Odd brake vibration after driving hard

[Mossyoakglock]

On Friday we had a family emergency and I had to leave work early. I was driving the back roads a little faster than I probably should have been but wanted to get home as fast as I could. That means I was harder on my brakes than usual. I was almost home and applying lighter pressure and notice a vibration. I applied a little more pressue and it did the same thing. When I let off the brakes, the vibration went away. Got home around 10 am and didn't drive the truck for almost 24 hrs. Went to drive it Saturday morning and nothing. No shimmy, vibration, noise etc. and stopped fine.

Any suggestion on why they did this? Just get too hot? They are Akebono PROact pads with powerslot slotted rotors.

Are slotted rotors more prone to this? Would it be a good idea to get a solid blank?

[aflesch]

I have noticed mine does that too. As soon as they cool down it goes away. I have solid rotors and I have no idea what kind of pads. It's totally bizarre. I have never experienced it on any other vehicle I have driven. Any time I have to do even a mild panic stop I have a weird vibration when braking for about the next 10 minutes then it goes away. I wonder if it has something to do with the ABS???

[scooby5121]

Exactly same conditions with the brakes when they are hot.

I power wash the front brakes and alot of brake dust is visible. Been doing it for years and still works perfectly later when cooled and cleaned with water.

[Mossyoakglock]

I guess I'll just have to wait and see if it does it again.

[gmtech4]

warped rotors ,,

[pjp]

Mine does that too and I don't drive hard. They do it more when hot, hard braking or going down a long incline. Time to turn the front rotors...

[KMGZ400]

warped rotors ,,

 

i was gonna say that too... my cruze did the same thing as the OP said and the rotos were warped.

[oldmann]

The excess heat applied to the rotors caused the metal to expand. The metal needs somewhere to go to so it increases the surface area creating a warped surface. Sometimes it goes away, and sometimes it will stay when the brakes cool. Slotted rotors cool faster than solid. Think of a cast iron frying pan compared to a lightweight steel pan. Besides being different materials, the cast iron pan holds its heat much longer than the regular steal pan. Therefore, you can cook more food like pancakes or grilled cheese with great results. They get done evenly and not burnt because the temp is consistent. Slotted is better for most applications. They are less likely to fade for long periods because they get cool quickly.

[slapshot]

NBS is right. Sometimes the extra heat will warp the rotors bad enough so they have to be resurfaced or replaced, sometimes it does not. I run into it every so often on my Crown Vic PI at work. After really hard driving, and often smoking brakes, they will do the same thing until they cool down. Sometimes they are so bad, they have to replace the pads and rotors. We have similar issues with brand new Tahoe PPV's too. I think the Tahoes will be worse on brakes due to the extra weight.