I've been experiencing for some time this uncomfortable trembling while applying the brakes regularily when decreasing from 90's to 40's or 50's. It happens just when there's a fast decrease in speed (doing 100 and there's a cop!). Rotors still in good shape in terms of thickness and I think they where conditioned once. What should stop that? Different pads? Different rotors? It really feels like if this "shaking" can damage other things!
Thanks.

 

Well on brakes this could be a few things. When I have had this problem like lost of us. I simply start with the obvious...
*balance tires(out of balance, improperly balanced or bad tires can cause this)

*tire air pressure(you'll be surprised how an overly or under inflated tire can cause a car to drive horrible.

*time for new pads

*rotors, they can be warped and still have their thickness...have them re-surfaced and CHECK for true-ness to see if they are warped or not.

*alignment, tire rod ends and or other suspension(struts, springs) problems. Not likely however from your descriptions.... IMO... well I hope!

I hope you have a minor problem that is fixed without much $$$.

The Ikon

 

Last time I had this brake pulsation (I think that's what they called it) on my '91 Acura Legend it was the wrapped rotors. I replaced the rotors and it was fine for a while. About a year later same problem.

Acura Legend has such weak brakes...

 

I was wondering if, maybe in an earlier thread discussing this same problem, there's been any sugestion on upgrading the brake system as a "must do" to extend brake life or minimize this condition?
I mean, considering the possibility that this has happenned to many SC400 owners!
Thank you for your replies.

 

From what I understood from those brake-upgrade discussions it's only worth it if you track your car. For normal street use it doesn't offer any improvement.

This hasn't happened to my car yet. However I noticed some rotor wrapping occurred after the idiots at Wheel works overtorqued my tire nuts. I had to take them all off and retorqued them by hand to specs.

 

In my opinion this is a must do if you drive fast. Period.


Can you say stop faster than porsche? Nice when flying along and the fuzzbuster beeps. Also when some bozo zips in front of you and slows down.

 

If you are having this problem even after replacing the pads and rotors (with OE parts!) then you are probably driving harder than the braking system can hold up to over time.

A brake upgrade is very good, and the better brakes virtually always have better wear characteristics due to decreased heat problems. They usually last longer too.

The only drawback would be that there might be problems with wheels fitting back on the car again.

The common upgrades are either the Supra Turbo units or Brembo units.

Todd M.
TM Engineering
http://www.tmengineering.net

 

SC400 - Don't know about that...I would personally upgrade my brakes on ANY of my cars...it's ALWAYS helpful to have better braking no matter what...even if it's just steel braided lines and better pads...

PR-SC400 - If you want the take the "I can bearly afford car payments" route, you can go with just some better brake pads (and change your rotor to get rid of the jiggle).

You can then step up to steel braided lines to give you a better feel (big difference in feel!)...

The next step is a minor "upgrade" to the Supra brakes...which swaps out your entire front brake system (rotors, calipers, pads, etc..)...you'll most likely need spacers for stock wheels (not what I would recommend) or bigger wheels to accomodate the brakes (correctly designed 17's will even work)...

The setup up after that is the real "big brakes" upgrades from AP Racing, Brembo, etc...the last two will make a big difference in your cars braking abilities. You should definitely do some bigger wheels (18" and up) for this...

FYI TO EVERYONE - After a "hot" braking session (going through a canyon, doing mad freeway braking, etc., etc.) where you KNOW the brakes are hot (especially if you can SMELL THEM), DO NOT...I repeat, DO NOT "sit" on the brakes at a red light or stop sign (instead, brake and put the car into neutral or park)...you can really screw up your rotors this way. This can be particularly bad if you have massively cross drilled rotors (like the Brembo "F40" style rotors). This is from own experience and from people who have done such things!