Front end vibration, really bad

[cpeckvt]

Hello, I have posted about this a few times, but I need to post again.
I am on my 3rd set of rotors, current set have about 1K miles.
During hard braking, the entire front end vibrates, really bad.
Could it be the front tires? Out of round? out of balance? Alignment?
thnx
Chris

 

[ChaneRZ]

What pads do you have?

 

[cpeckvt]

What pads do you have?

EBC Redstuff Ceramic Brake Pads​

The vibration is horrible and really bad, the entire front end shakes under hard braking.

 

[AdrianG]

Did you bed the pads in properly?

 

[cpeckvt]

Did you bed the pads in properly?

yes, car was fine for a few thousand miles after the pads were installed. Then the shaking came back and dealer replaced the rotors for the 3rd time. Now it is horrible. Could it be the tires?

 

[AdrianG]

yes, car was fine for a few thousand miles after the pads were installed. Then the shaking came back and dealer replaced the rotors for the 3rd time. Now it is horrible. Could it be the tires?

Was it worse immediately after replacing the rotors?
It could be the tires, but I think that may be less likely.

 

[cpeckvt]

what is the best rotor/pad combo to put on the car? I am going to replace all 4.

 

[Snicklefritz]

what is the best rotor/pad combo to put on the car? I am going to replace all 4.

the one that you break in properly. the stinger owner's manual says to not make any hard braking stops and go easy in other words on the brakes during the break-in period of the first 600 miles. judging by the number of new stinger owners who wind up complaining about shuddering vibrating brakes they ignored this advice. this advice is true of any and all brakes and rotors. bedding in should be done by the manufacturer instructions. don't just go by advice offered here. then all should be fine.

 

[cpeckvt]

the one that you break in properly. the stinger owner's manual says to not make any hard braking stops and go easy in other words on the brakes during the break-in period of the first 600 miles. judging by the number of new stinger owners who wind up complaining about shuddering vibrating brakes they ignored this advice. this advice is true of any and all brakes and rotors. bedding in should be done by the manufacturer instructions. don't just go by advice offered here. then all should be fine.

Hello, this is not my first rodeo, I have had just about every sports car out there, Vipers, Porsche, 800HP RS6 and so on. NEVER, EVER have I seen a brake issue like this. In fact, I have NEVER had to replace any brake parts on any car i have owned, this is the first. Moving on, I will be calling Kia corporate on Monday to file a complaint, $54K car, and the brakes suck.

 

[Snicklefritz]

why did you ask what the best brake pad and rotor combo is with all that experience? you should be telling us. I've got well over 50,000 miles on stingers and have had not one brake issue, zero, nothing. the brakes are fine by me.

 

[Volfy]

Hello, this is not my first rodeo, I have had just about every sports car out there, Vipers, Porsche, 800HP RS6 and so on. NEVER, EVER have I seen a brake issue like this. In fact, I have NEVER had to replace any brake parts on any car i have owned, this is the first. Moving on, I will be calling Kia corporate on Monday to file a complaint, $54K car, and the brakes suck.

With all that experience, you should understand perfectly clearly that, despite the marketing hype, Kia Stinger is not a sports car. It is a grand touring car - has good power and handles reasonably well, but a bit porky in order to offer the interior and luggage accommodations that no pure sports car on earth can. Not to say it couldn't be modified to be better suited for higher performance driving. If your RS6 had 800HP, you certainly have done precisely that. Safe to assume you possess ample knowledge and know-how to judge what needs to be modded, and what needs not.

All this begs the question... why on earth are you still messing with OEM brake pads? An easy fix is a good set of aftermarket brake pads away. It is painfully obvious to everybody by now that the rotors are not the problem, despite Kia dealers repeatedly changing them. That is their problem. You don't have to make it yours.

 

[cpeckvt]

With all that experience, you should understand perfectly clearly that, despite the marketing hype, Kia Stinger is not a sports car. It is a grand touring car - has good power and handles reasonably well, but a bit porky in order to offer the interior and luggage accommodations that no pure sports car on earth can. Not to say it couldn't be modified to be better suited for higher performance driving. If your RS6 had 800HP, you certainly have done precisely that. Safe to assume you possess ample knowledge and know-how to judge what needs to be modded, and what needs not.

All this begs the question... why on earth are you still messing with OEM brake pads? An easy fix is a good set of aftermarket brake pads away. It is painfully obvious to everybody by now that the rotors are not the problem, despite Kia dealers repeatedly changing them. That is their problem. You don't have to make it yours.

Hello, all the pads were changed 3 months ago, EBC RED Ceramic.

 

[Volfy]

Hello, all the pads were changed 3 months ago, EBC RED Ceramic.

If you've got the problem after change to EBD Red, that casts a different light. How do your rotors look?

Also is the frequency of the vibration speed dependent? That is, higher frequency at higher speeds. Lower frequency at lower speed.

What is your wheel/tire set up? Stock? Aftermarket? Spacers?

 

[ddavis1982]

Hello, I have posted about this a few times, but I need to post again.
I am on my 3rd set of rotors, current set have about 1K miles.
During hard braking, the entire front end vibrates, really bad.
Could it be the front tires? Out of round? out of balance? Alignment?
thnx
Chris

The problem is indeed the rotors.... but let me explain before the pitchforks come out.

I am finding it is actually an issue with the design of the car itself. Why? Air. There is not enough air getting to the rotors and brakes. I live in California, we get hot summers and I noticed as well my brakes/rotors get super hot on regular driving in the summer time. Now where does this come into play in with the rotors you ask? No there not warped, they just can't clean themselves and the brake deposits collect, solidify causing an uneven surface, and shudder here we come.

I have tried 3 different types of brakes (stock, low dust ceramics and a non kia reccomended brand) every time the dust accumulates on the rotors within 2k miles and the shudders return. I have had the rotors replaced and turned because people kept saying the "kia rotors were brembo spec and are fine". They are great rotors, just not for this car. In fact they were never warped, just the deposits it accumulates makes an uneven surface.

I can fix it by re-bedding the brakes by a 3 set of getting to 80 and stomping on em till it basically cleans the rotor. 1-2k miles later, here we go again. All this explanation leads to this, you minimally need to replace the rotors with slotted rotors so they shed the dust, the stock ones just won't do it because of the defect of the car (not enough airflow).

This is my suspicion after countless trial and error, and with haggling with Kia. There service manager himself stated that they can replace the brakes and rotors however the problem will persist. His reccomendation was an outside shop that will put on slotted/drilled rotors. I have been on my slotted and drilled rotors now for 3k miles, smoothe as butter, and still in the Cali summer. I didn't go with his shop reccomendation but got the r1 slotted and drilled rotors and replaced them myself, wasn't all that hard to do with a YouTube video. It's a beautiful car, don't ditch her for this ez fix. But don't believe people when they say the rotors are fine, there not.

 

[jinthadell]

I can back that up 100%. Swapped all four rotors to R1 cross drilled and slotted w PowerStop Z26 pads. Zero issues. Do it, you’ll be happy. Just get the rotors and re-bed the EBC pads.

 

[Volfy]

Most of the aftermarket slotted/drilled rotors are more for show than go. They compromise structure integrity of the rotor wearing surfaces and don't do much for pad compounds these days that don't off-gas. If the drilled holes are not patterned correctly, they might even wear grooves on your rotors and reduce braking effectiveness.

We've got solid vented rotors on all three of our Stinger/G70s, all of them are daily drivers but have been to numerous track/AutoX events. We run EBC Bluestuff and Yellowstuff pads. Absolutely no rotors deposits or braking vibration issues.