brake vibration?

[hawkfan]

I've a 95 accord - 165K.
Brakes have been turned down 3 times yet vibration keeps returning after several months...?

[lorunner]

Ahh

did they cut them on the car or off?

Who did the cut?

[mpumas]

I would think after 3 cuts you need new rotors even if they were cut on the car.

[hawkfan]

the problem began with these replacement disks, and I believe they were cut on the car (last time for sure)

[hawkfan]

The only other thing, one rim was slightly bent on a pot-hole, is it possible that could generate braking vibrations over time?

[mpumas]

Move the rim from front to back and see if the vibration moves. Is the vibration only when applying brakes or all the time when the car is moving?

[hawkfan]

There is some vibration @ 65mph - that is only noticible when that rim is up front, the brake vibrations are all the time.
Are you suggesting an out of balance rim can cause braking vibration?

[mpumas]

No. not if the out of balance rim is in the back and you still get vibration. Lets explore the vibration. What does it do to the steering wheel? Does it jump around or do you just get a noise? I have heard of problems when using aftermarket rotors. They seem to have problems after a few thousand miles. I don't know if it is the hardness of the metal or what.

[hawkfan]

Ok, the steering wheel jumps, (sort of bouncing back and forth 1/2" or so) no noise really.

[mpumas]

Examine the front rotors. Do you see hot spots on one or both. They would appear as a different color on then the majority of the rotor. As for the pads, did you use a hard / lifetime pad? Sometimes they can create more heat because of the pressure necessary to stop the car. The hard pads could could cause hot spots which would cause uneven breaking on the rotor.

[hawkfan]

I'll have to do some digging to see what kind of pads are on there...but the fronts appear to wear evenly, although the left may be slightly 'hotter' towards the center.
(The rears are definitly uneven, but I had the notion that didn't matter)

[mpumas]

I'm confused-the left is slightly hotter towards the center? You should be looking at the rotors. Rears are uneven? Do you have shoes or pads on the rear? If shoes, they do wear differently from front to rear.

[hawkfan]

Sorry,
If by 'hot' you meant shiny, there is little variation across the rotors. No discoloration, like blue heat caused colors. Got disks all around. Am I correct in thinking that I'd not feel rear-caused vibrations in the steering wheel?

[mpumas]

That's true.you wouldn't feel it on the steering wheel. But hot spots might cause one wheel to lock up if you really jammed the brake petal. Usually a hot spot is a blue colored section/spot on the rotor. It can cause uneven braking.

[hawkfan]

Ok, no blue sections are on the front rotors. Could ABS possibly have an effect? - is there any other explanation besides cheapness of the replacemets?