Well at 225k I had the worn out control arms, tie rode arms, rear shocks and front struts replaced on my touring. After the replacement I was still having a slight shimmy from the front end when breaking at speeds between 80 and 90 mph. My mechanic suggested that my rotors were warped so he tested them and sure enough they were. He turned them on the car and now breaking at any speed is as smooth as silk. I'm really glad I had them cut on the car even if it cost a little more.
Chisum
He charged you more because they were turned on the car??? I think you've been had....
Set the controls for the heart of the sun
On the car lathe will make it true to the wheel bearing. This guy has not been "had" but maybe you have some older wheel bearings there will ALWAYS be run-out on the wheel bearing / rotor. New stuff usually helps but sometimes you get a bad rotor or wheel bearing.
Also you know that little set screw on the rotor? Don't tighten that really hard I always let my lugs "seat" the rotor to the wheel hub. This will get the best fit.
Last edited by Mklock; 05-25-2017 at 09:58 AM.
Yes he cut them on the car and it's amazing how smooth it breaks now.
Lol, You guys crack me up.
Here's what Chisum said:
It takes longer to turn them on a bench lathe than it is to turn them with the lathe that you simply attach to the hub, and turn the rotor while it is still on the car. Therefore, it should not cost more than having to be removed from the car, calipers and all. Simple english.... Read, comprehend.....My mechanic suggested that my rotors were warped so he tested them and sure enough they were. He turned them on the car and now breaking at any speed is as smooth as silk. I'm really glad I had them cut on the car even if it cost a little more.
Now, the important part..... Did the mechanic properly measure the thickness of the rotor? I hope so. If the rotors were near the minimum, turning them was stupid. If there was a lot of meat left on the rotor, then good, but for how long? They will warp pretty quick. Moral of my madness, screw all that turning and measuring, having to deal with the same issue all over again, and starting another thread, just buy good new rotors and be done with it.
Set the controls for the heart of the sun
Yes, I misunderstood,
deposits on rotors can cause brake shimmy,
glad a slight cut resolved it.
Dealing with that now. Hopefully turning the rotors will fix the shimmy at speed.
More likely than not, it'll be my thrust arm bushings... but I don't have the time to do those right now!
+1 on the TAB's...RPITA! Lucky for the OP but I'm betting the party is temporary, which has been my experience when replacing rotors. The most effective thing that I have done for the "Brake-n-shake" was to replace the TAB's, front rotors AND wheel bearing hubs on the '00...worked for me!
The infamous shimmy and 8k on the rear tires with the '03 prompted me to finally do a full suspension refresh including Koni Yellows and I have a "new" E39 (barring the leaking power steering and engine bits that is...they're next on my list ). At the same time, I pressed in the G.A.S. Monoballs I scored on sale into fresh thrust arms and the difference is amazing!! Smooth as glass at speeds the shimmy would normally kick in...
IMO, the Monoballs are superior to the PowerFlex when directly comparing the '00 (PowerFlex) to the now superior '03 (G.A.S. Monoballs). It's interesting how the thrust arms are stiff and unmovable with the PowerFlex but can easily be wiggled around with the Monoballs. Because of this "looseness" I was a little nervous before taking the Monoballs out for a test drive today but they are AWESOME (so far)!!
'00 540iA Sport w/235k+ Original TCG's, Vanos and transmission.*Trans failure at 244k+...FS Now
I'm headed through your neck of the woods this weekend! Gonna spend my day in Aptos, Capitola, and Santa Cruz.
Do you have any preferences when it comes to the TABs? I'm most likely going to replace the entire arm because I'm not sure of the current condition of the balljoints. Lemforder? Meyle?
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