FAQ: Vibration under braking: warped rotors? NO!

[fc528e]

Very late to the party and just want to clarify some of the comments I've seen. I'm around 1700 miles and have some squeaking but no vibrations... yet. Do folks recommend just replacing the front, or all 4 pads? Would love to save some $ if replacing rears isn't necessary to nip this potential problem. Thanks in advance!

 

[MerlintheMad]

Very late to the party and just want to clarify some of the comments I've seen. I'm around 1700 miles and have some squeaking but no vibrations... yet. Do folks recommend just replacing the front, or all 4 pads? Would love to save some $ if replacing rears isn't necessary to nip this potential problem. Thanks in advance!

This is a very long thread, but that has already been addressed: I'll repeat the tl;dr part for you: pulsating/vibrating in the steering wheel is a front brakes issue; pulsating/vibrating through your driver's seat is a rear brakes issue. If you're wanting to just replace to avoid any future trouble, do all four; otherwise, save some money and just do the front brakes (I think have read ONE experience on here of rear brakes causing the trouble, with the front brakes still being fine).

Also, save some money by not messing with it if it ain't broke. I've been reading about this for literally the life of my car and have not changed out anything yet.

 

[fc528e]

This is a very long thread, but that has already been addressed: I'll repeat the tl;dr part for you: pulsating/vibrating in the steering wheel is a front brakes issue; pulsating/vibrating through your driver's seat is a rear brakes issue. If you're wanting to just replace to avoid any future trouble, do all four; otherwise, save some money and just do the front brakes (I think have read ONE experience on here of rear brakes causing the trouble, with the front brakes still being fine).

Also, save some money by not messing with it if it ain't broke. I've been reading about this for literally the life of my car and have not changed out anything yet.

I see why everyone regards you as a legend. Many thanks and I think your advice is sound; I'll just stick with my stock setup until any issues present, if they even do.

 

[Xspader]

Some good information in here, and I'd like to add my experience with the brakes on my 2019 Stinger. I may be an isolated/not common case, but my disks are warping, badly and constantly without hard usage. I have had the disks and pads replaced under warranty at my 1 month service from new. At my next service the disks were skimmed as they had warped. I have now done (2,000kms since last service/skim) 24,000kms in my car the disks are warping again and the dealership has said theres nothing left to skim from the disks. Kia arent interested in my issue as they have no reported issues of the brakes having issues after their recall/warrant fix has been applied. I will be looking into a disk/pad replacement to the DBA T3 rotors and recommended pads so I dont have to worry about the brakes in the car. Considering the aftermarket upgrade is going to be $1000 cheaper than the factory replacement and much better braking performance and life time, the choice is pretty simple for me.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Some good information in here, and I'd like to add my experience with the brakes on my 2019 Stinger. I may be an isolated/not common case, but my disks are warping, badly and constantly without hard usage. I have had the disks and pads replaced under warranty at my 1 month service from new. At my next service the disks were skimmed as they had warped. I have now done (2,000kms since last service/skim) 24,000kms in my car the disks are warping again and the dealership has said theres nothing left to skim from the disks. Kia arent interested in my issue as they have no reported issues of the brakes having issues after their recall/warrant fix has been applied. I will be looking into a disk/pad replacement to the DBA T3 rotors and recommended pads so I dont have to worry about the brakes in the car. Considering the aftermarket upgrade is going to be $1000 cheaper than the factory replacement and much better braking performance and life time, the choice is pretty simple for me.

I'm trying to remember if I heard of any Aussie or Kiwi with this kind of pulsating brakes issue. I thought that this was a US (maybe some in Canada) thing. I thought that we got the soft and quiet pads.

Discs/rotors don't "warp"; it's all pad deposits (and maybe cementite if you're unlucky). If you've read through this thread (even especially the OP) you'll know that "warped rotors" is virtually impossible. (But that's just me being pedantic: "warped rotors" is how people describe what's going on.)

And what is this about Kia rejecting a subsequent issue? If the "fix" didn't do it, how can they say that you're wrong? The customer is always right. Maybe you could share with your compadres Down Under who this dealership is, so that they can steer clear.

 

[ephone]

Some good information in here, and I'd like to add my experience with the brakes on my 2019 Stinger. I may be an isolated/not common case, but my disks are warping, badly and constantly without hard usage. I have had the disks and pads replaced under warranty at my 1 month service from new. At my next service the disks were skimmed as they had warped. I have now done (2,000kms since last service/skim) 24,000kms in my car the disks are warping again and the dealership has said theres nothing left to skim from the disks. Kia arent interested in my issue as they have no reported issues of the brakes having issues after their recall/warrant fix has been applied. I will be looking into a disk/pad replacement to the DBA T3 rotors and recommended pads so I dont have to worry about the brakes in the car. Considering the aftermarket upgrade is going to be $1000 cheaper than the factory replacement and much better braking performance and life time, the choice is pretty simple for me.

I fought this issues in many cars since I hate brake vibration. My 2012 BMW 5 series is on its 3rd set of pads & rotors. The first set were on BMW's dime, the last 2 were on mine. I wound up changing the front rotors to different brand the last change, since I didn't want to use BMW OEM after having these issues. I haven''t had them on long enough to know - it usually shows up around 15k miles.

I put the euro-spec pads on my G70 when it had 500 miles, and I haven't had an issue. I think the pads matter, but if I start to have an issue, I won't use OEM rotors when I replace them.

 

[Stevenk9]

Kia has honored the brake warranty (20000km) on my Stinger and has replaced my rotors. (Thanks to Kia Spinelli-great service) Kia Canada were not going to change the pads but as I can see the pads seem to be the problem so I had them install Powerstop z16 pads from Rockauto.com. (Rockauto had the best price , tax, free delivery and duties included for Canada). I followed the bed in procedure suggested by Powerstop and will keep you updated.

 

[Xspader]

I'm trying to remember if I heard of any Aussie or Kiwi with this kind of pulsating brakes issue. I thought that this was a US (maybe some in Canada) thing. I thought that we got the soft and quiet pads.

Discs/rotors don't "warp"; it's all pad deposits (and maybe cementite if you're unlucky). If you've read through this thread (even especially the OP) you'll know that "warped rotors" is virtually impossible. (But that's just me being pedantic: "warped rotors" is how people describe what's going on.)

And what is this about Kia rejecting a subsequent issue? If the "fix" didn't do it, how can they say that you're wrong? The customer is always right. Maybe you could share with your compadres Down Under who this dealership is, so that they can steer clear.

The dealership are being great and agree its a warranty issue, its Kia NZ that are rejecting the warranty claim. We're trying again with them, but they're rather pedantic and are being quite painful. We have some protections here under the consumer guarantees act so I'll be checking up on this if they reject it again. Essentially the brakes are great when they arent pulsing, but this seems to be happening a lot and often with my car. Pretty frustrating, but I'll fix it one way or another, and as the disks need to be replaced soon, if its not under warranty I'll go aftermarket to fix it once and for all

 

[Xspader]

I fought this issues in many cars since I hate brake vibration. My 2012 BMW 5 series is on its 3rd set of pads & rotors. The first set were on BMW's dime, the last 2 were on mine. I wound up changing the front rotors to different brand the last change, since I didn't want to use BMW OEM after having these issues. I haven''t had them on long enough to know - it usually shows up around 15k miles.

I put the euro-spec pads on my G70 when it had 500 miles, and I haven't had an issue. I think the pads matter, but if I start to have an issue, I won't use OEM rotors when I replace them.

I have a 2014 HSV Clubsport (6.2L LS3 V8) that has HSV branded AP racing brakes and they havent had an issue at all in 65000kms. I have to admit, I've never had this many issues with brakes on any car I've owned before, and being an old bugger, I've owned a few.

 

[ShannonC]

The dealership are being great and agree its a warranty issue, its Kia NZ that are rejecting the warranty claim. We're trying again with them, but they're rather pedantic and are being quite painful. We have some protections here under the consumer guarantees act so I'll be checking up on this if they reject it again. Essentially the brakes are great when they arent pulsing, but this seems to be happening a lot and often with my car. Pretty frustrating, but I'll fix it one way or another, and as the disks need to be replaced soon, if its not under warranty I'll go aftermarket to fix it once and for all

Kia NZ should get its act together and communicate with AUS and North America......many issues replaced under warranty. Its refusal to accept warranty is complete BS.

 

[HDTurbo]

Golly, I’m gonna be extra judicious with my brakes now!

 

[Stinger GT SS]

The OEM pads are brembo.
The OEM rotors are brembo
The OEM calipers are brembo.

This is an OEM front pad from my stinger.

I just checked my OEM Pads & they are Brembo & numbers appear to be the same.
Front Pads


Rear Pads

 

[WRXtoStingerGT]

So even if we go with aftermarket superior pads there is still a chance to have this issue in the future? lmfao </3

 

[fc528e]

So even if we go with aftermarket superior pads there is still a chance to have this issue in the future? lmfao </3

Hmm, I don't recall reading any accounts of people installing different, non OEM pads, and having the same warping rotors//braking/pad issues (assuming rotors are fine going into pad change). Link?

 

[MerlintheMad]

So even if we go with aftermarket superior pads there is still a chance to have this issue in the future? lmfao </3

Almost no chance. But I do recall, dimly, one or possibly two members of the forum reporting that an aftermarket pad they tried did not work for them. There are now many options, and one might not work but the others will.

 

[Freelancer]

I swapped out my stockers when they replaced my rotors about a month ago and it has be wonderful. An occasional squeak from the front cuz the Kia tech put them in when they swapped the rotor FOC, so not sure what they did for lube application. When I swap out my tyres in Nov. I'll pull the pins and see if they did any lube, if not, will lube myself. And honestly I don't care if the make noise, they stop like Bembo's should now.

 

[NS_Stinger]

My girodisc front pads squeal on the rare occasion when they're cold. It doesnt happen often though. I'm sure it's just because they're a more aggressive compound, stopping power is great with them and zero vibration since I installed them 10 or more months ago. Cant recommend them enough.

 

[Dmango]

I am replacing all my brake pads today. Ordered Centric front and rear from Rockauto.com. I already noticed pad deposit on my rear rotors after 4300 miles. Front are clear. Replaced all the pads now before it’s too late.

 

[Helo58]

So even if we go with aftermarket superior pads there is still a chance to have this issue in the future? lmfao </3

It happened to me but I am admittedly in the minority if not THE minority. I have tried to reconcile this and it has crossed my mind that the dealership did not actually install the new pads I gave them. I did verify new rotors by the blanchard grinding marks on the rotors themselves. I usually request the old parts be left in the new part box and returned to me for verification, but at the time was distracted with an upper control arm bolt that fell out (making the car undriveable) and a continued limited slip diff. problem.

I think the chances of aftermarket pads not fixing the problem are very small. At the time I purchased mine, the "known" pads for the front rotors were limited to a few choices and I picked a non-metalic pad for the replacements. People reporting the most improvements have gone to metallic pads.

 

[RogueIV]

Is there a list of quality performance pads that work with our cars? Seems a lot of online retailers either don't show pads for our cars and some just straight up don't have the Stinger or G70 as a selectable model.