' 05 - Rotors & Pads question

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iamthewalrus
Posts: 65
Joined: Fri Aug 06, 2010 8:33 am
Car: '08 M45x
Location: Worcester, PA

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I know there are lots of threads on this, but the more I read the more unsure I get as to what to buy.
Here's the scoop:
I've owned my Q for 4 awesome years, but under hard braking there is a major shimmy in the steering wheel.
Brakes and rotors were new when I got it, and I've only put about 45k miles on it.
Rotors are obviously warped and dealer told me ~1 year ago that while the brakes still passed inspection, replacing rotors/pads with OEM Infiniti parts will take care of that. That sounds a bit fishy to me. Infiniti of Scottsdale has rotors @ $194 for front and about $80 for pads.
Can someone recommend parts for me? I live in PA, and while I do drive fast, I don't really the beat the crap out of the car. And I do my best not to slam the brakes. I don't need high performance, I just them to stop the car.
Thanks much.......!


gemman69
Posts: 28
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 12:21 pm
Car: 02 Q45 & 05 Xterra SE

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My 02 recently developed a shimmy. I took to local Nissan dealer and they measured run out on all 4 wheels for $30.00. Based on that I knew I had to have the front rotors turned. Took them off and O'Reilly's turned them in a hour for $20 + tax for the pair. Since the old pads were still very good (abt 70% of new thickness), I deglazed them by sanding with 80 grit paper on a power palm sander. Reassembled it, and I have no issues now. Before turning the rotors I had just over 1mm before hitting minimum thickness. A bit less expensive than an Inifiti dealer brake job.

tools & supplies needed minimal
1 pair jackstands
OEM car jack
14mm box end wrench or ratchet and socket
18mm box end wrench or ratchet and socket
hammer to get the bolts started if necessary

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elwesso
Posts: 34280
Joined: Sun Feb 23, 2003 4:52 pm
Car: 94 Infiniti Q45t 5 spd
2007 BMW M Coupe
2007 Infiniti G35 S 6MT
Location: Indiana
Contact:

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I agree with the above.. Go get the rotors turned before you buy new ones. Normally you can turn the rotors once or twice before you have to buy new ones, and if they only have 45k miles on them they shouldn't be that worn. Most places will turn rotors for $10-$20 each, and they're really not very difficult to remove...

seldomseen
Posts: 1308
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2008 7:40 am
Car: '12 Altima Coupe 3.5 SR & '15 Lexus GS350 F Sport

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Definately get your rotors turned first. If the vibration still exist considering buying a set of OEM replacement aftermarket rotors. Infiniti's rotors are known to be problematic and cause premature vibration under braking. A quality set of aftermarket replacement rotors won't be as expensive either. Just install the new rotors yourself or have a honest shop install the rotors for a better price than the Infiniti dealership. :yesnod

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elwesso
Posts: 34280
Joined: Sun Feb 23, 2003 4:52 pm
Car: 94 Infiniti Q45t 5 spd
2007 BMW M Coupe
2007 Infiniti G35 S 6MT
Location: Indiana
Contact:

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seldomseen wrote:Definately get your rotors turned first. If the vibration still exist considering buying a set of OEM replacement aftermarket rotors. Infiniti's rotors are known to be problematic and cause premature vibration under braking. A quality set of aftermarket replacement rotors won't be as expensive either. Just install the new rotors yourself or have a honest shop install the rotors for a better price than the Infiniti dealership. :yesnod
In all fairness, what I believe happens is that pad material gets stuck to the face of the rotors and that causes the shimmy. I'm not sure the rotors actually warp (per-se).. I know on my Q once I switched from OEM pads to a higher performance pad (like hawk HPS, for example) I didn't encounter as many issues as with the stock pads.

I've had instances where I've had rotors turned and they commented how they hardly had to take any material off to get them flat, and that's probably because it's pad material built up and not the rotor itself warping.


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