[gonzonurse]

09 SRT8 Brembro. Any advice?

3 weeks after returning from deployment, the front end is shaking. Dealer diagnoses warped rotors. I have them milled, 3-4 weeks later same thing, same diagnosis.

Dodge stands firm behind the 12,000 mile warranty. I'm stuck. I don't drive it hard, my brake pads are well within specs.

This is my 1st Mopar..... It's been a faithfull beast until it revealed it's glass jaw.

Since Brembro is out of the question; which type or company do you recommend as replacement? Drilled or slotted? What kind of mileage are you all getting before they begin to warp?

With normal use I was expecting 40-80K; naturally less if I braked hard or raced.

Thanks!

 

[S/S Dodge]

Mileage has nothing to do with warping a rotor. One hard stop will heat them up real good and continue to hold the pedal down that hard after the stop is all it takes.

 

[aarcuda]

i have a couple of gm cars that get the rotor shimmy pretty quickly. doesnt matter how much i spend on rotors- they just all seem to want to warp after a couple of oil changes

 

[sitedrifter]

If you do not bed your brakes in when they are new, you can end up getting premature rotor issues. It is not warping but rather uneven deposit of brake pad material on the rotor face that causes this issue.

At first signs of pulsation, an almost 100 percent sure fix is to bed the brakes.

1. 7 or 8 times from 60mph down to 10mph HARD stopping but not hard enough to engage ABS.

2. Do not stop to zero just go down to 10MPH, then speed up and do it again.

3. By the 7th time you should see smoke (which is GOOD and normal) from your front wheels.

4. After doing this procedure drive the car a few miles on a highway to cool the brakes down.

5. DO NOT complete the procedure and immediately drive in city traffic (stop and go) so make sure you have immediate access to a nice long road with no stopping for at least 5-10 miles.

6. When done, drive her home and park her for at least 4 hours or more to complete cool everything down.


7. RARELY you will need to do this procedure again since you most likely transferred a smooth even film of brake pad material to the face of your rotor.

Good luck!

 

[aarcuda]

ive done this every time i changed my brakes on my gm cars and it didnt help. i believe its just the thin rotor they used are more prone to warping over time

 

[Blue Talon]

Well the front rotors are about $112 a piece and the rears are about $105 a piece, thats as cheap as you will find and believe it or not thats from the dealership, with a military discount. I went with Hawk HPS pads that I ordered from Tirerack, almost zero dust on the rims now, I think they were about $90 front and $103 rear and installed everything myself. The rear rotors can be a pain, due to the inner drum set up for the parking brake. You will also need to use a special tool to collapse the caliper pistons that can be rented from autozone for another small fee also make sure you have a good torque wrench to re-torque everything to spec. So all in all around $600-675 to do it yourself on the SRT8, that was back in Febuary. When I bought my SRT8, with only 34000 miles on it, the tires and just the brake pads had already been changed out. They probably should have changed out the rotors when they did the pads, I think/hope the rotors will last longer with better pads which is why I went with the Hawk HPS pads.

 

[Blue Talon]

I'm also suprised they turned the rotors for you I was under the impression they couldnt be turned because they are slotted and come from the factory pretty much at the limits. When I did my brakes the slots where almost completely gone on the front rotors but the pads were actually in good shape.

 

[sitedrifter]

I'm also suprised they turned the rotors for you I was under the impression they couldnt be turned because they are slotted and come from the factory pretty much at the limits. When I did my brakes the slots where almost completely gone on the front rotors but the pads were actually in good shape.

You are correct!!! You are not supposed to turn rotors that have slots or drilled or dimples. If the dealer did that they are TYPICAL!

 

[Blue Talon]

Check with speed logic for the rotors, they did a deal last year all 4 rotors for like $315+ shipping. Of course the one place I didnt check when I bought mine. Anyway should save you a few bucks if they are still doing that deal.

 

[Blue Talon]

Just checked they still do a deal $340.88+ shipping for all 4 rotors, you could also ask to see if the will give a military discount. I'm assuming your military since you deployed. You can do the job your self at the hobby shop, they will have the caliper tool and torque wrenches you need.

 

[Kean]

If you do not bed your brakes in when they are new, you can end up getting premature rotor issues. It is not warping but rather uneven deposit of brake pad material on the rotor face that causes this issue.

....this is much more likely in these cases than actual "warping" of the rotor. Here is an excellent article from StopTech I urge folks to read to learn more:

StopTech : Balanced Brake Upgrades

Here's a snippet....

The term "warped brake disc" has been in common use in motor racing for decades. When a driver reports a vibration under hard braking, inexperienced crews, after checking for (and not finding) cracks often attribute the vibration to "warped discs". They then measure the disc thickness in various places, find significant variation and the diagnosis is cast in stone.

When disc brakes for high performance cars arrived on the scene we began to hear of "warped brake discs" on road going cars, with the same analyses and diagnoses. Typically, the discs are resurfaced to cure the problem and, equally typically, after a relatively short time the roughness or vibration comes back. Brake roughness has caused a significant number of cars to be bought back by their manufacturers under the "lemon laws". This has been going on for decades now - and, like most things that we have cast in stone, the diagnoses are wrong.


With one qualifier, presuming that the hub and wheel flange are flat and in good condition and that the wheel bolts or hat mounting hardware is in good condition, installed correctly and tightened uniformly and in the correct order to the recommended torque specification, in more than 40 years of professional racing, including the Shelby/Ford GT 40s – one of the most intense brake development program in history - I have never seen a warped brake disc. I have seen lots of cracked discs, (FIGURE 1) discs that had turned into shallow cones at operating temperature because they were mounted rigidly to their attachment bells or top hats, (FIGURE 2) a few where the friction surface had collapsed in the area between straight radial interior vanes, (FIGURE 3) and an untold number of discs with pad material unevenly deposited on the friction surfaces - sometimes visible and more often not. (FIGURE 4)

 

[gonzonurse]

That's well and good, but this car is a daily driver that is driven gently. I do not stop hard. Our other car is a heavy Bonneville that has endured far more "heat" in Florida and on the moutains of hot Guam with no rotor problems. We've changed the pads at have 178K on the original rotors.

Naturally I was expect 40-60K out of the Brembros, at least. I baby the Challenger. If I'm going to have to change rotors with every 5 oil changes, my Mopar passion will be shortlived. If I drove it hard then I would expect more wear.

I'm looking at drilled... I really don't know where to go. I thought Brembro's were top of the line, but my set are a huge disappointment.

I do thank you for piping in. I love the car but lord, 17K?

 

[gonzonurse]

Thanks! I'll try this. Wish me luck. Perhaps if I drive it too slow I'll break it

 

[gonzonurse]

Thanks for the info. I'll try this bedding 1st. It shudders hard so I'm not expecting it to work but I'll try it. Otherwise, I'll check in with speed logic.

My pads have 3mm (front) and 6mm (rear) rear on the pads. I'll probably change them out too. I'm just really scratching on head at how delicate "high performance" rotors are.

Yes I'm a nurse on the carrier Abe Lincoln. Thank you for responding

 

[gonzonurse]

Thank for the advice. I've been at sea but tried this twice before I left...It removed about 80 % of the shaking.....After 4 days though, I'm right back where I began.