Brake work, wheel shimmy

[Todd Young <tyoung@wamnet.com>]

Just an update on my brake/wheel shimmy problems.

Dealer mechanic checked out the front end and said that everything
appeared solid, did notice that the front tires had some feathering,
probably from a stuck pin or pads.

I had already disassembled/cleaned the passenger side front brake and
found a slightly pitted/corroded pin (some bonehead had apparently used
anti-sieze instead of grease).

After visiting the dealer, I had the tires balanced and rotated and then
the next day I tore into the driver's side front brake. I found another
pitted/corroded pin with the same apparent anti-sieze lube. Evidently
the same bone-head worked on both sides. So I cleaned up the pins, and
the holes they go into, and relubed with a silicon/teflon grease. I also
cleaned up the contact points on both the brake pads AND the caliper
base, as these were choked with brake dust and showed a trace of rust.

Driving into work this morning, I did NOT feel any shimmy or vibration
from the front end. At least nothing that couldn't be contributed to the
tires grabbing cracks in the road. So, it would appear that a periodic
cleaning and lubing of the pins, along with cleaning the contact
surfaces for the pads will go a long way towards preventing problems. I
might still have a slight warp in a rotor or two, but I didn't notice it
this morning.

When I was cleaning the contact surfaces on the caliper base, I scraped
at it with the end of a flat file, and also used some emery cloth and
then cleaned it up with brake cleaner. I also filed the contact areas on
the pads to make sure there was no rust, note that there are two contact
areas on each end of a brake pad, if you look carefully at how the pad
rests on the caliper base you will see what I am talking about.

Just to be thorough, I had no problems with the actual pistons, as just
hand pressure on the floating section of the caliper was enough to
loosen the pads from the disc.

HTH, any questions, drop me a line.

--
Todd Young              WAM!NET Inc.
tyoung@wamnet.com       6100 West 110th Street
612-886-5051            Bloomington, MN 55438-2664
800-585-1133 ext.5051   http://www.wamnet.com/