Suspension, Brakes, Tires & Wheels - Warping Rotors/shuddering??

Hi,
was wondering if anyone would know why my brake rotors are getting warped? A while back I replace both front rotors because when I stepped on the brakes the car would really shudder. The new rotors fixed the problem. That was about 4 months ago & now the same thing is happening. Anyone have an idea what might be causing this?

did u change the brake pads?

Maybe you slam on the brakes too hard? Plus small rotors usually warp faster compare to bigger rotors. Oh yeah maybe you didn't torque your wheels in?

the pad were changed prior to the rotors but it was a few months in between.....would the slightly older pads cause the new rotors to warp?

Could be a sticking brake caliper. That happened on my old Celica.

Are you using cross drilled rotors?

Do you ride your brakes like a little old lady or do you tend to slam on them hard at highway speeds? do you tailgate others often and have to do a speed check before cruising into the rear end of someone else? Basically if you ride your brakes hard and often your gonna warp em. Your car was't designed to be driven like a race car and if you treat the brakes like it was its gonna get expensive. Go out and get yourself a big brake up grade and possibly a rear disc conversion if you can.

ORIGINAL: phearly

Hi,
was wondering if anyone would know why my brake rotors are getting warped? A while back I replace both front rotors because when I stepped on the brakes the car would really shudder. The new rotors fixed the problem. That was about 4 months ago & now the same thing is happening. Anyone have an idea what might be causing this?
I claim no expertise with Hondas, but brake problems like this are pretty universal. A few thoughts: I assume you had the rotors actually checked for runout/spots before you replaced them and that the problem WAS the rotors. Further, I assume that you replaced the pads when the rotors were replaced. Did you (or the tech) properly bed the pads after install. Pads transfer material to the rotors initially and if this transfer process was not done properly, you could have nonuniform deposition of pad material on your rotors. This can also be caused by new rotors that are not sufficiently clean of solvents, grease, etc. A second possibility is non-uniform cooling. Rotors get pretty hot, particularly if you are hard on your brakes. Hot rotors and cold water on the road are not a good combination. Another hot rotor problem is if you have rear disc brakes and set the hand brake after some spirited driving -- not a good idea. Floating rotors are an attempt to mitigate nonuniform cooling. Cars that have not been driven in a while can also have sufficient nonuniform rusting and pad deposition "spotting" and exhibit rotor warpage symptoms. Sticking calipers can exhibit symptoms that feel like warped rotors. The pistons do not move smoothly (or, if single piston calipers, the caliper halves do not slide smoothly) and this can feel quite like bad rotors. Finally, it could be something as simple as a piece of junk that somehow got into the pad/rotor interface and has created an irregularity. It would only have to be on one side.

Several of the brake/rotor companies have some pretty good articles on proper pad bedding and the problems with "warped rotors".

Thanks everyone for your replies....I usually don't ride the brakes or slam on them very hard. the last time this problem came up I changed the rotors(by themselves) and it fixed the problem for a few months but then came back. The problem is, I think, that I didn't clean off the oil/grease that the rotors had on them from the parts store. As far as I know, these are just regular stock rotors(not cross-drilled). Maybe that oil being on there caused some excess heat build-up & caused them to warp. I went ahead & changed out both the pads & the rotors & will wait to see what happens...so far so good....oh...I DID clean the rotors this time before installing them:D