Shake during braking, rotors warped?

Penguin VII · August 9, 2019

My truck has recently started to develop a "bad" shake when braking, very noticeable when braking from highway speeds to an off ramp, sometimes noticeable around surface roads but generally not unless the speed exceeds 50 or I have to hard brake.

My brakes looked find and a shop claimed they had 50% left in them, however when inspecting the rotors you can see where a lip is starting to form on the outside. My guess is that when the truck was in the shop and at some point needed brakes (almost at 60k miles, although I don't recall authorizing brakes) they simply swapped the pads, never the rotors.

I'm wanting to upgrade the rotors to better performance slotted rotors and upgrade the brake pads while I'm at it. I was looking at going with the Duralast GT Street Brake Rotor and Duralast GT Street Carbon Fiber Brake Pads as I've had good experience with Duralast in the past. That said, I'm totally open to recommendations for what to replace with, as long as we keep it around $500. I'm not looking at upgrading to crazy brembo or wilwood. I've got a 6" lift on 35s so really just looking for better stoping performance, this is not a track truck.

So all this is to say, before I dump cash here does anyone have an idea if this is accurate? Is a shake/vibration in the wheel/pedals while hard braking a sign of warped rotors? I'd hate to drop $500 on brakes only to find out that my X (fill in other potential issue) is actually the issue.

HeySkippyDog · August 10, 2019

I have had the same problem before. It's the rotors.

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Penguin VII · August 11, 2019

On 8/9/2019 at 9:03 PM, HeySkippyDog said:

I have had the same problem before. It's the rotors.

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That was my fear. Thanks man. I'll swap them out.

Brian2015 · August 12, 2019

I'm having slight vibration ynder hard braking at 40k miles. Going to upgrade to the police package brake rotors and pads.

HeySkippyDog · August 13, 2019

I'm having slight vibration ynder hard braking at 40k miles. Going to upgrade to the police package brake rotors and pads.

I used the Tahoe/Suburban pads with the Police rotors.

They have the same backing plate and will fit your caliper, but they don't have that weird leading and trailing edge bevel of the pad material.

They will noticeably improve your braking. They have more surface area.

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Eddie 70 · August 15, 2019

My 2014 had nice braking around town. Getting off the interstate, I had the shakes also. I replaced all the rotors and pads and now have smooth braking again, everywhere. I did however go aftermarket.

HeySkippyDog · August 16, 2019

My 2014 had nice braking around town. Getting off the interstate, I had the shakes also. I replaced all the rotors and pads and now have smooth braking again, everywhere. I did however go aftermarket.

Aftermarket on the rotors or using the GM Police rotor seems to be the way to go. I don't recall any of my previous GM trucks being so sensitive on the rotors. I have heard that having these modern rotors turned at a shop is an exercise in futility. They're thin. Hence the frequency of warping.

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Eddie 70 · August 16, 2019

7 hours ago, HeySkippyDog said:

Aftermarket on the rotors or using the GM Police rotor seems to be the way to go. I don't recall any of my previous GM trucks being so sensitive on the rotors. I have heard that having these modern rotors turned at a shop is an exercise in futility. They're thin. Hence the frequency of warping.

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I'll try to remember that about the police rotors. I am sure those are a little beefier than the stockers.

Penguin VII · August 16, 2019

7 hours ago, HeySkippyDog said:

Aftermarket on the rotors or using the GM Police rotor seems to be the way to go. I don't recall any of my previous GM trucks being so sensitive on the rotors. I have heard that having these modern rotors turned at a shop is an exercise in futility. They're thin. Hence the frequency of warping.

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Agreed. I think it's a general thing now. The market has moved toward buying brake pads and rotors, rather than just pads. I think the last successful rotor I was able to save was on my 93 blazer.

HeySkippyDog · August 17, 2019

Agreed. I think it's a general thing now. The market has moved toward buying brake pads and rotors, rather than just pads. I think the last successful rotor I was able to save was on my 93 blazer.

That's exactly it.

That's also why the rotors don't cost so much to replace as they used to. Still not as cheap as a pads-only replacement, but not as painful as scoring a thick rotor beyond useful life.

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