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Z51 rotor replacement recomendations

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Old Sep 5, 2006 | 09:05 PM
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Default Z51 rotor replacement recomendations

So I puchased a set of used Z51 calipers and rotors from a unnamed source and it appears that the front rotors may be 'warped' or uneven. My car has started pulling since I had them installed and when rolling at low speeds you can feel the car sort of 'studdering' or 'pulsing', not as evident at higher speeds but just feels like something is not right. Also from the time I bought them, there has been flaking from the center of the rotors. Just to make sure I am going to go get an alignment to make sure I am not smoking crack and that is the issue.

Anyways, I am going to contact the seller and see if they can do anything about this, maybe sell/discount some new rotors. Who knows, hopefull something can be done.

However, main purpose of this is to ask your opinions on what I shoiuld get/do:

1) Bring the rotors to a brake shop and have them resurfaced and see if that can fix it. (note they are flaking from the rotor core).

2) Buy a new set of Z51 rotors from somewhere (anyone know a place?)

3) Get a set of aftermarkets- dont want to spend a whole lot since I already wasted on the ones I have now. Any recomendations? or place to get them.

Help is much appreciated.
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Old Sep 5, 2006 | 09:45 PM
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Originally Posted by BLK-DVL
So I puchased a set of used Z51 calipers and rotors from a unnamed source and it appears that the front rotors may be 'warped' or uneven. My car has started pulling since I had them installed and when rolling at low speeds you can feel the car sort of 'studdering' or 'pulsing', not as evident at higher speeds but just feels like something is not right. Also from the time I bought them, there has been flaking from the center of the rotors. Just to make sure I am going to go get an alignment to make sure I am not smoking crack and that is the issue.

Anyways, I am going to contact the seller and see if they can do anything about this, maybe sell/discount some new rotors. Who knows, hopefull something can be done.

However, main purpose of this is to ask your opinions on what I shoiuld get/do:

1) Bring the rotors to a brake shop and have them resurfaced and see if that can fix it. (note they are flaking from the rotor core).

2) Buy a new set of Z51 rotors from somewhere (anyone know a place?)

3) Get a set of aftermarkets- dont want to spend a whole lot since I already wasted on the ones I have now. Any recomendations? or place to get them.

Help is much appreciated.

Here is a quick reply:

If the car is pulling to one side as you step on the brake....... it is the caliper that needs to be replaced. (caliper piston sticking) A pulsation felt in the peddle when stopping is caused by the rotors. (too much runout. warped need to be cut and possibly to thin to be cut) It is time to speak with the seller, good luck
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Old Sep 5, 2006 | 09:56 PM
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The problem could also be pad material built up on the rotors. You may want to do a few hard stops from a highway speed to see if that helps clear up the problem you are seeing.
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Old Sep 5, 2006 | 09:56 PM
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Originally Posted by Tommy D
Here is a quick reply:

If the car is pulling to one side as you step on the brake....... it is the caliper that needs to be replaced. (caliper piston sticking) A pulsation felt in the peddle when stopping is caused by the rotors. (too much runout. warped need to be cut and possibly to thin to be cut) It is time to speak with the seller, good luck
Thanks.

Car pulls at random times (sort of like the pulsing), but always seems like I have to tilt the steering wheel a little to the left to keep straight. No difference when braking or not braking so I have pretty much ruled out the calipers as cause for this. Also, there is no excessive burning smell or brake dust from the brakes as i would expect if the caliper is sitcking. I think this may be a semi unrelated event as i did swap to the Z06 suspension a while back and may need to go get realigned now that it has had a chance to settle in. Had the Procharger install done also and I think that lowered the front end a bit also.

I am going to go ahead and contact the seller then tommorow and see if they can do anything. If they could get me a good deal on some new rotors i would be happy. I wouldnt mind paying the difference. Just dont want to waste money and time pulling the rotors off and get them resurfaced just to find out they are toast.
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Old Sep 5, 2006 | 09:58 PM
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Originally Posted by Miaugi
The problem could also be pad material built up on the rotors. You may want to do a few hard stops from a highway speed to see if that helps clear up the problem you are seeing.
Have done that plenty of times already
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Old Sep 5, 2006 | 10:22 PM
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Default stick with it

you might also want to check the pins, the caliper is a floating type, the pins should rotate freely when the caliper is not bolted to them. Make sure you dont over tighten them, that can cause them to distort and bind
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Old Sep 5, 2006 | 10:34 PM
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Originally Posted by danielschulzjr
you might also want to check the pins, the caliper is a floating type, the pins should rotate freely when the caliper is not bolted to them. Make sure you dont over tighten them, that can cause them to distort and bind
I think he means do not over tighten the lug nuts.
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Old Sep 5, 2006 | 10:39 PM
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Lug nuts have been checked, torqued to the right specs.

I have emailed the vendor. I have purchased numerous products from them over the last year, hopefully they can do something to correct this.
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Old Sep 6, 2006 | 12:00 AM
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Originally Posted by Big duke
I think he means do not over tighten the lug nuts.
no, what he means is there are pins in the mounting brackets that the calipers bolt in to. Make sure there is plenty of brake grease in the bracket so that the pin can move freely. Did you grease the pins when installing?
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Old Sep 6, 2006 | 01:14 AM
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Originally Posted by corvette pilot
Did you grease the pins when installing?
Be careful if you grease the pins to only use a silicone based grease. No petroleum products on the brake pins, if I'm not mistaken.

Don
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Old Sep 6, 2006 | 01:33 AM
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Calipers look like they are greased up pretty good.
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Old Sep 6, 2006 | 02:34 AM
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If it's shuddering when not even braking, sounds like you just have an out of balance wheel/tire. Try getting all 4 rebalanced.
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Old Sep 6, 2006 | 05:09 AM
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Originally Posted by vette6500
If it's shuddering when not even braking, sounds like you just have an out of balance wheel/tire. Try getting all 4 rebalanced.
Sounds like a possibility but does not explain why all of the sudden this happened immediately once I put the new brakes on. The car did not behave like this prior. I am going to get an alignment to confirm tommorow but all indication point to this being a rotor issue.
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Old Sep 6, 2006 | 05:12 AM
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If you have a dial indicator, you can check how 'flat" the rotor is when installed on the car by putting the lug nuts on with out the wheeel and turning the rotor.
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Old Sep 6, 2006 | 05:57 AM
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Originally Posted by timd38
If you have a dial indicator, you can check how 'flat" the rotor is when installed on the car by putting the lug nuts on with out the wheeel and turning the rotor.
What does a dial indicator do?
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Old Sep 6, 2006 | 07:12 AM
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Originally Posted by BLK-DVL
What does a dial indicator do?
It checks runout on the rotor, a good mechanic would/should be able to check this for you, many people have a dial indicator but not the equipment to mount it properly/securely.
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Old Sep 6, 2006 | 08:17 AM
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Originally Posted by BLK-DVL
Thanks.

...I think this may be a semi unrelated event as i did swap to the Z06 suspension a while back and may need to go get realigned now that it has had a chance to settle in. Had the Procharger install done also and I think that lowered the front end a bit also.
I think this is much more likely. If you changed shocks, springs, swaybars etc, definitely have the aligment checked before chasing the rotors or calipers as a "pulling" problem.
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Old Sep 6, 2006 | 09:20 AM
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Originally Posted by Craigster05
I think this is much more likely. If you changed shocks, springs, swaybars etc, definitely have the aligment checked before chasing the rotors or calipers as a "pulling" problem.
The car has already been aligned after I changed all the suspension parts out.
I am going back to have it 're-aligned' to take care of any suspension settling that may have occured in the last 2 months since it was all put on. Like said before, it was not doing this until the brakes were put on so that is why I am chasing this as a brake question. The alignment is just going to be a sanity check.
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Old Sep 6, 2006 | 10:39 AM
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Originally Posted by BLK-DVL
Thanks.

Car pulls at random times (sort of like the pulsing)......

I think this may be a semi unrelated event as i did swap to the Z06 suspension a while back and may need to go get realigned now that it has had a chance to settle in.......
After all that work on the suspension, make sure all your ABS connections and suspension sensors are hooked up properly,

The Active Handling system will apply brakes on an individual wheel to get you back in control when it detects handling problems. I don't know what AH uses, but I think it looks at ABS (are wheels breaking loose and turning at different speeds than the others, etc.) and some suspension sensor inputs, as well as yaw rate and accelerometer sensors.

It almost sounds like the Active Handling system is occasionally activating a brake. I've felt a kind of pulsing when cornering hard and AH kicks in to save my butt.

Try driving with the AH and Traction Control disabled and see if it still gives you the same problems. If so, then it's probably not an AH problem.

Good luck!

Bob
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Old Sep 6, 2006 | 04:51 PM
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Resuface the rotors first and inspect the pad for contamination. If it still pulsing at low braking effort and pedal feel is okay then it is the caliper. While I suppose rotors can actually "warp," normally they are talking about pad material buildup on the rotor's surface. The pulse feel is from the pad braking on the high spots and skipping over the low spots. A dial indicator is a measuring device and in this case, used to tell small variations in suface heights of the braking surface. Rust on Z51 rotors is normal.
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