It seems like ever since I had my rear wheel bearing replaced several years ago I have been noticing a pulsating of the brake pedal when stopping. Lately it has been very bad.
I put the transmission in neutral, released the emergency brake, jacked the car up and removed the wheel. I can't seem to get the hub to spin at all to check the rotor with a dial indicator.
Can anyone suggest how to troubleshoot this?
Thanks.

 

Take the rotors to the machine shop and have them trued up.

 

You could have someone spin the opposite side tire with the car in neutral. That should work. Just make sure you have the rotor held in place by at least 3 lug nuts.

 

Thanks for the replies. I guess that makes sense about turning the other rear wheel.
Am I on the right track checking for a warped rotor with a dial indicator? Is there a better way?

 

Have it checked on the brake lathe. The problem with trying to get accurate on the car is trying to turn everything will give you errors in your reading. It's easier just to have them turned if you suspect they are warped.

 

That makes good sense. I think it's the right rear but is there any way to be fairly sure before removing the rotor?

 

Just take them in, good time to adjust the emergency brake adjuster while you have it apart anyway.

 

Proper method to check runout on a brake rotor on the car is as follows: First remove wheel and caliper / bracket. Then secure rotor to hub with at least 3 lugs torqued to the same spec - suggest 60-70 FT/lbs. Mount quality dial indicator on car in stable location and zero on rotor surface. Then proceed to rotate rotor a full 360 deg checking and recording measurements plus or minus from zero every 15-20 degrees. CHECK BOTH FRONT AND REAR SURFACES, one can be fine and the other horrible. You can spin the opposite wheel after releasing the Ebrake and taking car out of gear this will cause rotor side to rotate.
Possible causes of pulsation are many -
1) Warped rotor - anything with more than 6-8 thousands of runout will be a problem. If warped - throw them away - new ones are cheap.
2) Caliper not fully releasing - check freedom of movement of piston and condition of flex hose.
3) Rust or other crap on rear rotor to hub mounting surface left in place after hub replacement. Take wire brush and thoroughly clean rear of rotor and hub surface.
4) Worn suspension - IE - bad ball joint etc.
5) Axle nut not tightened to proper torque spec. Also check and see if the splines are clean or rusty. If nasty clean and relube. This can cause chatter and is a PITA to try and diagnose.
6) Check Ebrake functionality - internals and proper setting while you have everything apart.
Hope that this helps. My guess is probably a bad rotor or caliper that is not releasing.