What causes brake rotors to go bad?
WHo TOLD YOU THIS??? THe brakes on most NISSAN products should last at least 50,000 miles before requiring ANYTHING. This might be a warranty issue. Brake rotors go bad as a matter of wear. If you are a TWO foot driver, they wear out faster. (don't do that!!!) Brake pads work by friction. Eventually the pads will wear the metal from the rotor over times. Many late model cars are engineered so that the rotors wear exactly the same time as the pads do. This means that when the pads wear down, the rotors need replacing as well. This allows for thinner rotors that NEVER require turning on a machine for trueness. I don't know if yours was designed that way or not. BUT I would consult with dealership. WHen you replace the pads, you replace the rotors to match. Spit spot! no muss or fuss. 26k is TOO soon for this issue if you ask me. Ask your dealership service dept about whether this is NORMAL.Typically the Japanese companies are very good about making total braking kits that include pads and return springs. Use the genuine parts if you can!
I have never seen an actual warped rotor. If you’re referring to brake shudder while traveling =/>80kmh on a highway, it’s (9 out of 10 times) a rotor related brake system problem. Not from warped steel, but misaligned wheel causing misalignment of pads and rotor contact or possible rotor hot spots from surface debris, which is rare.Warping a standard car rotor requires substantial stress and heat, even with cheap grade after market steel. The temperatures generated with ordinary road cars, even under emergency braking, are nowhere near high enough to affect the integrity of even cheap AM rotors.What commonly happens is either the wheel lug nuts are wrongly torqued from DIY hand-torquing, or the caliper of one wheel was incorrectly mounted or missing a part(s), so is loose and rattling, and very rare as would probably snap the pins and completely fail, leaving just one functioning front brake that would pull the front end to one side each time the brake pedal is deployed.The wheel must seat on the hub ~perfectly. Every lug nut must be torqued (on an average road vehicle) ~100lb/ft. It takes a torque wrench to confirm each 100lb/ft ‘click’.When the lug nuts are inconsistently torqued, one being 120lb/ft, the next door 90lb/ft., kitty corner 110lb/ft., whatever, all over the place, the wheel/tire will wobble around the axle, and while tiny, unnoticeable tolerance discrepancy at <80kmh, will shudder violently and alarmingly at =/>80kmh as each opposite pad contacts the rotor and converts kinetic energy to thermal energy in offset staggered pattern. Right-pad grab, then left-pad, then right-pad, so on. Very fast and violent that diminishes in intensity as the vehicle slows.Get a good torque wrench. Buy pads and rotors from the dealer. Install properly. Brakes should work just fine.
Can bad struts cause rotors to warp?
Bad struts do NOT cause rotor problems. Pulsation is caused by disc thickness variation, NOT warping. Read these two articles to learn what causes disc thickness variation and how to prevent it. Also, get a new mechanic. This one has no clue http://ricksfreeautorepairadvice.com/bra... http://ricksfreeautorepairadvice.com/bra...
Would a bad front strut cause vibrating while braking?
could be yes... not likey bad yes if it sounds like what you said but vibrating is more of a wheel and tire thing.. and you say it happen under braking then it makes me think they didnt turn the rotors right or you have a tire out of balance.... try a small test swap one of the front wheels with one that is one the back and see if it changes the way it drives.... to test for a bad wheel or tire .... put car in drive and let it roll no gas... if you feel any shake here it will be a tire bad or a wheel bad... now if its happens at speed and comes and goes with differant speeds then its tire balance .. the strut will cause it to bounce more and might cause the tire to come up off the road but really wouldnt do much with a shke or braking but its for sure you need new stsuts if you hear it knock.. and if the shop you had the work done... was a good place they would have had to replace the strut to align it right to .. i think they seen you coming... go some where else and have it check repaired and have the tires check again im sure you will find they are not balance right and the align ment is not right yet if you have a bad strut they couldnt do it right
I have worn struts, could it cause a steering wheel to shake?
Ok, I've had my car taken in numerous times, and they have checked every single component. I have had 2 wheel bearings, both brakes and ROTORS replaces, a lower control arm, and shocks replaced since January. The next thing on my list is my struts...Can this cause my steering to be out of whack due to my alignment being a little off? My rotors are not warped, even though when I do brake it does shake a little bit more, only at higher speeds, my brakes do not pulsate. I just was wondering since struts are suspension, if that can cause the steering wheel to shake? It has only gotten worse, because of my struts, and I plan on getting them done very soon once I get the money. Any suggestions? My car just got done work done on it a month ago and told me not to wait too long on the struts...I plan on getting it done no later then 2 weeks or 3 weeks or so once I get the money I drive a 2001 focus
Car "wobbling" could it be the rotors?
Out of the blue my 99 Alero 3.4 starts wobbling one day.I had the car aligned and they say they checked my suspension.No better.Got a new set of front tires.No difference.Yesterday I got a new set of back tires and had all 4 balanced.Front driver side tire where I feel it the most was off balance(1.25).No difference. I know I need my rotors turned, my car pulses and the steering wheel goes crazy when I brake but it does it just as bad when i ride/coast too- it kinda hobbles/hops and steering jerks really bad between 50mph and 70.Front brakes good-back are ok.My question is could rotors affect ride quality when not braking?I didnt think so.Aleros are notorious for their brakes and wheel bearing issues but didnt they check that during alignment?But if its not the tires, suspension or alignment what on earth could it be?!?!?
A complete strut consists of a shock absorber and a spring combined into a single unit.“Broken” is a nebulous term in this instance. What is meant by “broken”?To me, broken would refer to the spring or it’s supporting plates. The spring is what supports the weight of the vehicle. If the spring is physically broken then you will have serious issues controlling the vehicle …and this can be potentially exceptionally dangerous.Now, if by “broken” you’re referring to the shock portion of the strut being worn out that is a different matter. A worn out shock is no where near as dangerous as a broken spring. The shock simply dampens oscillations caused by road irregularities. While worn shocks can effect handling it is certainly not dangerous.
Couple of possibilities off the top of my head:• Wheel/tire is unbalanced. You might have hit a curb and bent a rim, or one of the balancing weights on the rim of the wheel might have fallen off. Some weights sit on the edge of the wheel like this:and some are placed on the inside of the rim, like this:• The tire may have developed a bulge, from a production defect or impact. Would look like this, on the inside or outside sidewall:A large bulge might cause the wheel/tire assembly to shake at certain RPMs.• Worn components in the front suspension or steering. These parts could include your tie rod ends, steering gear rack, sway bar links, ball joints, pitman or idler arms, shocks, or struts.:• If the wheel shakes while braking, you could have an issue with that corner’s brake rotor, either with lateral runout or varying thickness of the rotor itself. See here for more info on “warped” rotors:Warped' Rotors Myth - Correctly Service Brakes: Runout, Disc ThicknessGood luck, hopefully it’s a simple tire balance issue.