CapnJack Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 Car: 2008 3.0R Limited Centric rotors Hawk HPS pads ~40K miles on rotors and pads ~120K miles on car Driven year round in WI winters with salt. My car started getting a shutter in the steering wheel when braking above 60-65mph. I thought maybe a re-bed was in order and did so. It was better for a day or two but came back again. The pads still have quite a bit of material on them and I suspect that I have a caliper sticking. I still need to disassemble and inspect, but thought I would do some keyboard analysis and research on calipers before I do a visual and rotor run-out check. IF I do need to replace/repair the caliper, it comes down to a few options that I've been thinking of: 1) Rebuild them with OEM seals and pistons. Cost is about $100 per side, plus time. It's been a long time since I've rebuilt a caliper. Is this the preferred method? Any pros/cons to doing this? 2) Purchase new from one of our forum supporting online Subaru vendors. Cost is about $230 per side. I know that many will argue that OEM is best, but when faced with $700 brake job on a car you plan to keep for maybe another year, would you really do it? (I would replace calipers, rotors, pads, fluid, hoses given the mileage) 3) Re-manufactured calipers from XYZ.com or Bricks and Mortar Inc are about $50-100 each. Everyone has an opinion on them and I don't read many consistent positive ones on any specific name brand. Is there one that is good? 4) Upgrading to Willwood or Brembo or $toptech or Cadillac calipers is not an option. Cost is as much or more as option 2 and would not add significant value to the car. I've researched and read a lot already that hasn't worked well for several on here. I would appreciate anyone's input that has been down this path to see what you have done that has worked well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhitter Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Are you sure it's not just deposits on the rotors / pads? Almost always shaking has been fixed for me by changing out rotors + pads. Or are you sure you got everything hot enough to properly re-bed? I got remanufactured LGT calipers. They are mostly fine. One of the bleeder bolts is not metric through... My OBXT build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapnJack Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 Deposits are something I haven't ruled out yet. It is a possibility. I may try another rebed to see if it helps. Last one I did was five quick stops from 60mph. Thought I got them hot enough as I could smell them in the car. I'm going to pull them apart again this weekend to check some things and see what I can see. Can I rescuff the pads with a wire brush or is that not recommended? What brand of reman caliper did you get? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhitter Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 Centric from RockAuto. Sorry don't know the answer to you other questions. When my Honda fit was having these issues it took multiple hard stops from 80 to 5 to get them to stop shuttering. 60 did nothing. That improved it though, which made it clear it was a rotor or pad issue. My OBXT build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need bb Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I have had bad luck with my centrics from RockAuto. Going to be going with Duralast ones so I can return when they fail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapnJack Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 I have had bad luck with my centrics from RockAuto. Going to be going with Duralast ones so I can return when they fail. Both of those sound ominous! Sounds like it's not a mater of if they fail, but when they fail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapnJack Posted February 22, 2017 Author Share Posted February 22, 2017 When my Honda fit was having these issues it took multiple hard stops from 80 to 5 to get them to stop shuttering. 60 did nothing. That improved it though, which made it clear it was a rotor or pad issue. Thanks! It's worth a shot after I do a visual/mechanical inspection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhitter Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I have had my Centric's since 2014, no issues. Lot's of DD / road tripping / some mountain roads / one track day. No issues. My OBXT build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapnJack Posted February 24, 2017 Author Share Posted February 24, 2017 Visual/mechanical inspection didn't turn up anything obvious. Pads still have plenty of life on them yet and the rotors look good. Total runout on the rotors was about 0.002" which is within spec although upper end of the spec. If it was a runout issue, would it happen at all speeds? Calipers appear to float on the pins nicely and both sides compressed normally and almost by hand. I torqued all the wheels to 85ftlbs and I'll try a rebed tomorrow. I think I'll also carry my Raytek for a couple days to see if I can notice a difference in temp between sides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapnJack Posted March 14, 2017 Author Share Posted March 14, 2017 Update - Been traveling for work for the past couple of weeks and haven't had time to do much until this past weekend. I bled the brakes. It was badly needed. I didn't realize how bad the fluid was. It almost looked like the color of coca cola coming out. I'll probably re-bleed in a couple of months to purge all the garbage out of it again. I also swapped the front tires to the back and vice versa. So far the issue in the front has gone away. We've had some snow here and I haven't reached the speeds it was happening at much, but so far so good. I'm thinking it is an out of balance or bad tire as now I have some noise in the rear at those speeds. Luckily, I'm on snow tires and they will be swapped out in another month or less. This is also the last season for these snow tires. More news at 10... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapnJack Posted March 14, 2017 Author Share Posted March 14, 2017 Update - Been traveling for work for the past couple of weeks and haven't had time to do much until this past weekend. I bled the brakes. It was badly needed. I didn't realize how bad the fluid was. It almost looked like the color of coca cola coming out. I'll probably re-bleed in a couple of months to purge all the garbage out of it again. I also swapped the front tires to the back and vice versa. So far the issue in the front has gone away. We've had some snow here and I haven't reached the speeds it was happening at much, but so far so good. I'm thinking it is an out of balance or bad tire as now I have some noise in the rear at those speeds. Luckily, I'm on snow tires and they will be swapped out in another month or less. This is also the last season for these snow tires. More news at 10... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapnJack Posted March 17, 2017 Author Share Posted March 17, 2017 Problem has been resolved. It was one of the front tires. No caliper rebuild or brake work needed at this time! Now, onto cooling system maintenance... (it sucks having a car with 120k+ on it, but still cheaper than a monthly payment on a new car!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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