Shaky gen3 after new brakes installed.

[BrianJ]

Hey guys I hope someone can point me in a good direction here. About a week ago I replaced my struts, cv axles, and brake pads. I had the rotors turned and installed Autozone Duralast ceramic pads.

Here's my situation. When I brake I have a bad shake, not side to side in the wheel, more of a straight up and down steering wheel and dash shake. It's much worse in the first inch or two of brake pedal travel, then smooths out when I push the pedal further down. At low speed it's not bad, but on the highway the shake is terrible.

I haven't started pulling anything apart yet, was kind of hoping someone might have an idea what might be going on here. I have done a lot of brakes, so it wasn't a big deal changing them, the only thing I questioned while I was doing it was which pad was on the inboard side and which was outside. The only difference I could see was the wear indicator on the pads.

Oh yeah forgot to mention, it's a 98 if it makes any difference. Thanks in advance, I've been lurking this sight for a while, and used the many write ups on here to install a Daystar lift, timing belt, and now this project as well. Ive never really posted much but I appreciate all the effort that's been put into this site.

 

[kball]

Did you bed the brakes after putting it back together? Maybe they did a bad job of turning them or said they did it but didn't...

Or you could have some crud between the rotor and hub. Any rust issues back in there?

 

[BrianJ]

Didn't bed the brakes, honestly I'm not sure what that is. The mounting surfaces of the rotors were clean, the shop that turned them cleaned up them up while they had them.

 

[nissanh]

Turning the rotors is a waste of money. Did to my car and was crap. Bought new and works great. You'll save few $$$ but buy new. I think you had a cracked rotor and turning it will not fix a crack.

Your truck bumps when the rotors are hot or at room temp?

Ceramic brake pads (non OEM) is also crap. Buy OEM pads from the dealer or online. their material is good and ceramic makes noise and will not have enough friction so you have to put more force on the paddle to stop the truck.

 

[Socco]

If the dash is bouncing...The rotors are most likely warped.
Did you have a problem with the brakes before you did all the work?
I would talk to the place that turned them and ask WTF.
Having them turned isn't a waste of money. As long as there is enough material left to so it safely. I had a set of PowerSlot rotors turned awhile back and they lasted long enough to recoup the cost.
There are lots of write-ups on Bedding in new brakes. This would not be the cause of your issue, but it is a good practice.

Side note:
Everyone has opinions on what pads are the best. Yeah, OK, I just bought OE ones, granted. But I have a friend, who last year was riding back from Tierra Del Fuego on his new BMW. Found himself in some dumpy Mexican town with no front brake pads left. No parts around. He found a guy who re-padded his existing backing plates with new material for $5. Rode all the way back into Ontario and still has them on. He can't tell the difference between the them or the "premium" pads he had before.

 

[BrianJ]

Thanks guys.

Yes I was having the same problem before, but not nearly as bad, and that was with a different set of rotors. Here's the history of it.

Several years ago I was having the problem so I replaced the rotors with a set from Advance Auto, and put the originals in my shed. 6 months or so later, the after market set was doing the same thing and I just chalked it up to cheap parts. When I did all this front end work, I had the original set turned and put them back on. Maybe I just need to start from scratch with new rotors. BTW it happens at any temp and is only really noticable at or above around 40mph.

 

[Socco]

Alignment Ok? Tires Balanced?

 

[theizzardking]

Thanks guys.

Yes I was having the same problem before, but not nearly as bad, and that was with a different set of rotors. Here's the history of it.

Several years ago I was having the problem so I replaced the rotors with a set from Advance Auto, and put the originals in my shed. 6 months or so later, the after market set was doing the same thing and I just chalked it up to cheap parts. When I did all this front end work, I had the original set turned and put them back on. Maybe I just need to start from scratch with new rotors. BTW it happens at any temp and is only really noticeable at or above around 40mph.

late to the party