Whenever I brake moderatly hard or harder. the steering wheel shudders back and forth. Does this mean that I need new pads/rotors? The pads r probably gunna be do in a month or two, and i havent changed the rotors during the 5 yrs ive owned the car (remachined maybe 3 or 3 1/2 yrs ago)... Or might it be something different? Thanks in advance for the help.


-Tim-

 

time for new rotors,

 

Either lack of parrellism or warped rotors. Even stuck calipers (or so says ford). You may be able to turn your rotors but it might be more cost effective to just replace them.

 

if the steering wheel shakes it is most likely not parallel. It the brake shudders then it is most likely out of round. If your rottors are thick enough they will be able to turn them.

 

what is the usual life span of rotors on a not to hard driven car? ive owned for 5 yrs and had them turned once 2 1/2 or 3 yrs ago....

 

there are specifications for when they are at there limits here are the specs for a 90 gta. not sure what car you have but this is what it is for mine. I think that it should be the same tho.

Nominal Thickness Front 1.043 in
Rear 0.795 in
Minimum Refinish Thickness .
Note: All brake rotors have a discard dimension cast into them. This is a wear dimension, not a refinish dimension. Any rotor that does not meet specifications should be discarded. Front 0.98 in
Rear 0.744 in
Thickness Variation (Parallelism) Front 0.0005 in
Rear 0.0005 in
Lateral Runout (T.I.R.) Front 0.004 in
Rear 0.005 in

 

Seems like rotors, also check to see if any of the inner pads are worn more than outers,which would show that the caliper is bad.

 

Also check the sliders on the caliper if they are froze they will also make the inner pad wear faster than the outter pad. and at last you may have a bad brake hose, did it to mine, if you cant compress the caliper, but break the bleeder loose and fluid comes out you may may have a bad hose