Chronic warped rotors, worn pads - dealer replaced/repaired every 3k miles. Lemon lawsuits pending, no OE fix available or acknowledged by dealer. Need to again fix/replace… what rotors/pads will finally fix the problem - my mechanic doesn’t know, won’t guarantee - $$ and safety issue, any suggestions??
My first suggestion is to slow down and tell us the model year and odometer mileage of the vehicle as well as the actual details of the symptoms each time that you took the car to the dealership and the details on each attempt by the dealership to perform the repairs.
Thank-you… yes. 2006, 60k [90% highway, no traffic, no stops/starts - Charlotte, NC]. Extreme front end “chatter/shudder” through to brake peddle, steering wheel…like going over railroad tracks when brakes are used - regardless of heat/cold, slow or fast stop. Dealer service [oil change +] every 3k miles - each time they performed a pad replacement [one or both - which seemed to make worse? - chatter started again sooner!] or turned the rotors. Never an complete replacement. Nissan “regional” guy agreed to complete front [rotor/pad] replacement @ 50k miles - out of warranty, unfortunatly, back to regular chatter @ 54K. My “independent” mechanic says to replace rotors/pads with “upgrade” or performance non-OE parts… the question is which ones??
Thanks for reply!
You don’t need higher performance brake components. Brake systems are really not very complicated and a problem like this should be fairly easy to diagnose. If replacing pads and rotors isn’t fixing the problem, calipers should be looked at. Sounds like your dealer is incompetent, can you try a different dealer? The independent mechanic that recommended high performance parts is full of it as well.
Has anyone even thought of inspecting other things on the car to make sure the problem is due to the brakes?
Just because the car shudders when the brakes are applied does not mean the brakes are at fault.
A slightly loose wheel bearing, tie rod end or tie rod, ball joint, etc. can cause this kind of problem.
And there is a reason behind the question of “well, why doesn’t it do it from the get-go because a loose bearing, etc. should do it all of the time”.
That is because most rotors will warp a bit after a few miles. Often this warpage (say .003 of an inch) may not be noticeable to you on new or freshly machined rotors. Once those rotors warp a tiny bit any loose suspension part may magnify that warpage and make it appear to be worse than it is.
Assuming the front end is fine, have any of these guys actually verified with micrometers/dial indicator that the rotors are the problem or are they just simply assuming the brakes are the culprit based on the symptom?