '03 Evo when braking at 80mph, my rotors are warped, took it to the dealer and mitsu replaced them, my mileage under 10k miles.

[hksevo8]

When braking at freeway speeds, there is noticable shuddering or shaking through the steering wheel and the car itself. Are my rotors warped? Or could it be the pads or something else? Once again I don't know where to take my car to in San Diego to check it out. Any good experiences with brake/alignment shops in SD? Thanks guys! PatrickThat happened to me on my '03 Evo when braking at 80mph, my rotors are warped, took it to the dealer and mitsu replaced them, my mileage under 10k miles.

I had the same exact thing happen to me and the dealer replaced the rotors. If you have not changed any of the original oem brake parts and still have more then 50% brake pad left, the dealer will most likely replace them under warranty. And yes, casual driving will warp rotors when cold water is splashed on the rotors.

[Ryukyu]

Thanks guys! I will try all the suggestions listed. I don't track the car just the occasional canyon run. My tires are getting pretty worn, havent rotated the wheels lately and lugnuts are tightened to specs. Hopefully I can get some freebie rotors from Mitsu before I buy some aftermarket ones...but I'm not counting on it.

[Ryukyu]

Update - so I rotate the tires and the shaking went away. My front tires were pretty worn down. There was a lot more tread on the rears that are now up front.

[gofaster87]

Update - so I rotate the tires and the shaking went away. My front tires were pretty worn down. There was a lot more tread on the rears that are now up front.

You should always have them rebalanced when you rotate them. Worn tires are never in balance.

[Hockeychamp]

When braking at freeway speeds, there is noticable shuddering or shaking through the steering wheel and the car itself. Are my rotors warped? Or could it be the pads or something else? Once again I don't know where to take my car to in San Diego to check it out. Any good experiences with brake/alignment shops in SD? Thanks guys! PatrickThat happened to me on my '03 Evo when braking at 80mph, my rotors are warped, took it to the dealer and mitsu replaced them, my mileage under 10k miles.I am having the same problem! I only have 3000 miles on my car, and the brakes were redone by Mitsu at 300 miles, Rock got in there, and scored the discs!! I guess it's time to have another brake job courtesy of mitsu!

[ScoobySteve]

resurface all your rotors, rebalance them. If you're driving the RS model, that does not come with ABS, it could also be the Brembo calipers doing everything they can not to lock up. Driving without ABS, with insane braking while competing or driving hard can do that. Check your pads, or for any possible debris stuck in the way, i know something retarted like that happened to Renzo's EVO. Take off the caliper assembly, look for suspicious wear or non-uniform surfaces. When ur car is cooled down, run your fingers over when, if you can feel uneven wear, then resurface them, if not, then you might want to run a diagnostic, but I seriously doubt your problem is that bad.

-Steve

[Knower]

resurface all your rotors, rebalance them. If you're driving the RS model, that does not come with ABS, it could also be the Brembo calipers doing everything they can not to lock up. Driving without ABS, with insane braking while competing or driving hard can do that. Check your pads, or for any possible debris stuck in the way, i know something retarted like that happened to Renzo's EVO. Take off the caliper assembly, look for suspicious wear or non-uniform surfaces. When ur car is cooled down, run your fingers over when, if you can feel uneven wear, then resurface them, if not, then you might want to run a diagnostic, but I seriously doubt your problem is that bad.

-Steve

Also, for anyone who thinks they have warped rotors, do some reading here:

http://www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/warped_rotors_myth.htm

[Ralliartpnoi]

When braking at freeway speeds, there is noticable shuddering or shaking through the steering wheel and the car itself. Are my rotors warped? Or could it be the pads or something else? Once again I don't know where to take my car to in San Diego to check it out. Any good experiences with brake/alignment shops in SD? Thanks guys! Patrick

pulsation only in the pedal would be warpage on one side of the rotor. most likely one of your fronts if u say its after accelerations.

pulsation + a shimmy in the steering wheel would be warpage to both sides of the rotor, again the suspect is the front rotors.

how many miles do you have?

[ovenmit331]

my steering wheel did this a while back, maybe when i had around 9 or 10K miles. Only at freeway speeds and only when half-full braking or less. If I really got on the brakes, the shaking stopped. Mine was also only in the steering wheel I believe. I'd read that stoptech "warped rotors myth" article before and decided to semi re-bed my pads. Everytime I braked for the next three or so days I'd brake full force (non-ABS) and leave a lot of room in front of me while making sure no one was behind me. And then when I got to five miles an hour or so I just coasted. I just tried not to ever brake very hard at all and come to a full stop with the brakes applied. Like I said, Did this for three days, and the shaking is gone. Could just be some brake deposits left over from a hard braking to a full stop episode... my .02