oops, I did it again! warped my rotor

[colleen]

96 accord 4cyl

front left wheel. I finger-tightened my lug nuts, and lowered my car. this warped my rotor so that now when I brake, the pads click on the warped area.

what do I need repaired now? just the rotor? arrgh….

I’m guessing that the rotor is the problem, based on the brakes clicking. anyone ever done this and can give some advice?

EDIT – since I’ve been doing so much maintenance lately, mainly on exhaust, as this is an old beast- -just to pass my impending smog test, I decided that if I pass, i’ll just spring for an autozone axl/rotors/brake pads and probably pick’n’pull the hub assembly as these things are mucho dinero brand new. $135 at Honda parts cheap but $15 for rotor w/hub at pick’n’pull. God I wish I could do the labor myself and save some $! well, maybe someday. something to look forward to.

Topic

[EricTheCarGuy]

Honestly, I doubt that lowering the car with the lugs loose has anything to do with that issue. It’s much more likely to be the pads that you used. The pads used are the #1 cause of brake noise issues. For Hondas, I like Beck Arnley or Akebono.

Don’t make life hard on yourself, and try not to overcomplicate the issue. Try a brake service and see what you come up with.

[colleen]

I did! Actually I’ve been obsessed with your brake & caliper videos for like 5 days now. What I’m seeing on my brake pads is seriously angled wear. I will take my wheel off tomorrow and take a picture. But it’s flat for most of the pad, then I get a sharp angle at the end, probably a 30 degree angle. It is like that on both sides of the outside pad, and one side of the inside pad. The brakes click and I feel the vibration in the pedal when I brake. Now I also have a mild groaning around corners on that side, guessing that’s the bearing. I was actually planning on trying to junkyard a used hub/bearing assembly, and put on an autozone rotor. I should probably just try new pads first, I just don’t think it’s the pads. I think I fuckered it up. THE REASON I THINK THIS is not because I know stuff about cars–I know jack–it’s because:

a. there was no prior issue with that wheel whatsoever
b. after lowering the car with the hand-tightened lugs, the wheel kindof clunked at an angle when it hit the ground. I must not have had the tire completely centered on the rotor. maybe it was caught up on one of the studs a few threads out or something.
c. I could see, and I mean barely see, I only saw this after taking a wire brush to the whole area, that the hub had a very slight protrusion one side. I wanted to take a picture but my jack decided to quit on me. POS craftsman. I will retract that statement if I fix it.

for anyone that cares, here is a picture (from Honda parts cheap) of the difference between the 96 and 98 Accord EX models.

this is my car, hub on outside:

this is the style I don’t have (yeah!) according to Eric, this should be your ‘captive’ rotor type, where you have to press the bearing assembly out of the hub.

EDIT: I’m no longer convinced that I don’t have the ‘captive’ rotors, cuz I just watched the captive rotors video again, and the parts look like my parts, which means I’m taking the axle nut off and getting all crazy with some hammers to do this job. Just my luck. If anyone’s actually reading this, do you think that I could have bent my calipers, too? Just wondering what I need to grab from the junkyard and the thought of junkyard calipers makes me cringe. If it’s actually Eric reading this (wouldn’t I be lucky) do you remember what size the 12pt bolt heads were on the back of the rotor assembly? I don’t have 12 pt sockets. Which # in the top picture would the bolt be? Guessing #22. (I will email Honda parts to try to get a description) Also, I don’t have an air hammer, would a ‘hammer-drill’ work? never used one. Thanks! I would just buy new parts, but I have a hard time spending multiple hundreds of dollars on an old car. Would rather invest in the tools, and probably cheaper anyway, w/ harborfreight 20% off sale coming up. good thing if I need a new jack.

EDIT#2:
hmm, didn’t see any 12pt bolts on the back of my rotor, that doesn’t mean they aren’t hiding. I did find my abs sensor which I will be sure NOT TO MESS WITH!

This is my set up:

rotor:

back of rotor, bottom:

back of rotor, top:

last but not least, my jacked up brake pad:

I’m going to start a new topic on my brake pads to get input just on the pad wear and what it might indicate.

Attachments:

• stick.JPG
• 96.gif
• 98.gif
• rotor.JPG
• backrotorbott.JPG
• backrottop.JPG
• outtop.JPG

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