I recently decided to change my pads and rotors on my 2001 1500 4x4, good thing too, because they were down to the metal and had eaten my rotor pretty good. Anywho, I get the driver's side done, put the wheel back on, jack up the other side.. and this is where the fun starts. After getting the caliper off, the old pads out, the bracket off, and the rotor off, I opened the new rotor and it looked..grooved. It was wrapped in plastic (unbroken) so it hadn't been used, but the surface was not baby smooth like the other side had been, it just had these perfectly spaced tiny grooves, but being in a hurry, I put the new rotor on, reinstalled the bracket, put the new pads in, I begin to push the caliper pistons back in..reaching a spot where I could not push anymore. So, of course, I loosened the bleeder screw, and pushed them on in. Upon tightening my bleeder screw, it stripped. I head to AutoZone and purchase a pack of two, come back and screw it back in, assemble everything and go for my test drive. After realizing the pedal pulsed and the truck shook when braking, I remembered I had forgotten to bleed my brakes. Went home, did so, went for another drive. Same shake..My question is, do you guys think the mysterious grooved rotor is to blame? Have any of you ever seen a brand new rotor be grooved and not cause a problem? or perhaps the brakes still aren't bled? This is a very frustrating problem and any feedback is appreciated!

 

Just about 2 weeks ago I replaced the entire setup. Pads, calipers and rotors. I'm GUESSING it may be a bleeding issue since it was after the 4th bleed that I got the smooooth braking from both sides. It may just be a lot of air in the line since more than just pads were swapped.

But I don't know, that was just my experience. I have the same year 1500 but RWD.

 

So, you don't think the grooves in that one rotor are to blame? Thanks for your reply too!

 

Unless the rotor was also warped in addition to grooved, it shouldn't cause any shaking. Grooves by themselves won't brake shimmy but they may contribute to uneven pad wear and maybe some warping in the future depending on the size of the grooves. Being that you were in a hurry, I don't blame your for just throwing it on, I probably would have done the same thing and just taken my chances with it wearing unevenly.

That being said, you may still have a warping issue since you say that you're still getting shaking after installing the new brake materials...i've never had a bleeding issue cause brake shimmy like that...usually it causes a soft pedal and poor braking performance.

 

Well, for one thing, you should open the bleeder screw to seat the piston, you're supposed to remove the brake fluid reservoir cap so the fluid has a place to go. Grooves wont cause a brake pedal to pulsate, warped rotors cause that. Are you sure the rotors are seated properly and not off center??

 

I wonder if the grooved rotor was not properly surfaced by the manufacturer. THAT would give you a shimmy. I would be tempted to yank that one, and swap it out. See if that doesn't solve the issue.

This is also one of the reasons I cut even new rotors before installation.

 

Could it be the drums? I put new brakes on mine and it still pulses a little bit. All new hardware in front, didn't touch the rear.

 

Thanks for the quick replies guys. I'm about to go down to the parts house and swap out this passenger side rotor and throw it on, bleed the brakes again, and see what we've got. I'll keep you guys posted!

 

If your parking brake works..... find a nice place to test, run it up to about 35, and SLOWLY apply the parking brake. If you start getting the shimmy/shake, rears are indeed the issue.

 

I cut the cable because it got stuck on a busy boat ramp. LoL... hilarity ensued on my behalf.