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Vibration after changing brakes

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Old 06-17-2008, 05:50 PM
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Exclamation Vibration after changing brakes

I'll keep this brief.
I installed new pads and rotors, took a test drive and immediatly noticed a vibration, like an out of balance wheel, coming from the rear end between 60-80mph. Reinstalled old pads and rotors to eliminate possible bad rotor, still there.
Re-installed new pads and rotors, still there.
Put the car on the lift and ran it up to 65 and driver side shook pretty bad. We assumed that somehow i had knocked the wheel out of balance but decided to check all the mounting points and ujoints while we were under there, everything looked fine. I even checked the rear bumper cover to make sure it wasn't flapping in the wind!
Rebalanced the wheels, still there.
For the record i actually use a torque wrench on my lug nuts (they asked me that at the tire shop 5 times.)

I am stumped at what could have happened,
I've done dozens of brake jobs and this is a first!

I am trying to not just throw parts and $$$ at it until it goes away, learned that a long time ago!

Anyone have this happen to them after simple maintenance?
Old 06-17-2008, 05:52 PM
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Forgot to mention, im going outside right now to rotate the wheels to double verify that it isn't an issue with the wheel/s.
Old 06-17-2008, 11:01 PM
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This would be good to know for me as well. I sure hope someone responds!
Old 06-18-2008, 08:16 AM
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Not sure what the problem is but did you adjust the parking brake mechanism when you replaced the rotors? If not, maybe they are dragging a bit on one side?
Old 06-20-2008, 09:41 PM
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UPDATE:
I moved the rear wheels to the front one by one and took it for a test drive. I think i'm losing my mind but it seems the vibration just comes and goes somewhat.

The vibe in the rear has improved somewhat while picking up some vibe in the steering wheel. So that would say that one of the previous rear wheels was STILL a bit out of balance.

I put it up on stands and had the wife run it up a few times while i looked around underneath, periodically holding it at certain speeds. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Correct me if i'm wrong but when you're in neutral, your wheels shouldn't turn correct? When i revved the engine the wheels would speed up. Im not talking about a slight rotation due to drivetrain vibration but spinning like it was idling in drive.

Also the park brake light would come on after putting it in drive and running it up to approx 30mph. Shut the engine off and restart and the light would stay off until it was ran up to about 30 again. I ignored the ABS light.

You guys gotta help me!
Old 06-20-2008, 09:46 PM
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Originally Posted by wssix99
Not sure what the problem is but did you adjust the parking brake mechanism when you replaced the rotors? If not, maybe they are dragging a bit on one side?
Could you clarify a bit? The park brake wasn't rubbing the rotors when i put them on so i didn't adjust anything. I've never adjusted a park brake while doing a brake change.
Old 06-21-2008, 10:11 AM
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Originally Posted by sneaky7980
Could you clarify a bit? The park brake wasn't rubbing the rotors when i put them on so i didn't adjust anything. I've never adjusted a park brake while doing a brake change.
That's what I was looking for - a parking brake rub. If you checked them, they were smooth, and your p-brake works well, you should be fine on that front.
Old 06-23-2008, 05:27 PM
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No improvement yet. Any ideas on what i could have damaged by jacking the car up to cause this problem? I've been under the car twice, once with a local shop, and still haven't seen anything.


Help...

Last edited by sneaky7980; 06-27-2008 at 06:09 PM.
Old 06-23-2008, 05:44 PM
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ummm bad rotor ??
Old 06-23-2008, 05:56 PM
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Originally Posted by billyb
ummm bad rotor ??
That was my first thought, but i've switched them out 3 times now. Same problem.
Old 06-23-2008, 07:03 PM
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Did you check your wheel and axle bearings? They could very well be on the way out.
Old 06-23-2008, 08:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Blackhawk777
Did you check your wheel and axle bearings? They could very well be on the way out.
Well I grabbed them at the 12 and 6 0'clock position and shook them vertically in and out, and didn't feel anything abnormal. If you know of a better way to check them let me know, that's just how i've always done it!
Old 06-23-2008, 08:07 PM
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did you clean the rotor mating surface real good. maybe its not sitting flat.
Old 06-24-2008, 04:21 PM
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If you spin the rotor (up front anyways) you would hear like a metallic grinding noise while the rotor is turning.
Old 06-24-2008, 04:29 PM
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Looks like im going to put it on stands again. Local auto mech told me to remove the drive shaft and run it up to further pinpoint the problem area. I'll pull the wheels and double check the rotor mating surfaces while i'm at it.

Also I check the front end for any rough rotation whenever i do a brake job and that all checked out ok.

Thanks again guys for the input. Stay tuned....
Old 06-27-2008, 06:18 PM
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Just got back from another wheel shop, they found a bent rim that was located on the rear right side. I checked it out on the balancer and sure enough it's bent. I thought "well at least i have an answer now." They said i will probably still feel a slight vibe in the rear but all else is good.
They also told me that the balance on the fronts were out, and that they fixed it. That would explain the slight vibe i picked up in the steering wheel when i put the rear's on the front. Finally i figured out what the hell is going on!

Unfortunatly, the vibe is still exactly the same in the front, and the rear. I understand that i will have some in the rear now that i know that one of them is bent. But no improvement on the front?
The bent wheel was on the front since i bought the car and i never felt anything. I'm guessing that the weight took car of that, but now WTF!?

The tires are sumitomo's btw and i've never had a problem until this damn brake change. I'm assuming that if i damaged a tire somehow the balancer would find it?

Help, i don't want to have to sell this thing!!
Old 07-04-2008, 01:29 PM
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I went ahead and put on a different set of wheels and tires that i borrowed just for the hell of it. Vibe improved a little but still there.
One thing i have noticed is that the vibe is more pronounced when decelerating from about 80-60mph. I tried decelerating going down hill and up, a lot more noticable when going downhill.

In the mean time i'm going to swap the orig wheels back on, pull the rear rotors off for one more final insp and replace the u-joint.
I'm wondering if i should go ahead and have the driveshaft balanced while it's out?

Thoughts?
Old 11-26-2008, 09:28 AM
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Ever find the problem?



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