Car Shakes When Braking

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turbo99

Member
I've got two Wilwood brakes in the front of my civic. I've had them in there for almost two years and I'm still using the brake pads that came with them. Anyways, I noticed that whenever I apply my brakes slowly, my car starts to shake pretty bad, but when I apply the brakes fully, it doesn't shake. What could be causing the rumbling? I hope it isn't the rotors (they're drilled-slotted type). I was hoping that it could be the brake pads. Also, I noticed that after I washed my car, the shaking was a little less, but it still shakes.

Anyone ever run into this problem???

I would appreciate your help.
 
hmm, could be a few things, warped rotor, pads need replacing, wheel out of balance, wheel bearings
 
if you get your rotors turned the shaking should stop. turning slotted and or crossdrilled rotors is the same as turning blank rotors so if they give you any hassle I would go somewhere else.

M
 
Originally posted by CRX-YEM@May 25 2005, 10:53 PM
hmm, could be a few things, warped rotor, pads need replacing, wheel out of balance, wheel bearings
[post=503726]Quoted post[/post]​

a wheel out of balance and a bad wheel bearing would cause shaking at all times not just while shaking. pads that would need replacing would show signs or wear and tear. if the vehicle shakes and it is only during braking it is defenitly warped rotors.

M
 
What do you mean by "turning"? Like resurface? If it was warped, wouldn't it still shake at full brake pressure? Also, I'll probaby just replace the pads with some Hawk hp+ and see if that fixes it. Those pads aren't that great anyways.
 
You're probably right. I had a feeling it was the rotors. So that means I need to replace them? Next time, I should go with blanks instead.
 
Originally posted by turbo99@May 25 2005, 11:02 PM
You're probably right. I had a feeling it was the rotors. So that means I need to replace them? Next time, I should go with blanks instead.
[post=503732]Quoted post[/post]​


NO! Just get them resurfaced (turned).
 
Originally posted by CRX-YEM@May 25 2005, 10:53 PM
hmm, could be a few things, warped rotor, pads need replacing, wheel out of balance, wheel bearings
[post=503726]Quoted post[/post]​


yes they could be warped thats probably 7/10 why it shakes if they aren't that bad you can shave them back to place but you need the machine to do it...any tire place probably could do it for you...then again your tires could need balancing as well
 
Originally posted by dem134@May 25 2005, 09:54 PM
turning slotted and or crossdrilled rotors is the same as turning blank rotors so if they give you any hassle I would go somewhere else.
[post=503727]Quoted post[/post]​


Absolutely not. You need a totally different set of tips for your lathe, and most shops don't have them on hand, much less have someone who knows how to properly cut slotted/drilled rotors.
 
:werd:
thats why you get blanks. x-drilled and slooted are gimmicks to save weight/look cool.
 
Originally posted by pissedoffsol@May 27 2005, 10:03 AM
:werd:
thats why you get blanks. x-drilled and slooted are gimmicks to save weight/look cool.
[post=504282]Quoted post[/post]​


Well, they came with the kit and at least, the brakes still grab good. I'll be sure to grab some blanks next time. I wonder if Wilwood sells blanks for my brake kit??? Well, I appreciate everyone's help. Thanks.
 
Originally posted by pissedoffsol@May 30 2005, 09:40 PM
i have a wilwood 11" blank kit.

do you have the 2-piece design... the plastic-ish inner with the hollow rotor that bolts on?

these are mine...
https://hondaswap.com/forums/index.php?...ype=post&id=122
[post=505478]Quoted post[/post]​


Actually, you have the Wilwood calipers in a FastBrakes kit. Wilwood doesn't make an 11" kit- Brian just sells his own kits with the Wilwood calipers. I'm pretty sure the Wilwood kit for the Civic comes with 12.2" rotors. :)
 
Sorry, I replied so late, pissedoffsol. Anyways, like Calesta said, I have the 12.2 rotors. The one with the hat and rotor. It still works really great, just the annoying shaking is there. Also, it looks like I have the same calipers as pissedoffsol. It looks very similar.
 
Okay, well, I tore down my brakes and didn't see any major problems with the rotor nor the brake pads. The only thing that was problematic was the fact that the lower bolt that tightens the caliper was stripped. So I replaced the bolt and tried to screw it on but found out that the caliper relocation mount was also stripped.

There was plenty of brake padding left. I removed the rotors and examined them and they looked perfect. They didn't look warped at all. Since I had the pads out, I decided to swap them out to the other side. I installed everything back up and put a lower bolt in to keep the lower caliper from moving and safety wired it to the upper bolt. It looks like I need to buy a new mount for the caliper, but the shaking is almost gone. I tightened the top bolt so it's pretty stable. What the heck is up with that?
 
If you can actually see with your eyes that the rotor is wrapped, that means you have had serious problems for a while. Just very small verince in rotor thickness will cuase vibrations. You need to check the runout of the rotor with a dial indicator. The dial indicator is on a flexible "rod" and is connected to a metal bace. Place the metal bace somewhere like the fender or brake knuckle. Then place the dial indcator on the rotor and spin the rotor (place a 2 lug nuts on so the rotor doesn't move when you spin it) and the indicator should not move much at all. Check your helms for the reccomended amount.
 
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