# Warped rotors so soon?

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/warped-rotors-so-soon/3185>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Created:** [August 16, 2007, 12:30pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/warped-rotors-so-soon/3185 "2007-08-16T12:30:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![digraph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@digraph](https://community.cartalk.com/u/digraph)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 12:30pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/warped-rotors-so-soon/3185/1 "2007-08-16T12:30:52Z")

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Tell me what you think.  
  
  
  
 I had a brake job (pads + rotors about three months ago). Now, at some speeds, when I brake, I feel and see the steering wheel vibrate.  
  
  
  
 I didn’t notice any vibration for the first month or two, and it only happens when I’m slowing down over a long stretch of road from say 60 -\>30 MPH. Below that, when I drive on suburban roads, I never feel (or see) the vibration.  
  
  
  
 The only other thing to add is that the pads had the first 1 cm angled, so It’s only stopping with 30% of the flat pad area. I guess that I have to go through several thousand miles (I’m VERY easy on my brakes, never burned through pads in less than 100k miles) before the full pad area is pressing against the rotors.  
  
  
  
 Ideas or suggestions?

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**Author:** ![TwinTurbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@TwinTurbo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/TwinTurbo)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 12:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/warped-rotors-so-soon/3185/2 "2007-08-16T12:58:14Z")

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The angle on the pads is a design feature to help with pad squeal. Many pads now come with this feature.

You might try a few hard stops to see if the vibration is from pad material accumulating on the rotor surface. The only other thing to do is to put a dial indicator on the rotor to measure the runout and go from there.

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**Author:** ![Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joseph_e_meehan/32/21_2.png) [@Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joseph_E_Meehan)\
**Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 6:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/warped-rotors-so-soon/3185/3 "2007-08-16T18:33:14Z")

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Some rotors come warped or warp easily. Also if not properly torqued they can warp.

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**Author:** ![keith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/keith/32/5518_2.png) [@keith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/keith)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 2:19am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/warped-rotors-so-soon/3185/4 "2007-08-17T02:19:52Z")

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If your pads are angled, you have a sticking caliper bushing (aka caliper pin). Chances are that one of them is bent, which is easy to do if the mounting bolts are over torqued.

The only angle on pads to reduce noise is a 45? angle at the leading and trailing edges. If you only have 30% of the pad touching, its a caliper bushing.

People who are easy on their brakes suffer more brake shuddering that people who are hard on them.

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**Author:** ![digraph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@digraph](https://community.cartalk.com/u/digraph)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 12:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/warped-rotors-so-soon/3185/5 "2007-08-17T12:40:33Z")

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I tried a few hard stops and that’s made a moderate improvement! thanks

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**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 2:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/warped-rotors-so-soon/3185/6 "2007-08-17T14:17:57Z")

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Given the right circumstances I can warp ANY cars rotors (new or used) in less then 10 minutes.

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**Author:** ![dcrommett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@dcrommett](https://community.cartalk.com/u/dcrommett)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 3:42pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/warped-rotors-so-soon/3185/7 "2007-08-17T15:42:20Z")

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hey, just out of curiosity, when did you know it was time to replace your brake pads? and how much $ did it run you?
