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I have a forward rotor on my '04 Chrysler Sebring causing a lot of pulsation when braking. I replaced the rotor- but within about a month the problem had re-appeared.

The guys at Monroe noticed my ball joints on my lower control arms are bad- they have a bit of wiggle that they said kept them from doing an alignment, and also said it would be the source of my warped rotors.

Do they know what they're talking about- is the ball joint really the culprit? What else might cause warping?

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Are you sure they said that it would cause warped rotors and not that the judder/pulsing under braking would be caused by the bad ball joints? – Mauro Sep 24 '11 at 7:05
I'm pretty sure, and in hindsight I'm pretty sure they were right: I had the ball joints fixed (replaced the lower control arms) and there remains some pulsing (the rotor had become a little warped) but it has not grown worse (whereas before replacing the ball joints the pulsing would gradually return after replacing a rotor). – Nathan Fig Sep 26 '11 at 16:40

3 Answers

up vote 7 down vote accepted

Improper wheel nut torque, use a torque wrench, or an impact wrench with torque sticks to put on the wheels.

Rapid cooling such as running through water with the brakes hot is also suppose to cause it.

Cheap pads, they breakdown under heat and leave deposits on the rotor surface.

Ball joints should not cause the rotors to warp.

Example of Torque sticks below

enter image description here

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Thin rotors will tend to warp. I no longer recommend resurfacing rotors as resurfaced rotors have a tendency to warp very easily. – Brian Knoblauch Jul 6 '11 at 19:07
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The main reason for reoccurring warping seems to be (form what I've read) "imprinting" your pads on the rotors: fully applying the brake on a very hot rotor for an extended period of time (a few seconds), thus leaving behind a deposit film that causes the warping problems. Maybe your pad is dragging on the forward rotor, causing it to heat up? With the way modern pads are designed, it's hard to imagine that daily driving habits would cause this unless you really ride the brakes.

As Larry mentioned, ball joints will not cause rotors to warp, and I can add that alignment will not cause this either. So it seems "the guys at Monroe" were just throwing that out because it sounded good.

The again, sometimes the problems caused by control arm failure can be confused for rotor failure. Did they do a run out test to check for wear to make sure that was the problem?

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See my comment in reply to Mauro on the OP. It really does appear the Monroe guys were right: the warping ceased after I replaced the ball joints. – Nathan Fig Sep 26 '11 at 16:42
Then again, I did notice recently that there were signs of pad "imprinting" on my rotor (i.e., a clearly pad-shaped burn mark on my rotor). I'd like to say it can't be my driving habits, so perhaps your dragging pad hypothesis is the case. – Nathan Fig Jan 4 '12 at 20:01
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Major Causes of Warped Rotors:

Wear and Tear, Overheating, Worn-out Pads, Or Incorrect Wheel Installation can destroy your brake rotors. Disc rotors can last for many thousands of miles, but eventually they will succumb to the constant friction from applying the brake pads to its metal surface. If your rotors have warped, it could be that the rotors have reached the end of their lives and need to be replaced.

Read more: Major Causes of Warped Rotors | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_7640816_major-causes-warped-rotors.html#ixzz1r2ax77Vl

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Please check out our FAQ – Larry♦ Apr 4 '12 at 4:22

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