Changed rotors and pads, now this...

Had my trusted shop put on some normal Advanced Auto Parts rotors and pads. They breaks are fine and everything, but... Now I have a shimmy in my steeringwheel at about 52-55mph. and my Jeep seems t be out of alighnment too (it pulls to the right when I am not touching the wheel).

I figure the shimmy is a tire out of balance and I may just need a new alighnment, but why would I just now notice it after new rotors and pads?

ZachMan said:

Had my trusted shop put on some normal Advanced Auto Parts rotors and pads. They breaks are fine and everything, but... Now I have a shimmy in my steeringwheel at about 52-55mph. and my Jeep seems t be out of alighnment too (it pulls to the right when I am not touching the wheel).

I figure the shimmy is a tire out of balance and I may just need a new alighnment, but why would I just now notice it after new rotors and pads?

Click to expand...

THey knocked off a weight or two while putting the tires back on?

WEIRD! I just replace my calipers rotors and pads and I to have a shimmy at that exact speed range. Just feels like a tire is outta balance. I aslo had a slightly bent tie rod so I replaced that yesterday with no change. I was gonna take it to a tire shop this afternoon I will report back if I can.

You may have a caliper that is stuck,rubbing the rotor,and overheating,warping that rotor.
Or the shop may have gunned down the lug nuts and warpped the rotor.
Or a combination of all of the above.Not knowing the year of you XJ ,but rebuilt calipers are less than $25,Why not replace them?
Wayne

Wayne Sihler said:

You may have a caliper that is stuck,rubbing the rotor,and overheating,warping that rotor.
Or the shop may have gunned down the lug nuts and warpped the rotor.
Or a combination of all of the above.Not knowing the year of you XJ ,but rebuilt calipers are less than $25,Why not replace them?
Wayne

Click to expand...

Hmmm,

Its a 2000 w/ 67k, I did run the brakes way way down. I do know the wheels were not torqued down too hard because when I got home to check everything I could tighten the lugs up more w/ just my factory lug wrench.

I don't think a rotor is warped because ther is no shimmy (warped rotor shimmy) when braking and the brakes do perform very well. Plus I noticed the shimy as soon as I left the shop not even 300 feet away. I do however notice the brakes give off a smell after a good drive, I think its just from the new rotors and pads.

staticrevolution said:

WEIRD! I just replace my calipers rotors and pads and I to have a shimmy at that exact speed range. Just feels like a tire is outta balance. I aslo had a slightly bent tie rod so I replaced that yesterday with no change. I was gonna take it to a tire shop this afternoon I will report back if I can.

Click to expand...

Please do!

I completely forgot to report back SORRY guys. Anyways it was all just a fluke. The tire shop said I need to rotate my tires more and that they were "cupping" and causing the vibration at speed. Funny thing is the tires are less than 2000 miles old? weird! But a simple rotation fixed the steering vibration.

Alan

staticrevolution said:

I completely forgot to report back SORRY guys. Anyways it was all just a fluke. The tire shop said I need to rotate my tires more and that they were "cupping" and causing the vibration at speed. Funny thing is the tires are less than 2000 miles old? weird! But a simple rotation fixed the steering vibration.

Alan

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If your tires are cupping you might want to check your suspension.

Tire guy said it was a natural habit of aggressive tires, but what should I check? Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated!

Alan

I rotate my AT KO's every 3,000mi or try to, depends on the weather. I normally do just a front to back thing. I let them go for for about 9,000mi and when I did rotate them they vibrated for about 500-800mi then smoothed out again. The main reason I rotated them was becasue I could see the uneven wear on the lugs. Now they are back to a normal smooth wear pattern when I look from the side. Air pressure is also very important. As for tightening the lugs I bought a $30 1/2 twist type torque wrench at National Auto. it's a big wrench, I keep it under my rear seat with a 3" extension and correct socket. Whenever I have any work done that is not under my control or being done by me I pay my bill, drive out about 1/2 mi or so to the first available parking lot, use a 1/2 breaker bar wrench to back them off a bit then retorque them to 95ftlbs. You never use a torque wrench to loosen tight bolts and nuts....