Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Braking probs

When I step on the brake the whole car shakes and vibrates. sometimes when at high speed and most of the time in the city driving. Do i need new brakes? or is there something wrong with my rotors and drums? i just had new tires put on and that's when it started.

Thanks for the help all

Sam

Well, your drums wont warp, but the disc can, and being on the front they do most of the braking. When you got your new tires on, did they put the wheels back on the car with an impact gun? did they tighten the lug nuts in the proper sequence? If they impacted them, especially if they were warm, you could have a warped rotor.

I have no idea if they used a inpack gun or not but i would think they did is there soemthing wrong with using an inpacked gun? and thansk for the help

Sam

Oh, yes. Uneven, higher-than-spec torque will warp the rotors every time. Must be done with a torque wrench only.

-Lance

what is the torque spech's? and if I losen them and re-torque them will that help? thanks

My haynes manual says 95ft-lbs. Remember to tighten in a cross pattern (i.e. tighten 1 bolt, then the one opposite to it etc.). I also tighten in 3 steps, tighten all bolts to 30ft-lbs, then 60ft-lbs, and finally 95ft-lbs.

Don't know if retorquing will help if your discs are already warped.

A torque wrench has a guage on it tell you how hard your turning the bolt. The torque spec for the lugs was originally 65 ft-lbs. but was later changed to like 80-85 ft-lbs. That would be like setting a 85 lb. weight on a 1 ft. long wrench until the bolt stopped tightening. Correcting the torque setting may help, but warped rotor damage may already be done.

thanks all i will do that today before the rain comes lol

Although it is not all that common on Contiques, drums actually can warp, or more correctly become out of round. When they do, they can also cause brake shudder. This was real common in days of old when drums were still common on front brakes. Don't ignore it as a possible cause.

Ahh, I was unaware of drums being able to be "un-rounded" Learn something new every day! -Nick