98 taurus vibrations

[cowspotter]

I have a 98 Taurus SE and have been having some problems with vibrations while braking. I replaced the front brake rotors, rear shoes, cylinders, and drum. The vibration is still there. I believe it is in the front because when i apply the parking brake while driving, it does not vibrate. It happens after driving for 20 minutes or so, which makes me think it's the rotor, but i replaced that like 2 months ago and it never solved the problem. I have also started experiencing a slight vibration at 60mph+. Any ideas out there?

[medicTA]

You mention rotor and rotors, did you replace both rotors?
Did you also replace the pads?
If it happens after 20 minutes of driving, even though you haven't been using the brakes (or very little) I would suspect that you may have a brake piston/caliper assembly that may be sticking and not releasing. This would cause the brake pads to be constantly rubbing or dragging on the rotor, heating them up and warping them.
After that is fixed you should get your wheels high speed balanced.

[cowspotter]

yes, i replaced both rotors. No, i didn't replace the pads because they had plenty of material left on them.

[boschmann]

Replacing rotors w/o the pads isn't the best thing (loss of efficiency & possible noise), but shouldn't cause any vibration issues w/the new rotors or make the rotor change useless as an attempted cure to the vibration. I would try rotating & balancing the tires to see if that makes some difference.

[cowspotter]

Thanks. I'm at college right now and am getting ready to drive from Virginia to Vermont for spring break, so I'm heading back home next weekend to change the oil and basically get the car ready for the drive. I'll rotate and balance the tires while i'm there.

[02duratec]

pedal pulse or steer wheel? are the calipers bolted up tight? is there a sticky caliper? how is is after the wheel balance?

[cowspotter]

steering wheel pulse. Yeah, the calipers should be tight. I am going to rotate and balance this weekend so i can let you know after that.