Never ending warped rotors - G35
 

Hey guys,

Just need some help brainstorming ideas/reasons why my friend's 2008 G35 sedan has had many issues with front rotors. Here's some info:

110k, journey trim, rwd, stock
- First had warped rotors around 80k, changed pads and used Lordco Rotors, passenger side caliper found sticking, rebuilt
- around 87k, warrantied Lordco, set aside, Raybestos "premium" rotors installed, investigated suspension, found one subframe bolt loose and tightened
- around 95k, warping again, sent to Infiniti dealership, $2500 for new oem calipers, oem pads, stillen rotors (upsold to be better), passenger side wheel bearing replaced due to heat build up from seized caliper. was hoping for an end-all solution here.
- 110k, warped again. confirmed warped stillen rotors. beyond 10k warranty I think. dealership also confirmed that calipers are not seized this time.

some ownership/driving habits/car's exposure to elements
- He does not drive the car hard at all, I've known the guy for 10 years and he's the kind of guy that wouldn't run out of brake pads on a corolla for 8 years (previous car). brakes early, lightly.
- Car is parked outside year round.
- Car is rarely washed, maybe twice a year at most.
- Average trip is around 15km/day? He's been driving less now as new office is downtown and skytrain is better.
- everything on the maintenance schedule has been followed, he even got told by dealership that some items are not needed yet (kudos to that advisor)

steering wheel vibrates under braking, strong enough to be alarming on the highway

He still has the old Lordco rotors sitting around is highly contemplating just throwing those back on and selling the car despite not wanting to get rid of the car. Any ideas appreciated as I'm totally out of them.

does he bed them in properly when new?

rotors can have pad deposits from new and just build on them no matter how light they drive. proper bed in may help

not sure if you have read this: -Warped- Brake Disc and Other Myths

I always thought it was the way I drove too hard in traffic or too hard on the brakes but it was just really the bed in process.

Common issue for some G35 owners.
The OE pads were know to cause this. Heat would cause them to almost melt to the rotors and then cause high spots and it feels just like a warped rotor.
Rotor gets hot, brakes applied and kepts on (stop light or traffic), pad material bonds to the rotor surface and over time it just makes it worse and worse.

Tell him to get the rotors turned and put some quality, NON-oe pads in there.

oh yeah, i knew i forgot something. i can't say what the dealer did immediately after installation, or if bedding in is part of the test drive after. however, he is aware of proper bed in procedures as we had to do them with the previous rotors. mild braking at first, avoiding coming to a dead stop as much as possible, no hard stops for 300km or so (he did this for 500km) and avoiding long stops from anything above 100km/h (let engine do some of the braking before using the brakes), increase brake pressures eventually. from what he tells me he's diligent about all of that, and the rotors were great for 13k or so this time around

Thanks, will try that. Any suggestions on pads?

Dealer won't touch the Stillen rotors. They are drilled (he didn't choose them) so turning them won't be an option. Perhaps the Lordco rotors on good pads.

@aznboi, good read. what do you think about braking too lightly? he's been like super religious about anything to do with brakes so i'm confident it was bed-in alright

Get good rotors, never put Lordco brand anything on a car if you are expecting to not have issues in short order.

The Stillen ones can be turned, just jacks up a set of bits for the machine. I would press them to have them machined as they upsold them.
Use a good, non-oe pads and things should be good to go on the Stillens or if you have to get a set of OE rotors on there with non-oe pads.

I'm having the same issue with an 07 G Sedan. Pads and rotors were changed 10k ago and lately i've been getting a vibration while braking as well, also a slight whirring sound.

Well right now it's still being dealt with dealership. Hoping to get the rotors replaced. If not, there's some good advice on here to go on!

lol lordco rotors just stop

re-read OP.

that suggestion was because they're sitting in storage doing nothing. they came to be after they were tried before, then warrantied, but never used again due to obvious shittiness. after spending $2500 on brakes and not having it last a year, it's a matter of saving money and having the lordco shit last as long as possible. even if it lasts 5k, it holds off needing to spend anything more than $0 compared to them sitting pretty in a box.

to be clear: i think lordco rotors are shit. it's a matter of circumstance here. it is not a normal circumstance to spend that much on brakes in a matter of 10 months.

I had the same problem with my G35S.

Went with Stoptech blanks/Akebono pads 10k ago haven't had an issue.

what's wrong with lordco rotors?

To add, if he's getting them machined, try to get them done while mounted on the hub.

They're terrible and half the time are warped out of the box. (and this is coming from an employee :lol the countermen at my store won't sell the rotors unless the customer insists on being cheap)

lol lordco.

i've had good luck with napa rotors in the past.

Lol reading is really hard for some people on this forum :rukidding:

Says the guy running Nexens :lawl:



:troll: luv u

that sounds terribly complicated...just coast and not brake too heavily for 500 miles.

Infiniti charges $2.5K for a caliper + bearing and a brake job?

free tires bro

OEM calipers, OEM brakes pads, Stillen rotors and wheel bearing.....probably over $1600 in parts alone. And then you add in six to eight hours of labour @ probably $130/hour. I don't see a problem with that at all.

My issue would be having the same problem as before after spending all that money, though.

Has he checked for suspension misalignment? Sounds to me the issue is more suspension related than actual brakes.

My reasoning is rotors are usually made out of cast iron and the term "warp" really is a poor saying that has become the norm over time. It is very difficult to warp cast iron. The heat necessary to do so isn't something the average road going car is able to produce.

What's more likely is distortion or grooving of the surface as a result of suspension and brake rotor misalignment which means that the pad isn't sitting flush with the rotor causing uneven surface wear.

Chances are that if this problem persists despite new rotors, pads et al the problem exists with the suspension. Even pot holes will cause suspension and brake misalignment and result in brake issues as they accumulate. Has he had the suspension checked out thoroughly and/or had an alignment done in recent history?

Suspension will have 0 impact on brake components seeing as they are in fact attached to the bottom of the struts.
alignment can cause a vibration, but when you change your rotors and drive 10k with no more issue but comes back and again is remedied from rotors its very clear the issue is not the suspension. Not to mention G35's were known for this problem from day one and the easy fix was non-OE pads.

Having a bad shocks/struts do affect the brakes. If the front shocks/struts are gone when you step on the brakes your car will nose dive and make the front brake works harder because of the weight transfer. This can cause the front brakes to wear faster along with warped rotors. And as everyone says, Lordco rotors are crap.

You do not have a pressure differential at one corner of the car due to weight transfer.
You can remove a shock even, its not going to effect how "hard" the brakes at that corner work. The pressure applied is the same at each corner. You will have a larger percentage of weight over that corner, but a blown strut will not effect enough of a weight transfer for it to make 1 iota of difference.
This is a know issue for G35's. The OE pads will deposit a lot of brake friction material on the rotor due to there construction and will cause the pulsation you feel as a warped rotor.

Some people have had luck with powerslot or slotted rotors and OE pads, but the easy thing is non-OE pads.
Again, alignment or suspension will not cause this. You can have a vibration due to suspension related issues but this is not what is happening. This is a brake related pulsation.