# Front end shudder when braking



## super20g (Feb 28, 2005)

I am having issues with the front end shuddering when applying the brakes.

It gets worst the faster you are going when you start braking. Also seems to be worst if you feather the brakes vs. stepping on them pretty hard.

The car has 79K on the odometer. I want to replace the front rotors and put a set of new pads on, but I wanted to check with you all first to see if that would be the best remedy.

Are warped rotors common on these cars? or should I check anything else in the front suspension to see if anything is loose? Are there known issues in the calipers that would lead to excessive rotor wear?

The problem only happens when braking though, and is not too terribly bad unless you are braking from 60-70mph.


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## Radioaktiv (Feb 12, 2004)

my first guess is you have warped rotors

fairly easy fix


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## lshadoff (Nov 26, 2002)

It is most likely warped rotors. You can have them resurfaced (if they haven't been resurfaced before) at any auto parts store, and they should be good for another 10,000 miles+.

It is possibly worn front suspension parts. Put the front of the car on jack stands. Grab a tire top and bottom and push-pull. there should be no play or clicking sounds. If there is, it is probably a bad lower ball joint. Grab the tire left and right and do it again. If there is play it is probably tie rod ends.

Lew


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## super20g (Feb 28, 2005)

Thanks for the advice guys. I will try checking the ball joints and tir rods as you have mentioned just to verify it is rotors before I drop the $$ on new ones.

When I bought the car, it had 23K mile tires on it that the front 2 had cracks in them from what looked like dry rot. When I picked up the car, the driveway had a dip in it, and the front tires were parking in several inches of water. I attributed this to the early decay of the front tires, and now I would guess this could have quite possibly caused the warpage of the rotors.

Quick question: Do the brake pads also need replaced with new rotors? It makes sense that they would, but if there is plenty of pad left I only want to replace them if necessary.


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## DraftEm98 (Jun 29, 2004)

super20g said:


> Quick question: Do the brake pads also need replaced with new rotors? It makes sense that they would, but if there is plenty of pad left I only want to replace them if necessary.


 It is a good rule of thumb to replace the pads when you replace/ turn rotors due to uneven wear in the pads. If you have the money, then now would be the time to do a brake upgrade. Do a search for the ad22vf upgrade. The thicker rotors dont warp as easily and you can really feel the stopping power!


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## pete? (Jul 6, 2004)

everytime you have the brake rotors turnd you lose alittle more brakeing power, they are getting thinner, and will not displace heat as well. if you have the dealer do the brake job it could cost around $350. what i did was i bought the AD22VF "kit" (calipers, TQ members, rotors, and steel lines) from a guy on sr20forum.com you should look into it, the rotors are much larger than the stock GA. i got all of my stuff for about $200 shipped. now i need pads and new piston seal boots. <about $70) 

side not: since the rotors are so much thicker than stock GA rotors warpage isnt as common a problem.


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## wes (Apr 30, 2002)

Lastly bedding in your new pads and rotors is VERY important. Yo want to install the new setup and go out for a wuick drive. You want to do about 8-9 consecutive stops from 30-5 MPH with firm brake pressure. This will heat the brakes up real good. Once you've done that park the car and allow the brakes to cool to ambient temp. also do NOT set the parking brake once you park the car. I have done this on every car I HAVE EVER done a brake job on and I have NEVER had said car warp the rotors under any conditions including track days.


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