Brake Problem

Im checking on two problems that I hope some of you can help me out with. My mother and sister both have 02 Hyundai Elantras, one being a GT. One of the problems is the tires. They both have around 35k-40k miles on them and are on their third set of tires. Second for the GT. The dealership keeps telling them that the belts in the tires are shifting. Ive never heard of this happening three times in a couple of years on two cars that were purchased pretty much at the same time. The second problem that is turning into the biggest is on the gls. The brakes are causing a huge problem. They pulse when you apply them. The dealership replaced the rotors and pads and also calipers under warranty. This did not solve the problem so they went back to saying it was the tires (Not true at all!). After this we brought it to my friends tire place and replaced them again, they were warped once more. Today we find that the caliper craddle on the P/S was shot. Replaced that and the rotors for the third time. No one can seem to figure out what is going on with this car. I searched this forum for some answers but couldnt find anything that could really help me out. The weird thing is that two people that my mother works with are having the same kind of problems and a guy that works at the tire place said this is not the first time for this kind of problem. He said that they had a few people with the same story from dealerships come in and they or anyone else cant seem to figure this out. So if anyone can help me it would be greatly appreciated. SORRY FOR SUCH A LONG POST

OK...to make suggestions on the tire situation I'll need just a tad bit more info. Where are the tires wearing the heaviest? Is it just the inside edge…is it the center of the tread…outside edge…or sidewalls? The contributors…(Outside of driving the car Indy car style…on two wheels and all…hehe)….are usually alignment or suspension related. Alignment…maybe too much camber/caster…toe in/out….Is the car lowered? Tires warping?? Don’t understand what your describing here….please explain further.

The pulsing brakes could theoretically be wheel balance, alignment, suspension related, but the most common would be warped rotors or a bad wheel bearing. But I must now ask if this particular Elantra has ABS (Antilock Braking System)? I purposely bought my GT without ABS because Hyundai hasn’t proven to me that they know how to make a competent ABS system. If you applied too much braking and the wheel sensors have a latency issue…or if you decelerate faster than the ABS computer is expecting (algorithm dependent), it will activate the ABS system which does pulse your brakes. This function allows you to continue steering a vehicle during heavy braking instead of going into an uncontrolled skid.

Jason

The tires on both were evenly worn. It was not your typical pressure problem or balance problem. It is on the front tires. As far as the braking it is not an abs pulse. This problem occurs when you are going anywhere from 10mph to 70mph. It almost feels just like the rotors have a slight warp to them, but at this point that has been determined not to be the case. You can also feel it in the steering wheel, which makes it obvious that it is a front end braking problem. This only occurs when the car is under braking. You can feel it the most when you are going downhill. The car also has been aligned after the new tires were put on and balanced. We threw it on the machine again just to make sure and all was fine.

Check your wheel bearings...Do this by jacking the front and grap the top and bottom of the tire and see if there is to and fro slop. Could very well be warped rotors...I'd also suggest checking the control arm and trailing arm bushings.

Jason