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Brake-Pulsing

J

James Price

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I have a 96 Collector Edition (haven't had it long). I have noticed a kind of pulsing/uneveness in the last few yards prior to stoping. It doesn't pull left or right, it feels like it grabs and lets go grabs and lets go..but only very slightly. I don't notice it under a hard braking situation.

I have turned both front rotors and replaced the pads but I still feel it. My wife's BMW doesn't do this...braking is smooth and instant. That's how I noticed it. I drove her car then mine...

I haven't touched the rear rotors or pads..yet. Should I do them too? or could it be something else?

Im open for suggestions...
 
sounds like warped rotors. I wouldn't trust a brake place to turn my rotors. They probably haven't checked the lathe since it was installed and can sometimes cause more problems than they cure. I'd go with new durastop rotors. (slotted and cross drilled GM Performance Parts). Or you could go with new stock rotors and put a non-directional surface on them.
 
James,

Welcome to the CACC. Always nice to have another LT-4 owner on board.

Unfortunatlly, I dont know what could be causing your problem, but please keep us posted.

Jason
 
Shady Brake Shops?

Thanks for the replies; The thought of the "brake shops" having faulty or worn out equipmrnt did cross my mind but I convinced myself I was just being my same old paranoid self... hearing it from somebodyl else is definitely making me think about gettin' new rotors....
 
If you would like a source for the durastop's let me know. Probably next winter I'm going to install them with Z06 calipers. Got a few more go fast goodies to get first. :cool
 
Here is a poor man's way to rule out the rear rotors. Now, you have to be real careful doing this!

Get up to low speed (10-15 mph), grab the parking brake lever. I said grab it, not pull it! Now depress the release button on the top of the brake lever and pull up to slow her down a bit. Do not touch the brake pedal while doing this. With the button down there will be no lockup. This will not grab like your brake pedal will because this is a mechanical, not a hydraulic action. If you do not want to come to a complete stop, ease back up on the lever with the button still down. When the lever is back down, then release the button. If you do not feel the pulses, then chances are its still the front rotors.

Does this make sense to you?
 
rotors resurfacing

Sorry to chime in a bit late on this one (hey, after all I'm from Switzerland and we're a bit slooowwww around here)(that's why I drive a Vette, to make up for it ;)), but you may want to check another solution that'd presumably be cheaper than new rotors, i.e. rotors resurfacing.

I had the same problem of brakes pulsating with my 96 when it was approx 40k miles, and I saw in the shop manual that the rotors could be resurfaced. I guess this applies when the rotors aren't actually warped, but their surface is just uneven, thus causing the pulsating...

Anyway I asked my local Chevy dealer about it (I was in Durham, NC, at the time) and with some insistance from my part they agreed to resurface my rotors. The result was really good, it felt like I had new brakes (I also had new pads installed on this occasion), with no perceivable pulsating anymore. I now have 11k more miles on the car and the pulsating did not come back, the brakes feel nice and safe. If I remember correctly, it cost me approx $150 for the front rotors, and that is worth it in my opinion if it gets me another 40k miles of good braking on my stock rotors (I guess you cannot resurface the rotors more than once or twice, otherwise they'd become too thin).

Believe me, the brakes you get in your 96 CE are very good (they are the Grand Sport brakes as far as I know) and they do not warp that easily under normal or even "spirited" driving (racing may be different though). So there may be some good life left in your stock rotors that you may want to use, because you paid for those rotors after all (you did not mention the mileage on your car though).

Hope this helps,

Ptidod
 
There is an interesting "whitepaper" on brakes at:
http://www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/warped_rotor_myth.htm

This article refers to several "myths", like warped rotors.
I have always felt that brake shops allways want to turn rotors because they can make easy money at it. Be careful.
Try rebedding some new pads, much easier, much less money.

Good Luck

Dennis
GS#598
 
Dennis,
Thanks for posting a great informative article.
Carlo
 

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