How do you know when rotors are warped. How can one tell if front or back, thanx, btw when I hit brakes hard going about 55-65 I fell the truck vibrate up and down.

 

It's the fronts -- rears get a lot less abuse than the fronts, so it's unlikely they will warp before the fronts, if at all. When mine warped, at about the same speed you describe, the truck would vibrate... though I don't know if I can call it an up & down motion. I couldn't tell from looking at them that they were warped, I jut knew it from the sense. Took it to the dealer with 35,800 miles right before a 3-day weekend, made them give me a loaner, and got my truck back with new rotors, all for free. I had put over 600 miles on their loaner driving long errands and going to my vacation house & back.

I considered getting something like the ART's that have been so widely appreciated here, but free OEM's were an offer I couldn't resist.

 

Warped front rotors will transmit the "shimmy" into the steering wheel during high speed braking. Rear rotor warpage (unlikely, but could happen) will be a shimmy felt in the seat during braking...

I too just received new front rotors from Uncle Ford after the saga of: Warped at 20,000 miles; rotors turned by Ford for free; warped again at 26,000 miles; rotors replaced by Ford for free.

The service manager told me as long as the rotors were not damaged by worn out brake pads, Ford will replace bad rotors (read: warped rotors) under the standard 36,000 mile warranty. He also said he has seen quite a few warped rotors on the SD trucks. Yes, our big tough macho trucks have wimpy little brakes...

I see Ford taking one of several actions:

1) Redesign SD brakes, upgrade new models and recall all SD trucks for brake upgrade. (really expensive and not likely)
2) Upgrading new model trucks and those with warped rotor complaints to better brakes. (almost as expensive, but maybe)
3) Keep existing brakes on new model trucks and continue replacing warped rotors with current OEM rotors and calling it good. (least expense and most likely)

Edmo

 

Thanx for input, now I know its the rotors.

 

I just turned my rear rotors and it took away my violent brake pedal pulsation. The fronts are new but the rears were originals and had never been turned with 80k on the truck. The pads didn't even contact the whole rotor, now I have good smooth brakes. P.S. we had to turn them down to the minimum they were so crappy..28mm

 

You could remove the tire/wheel, put a dial indicator on the rotor braking surface, and rotate the rotor by hand to see how far off it is.........

 

Just a caution. We have a big heavy truck. The rotor warped because of heat! If you turn your rotors you remove mass and that means the next time they will warp faster. In the old days rotor were made a lot thicker than they are now and you could turn them.
Now I no longer have rotors turned. I fought rotors on a Thunderbird in what? '94? The Ford rep was the one who told me turning them was a bad idea even though turning them was Fords "fix" at the time.

On a 99 truck get new ones, the Ford units that went 5 years are what 40 or 50 bucks? Or step up to the after market units but ask if you plan on keeping them long enough to be worth it.

Last when you get new rotors you need to bed them in. Go to Bare or Brembo's site and look for bedding in procedure. Even on the Ford ones your should do this. Something to do with setting them using a heat cycle and also seating the pads.

I found out on my Vette by going right through a light when I needed to be stopping. You could push so hard the peddel would bend and it would not stop the car. After bedding them in, no bleading no changes, if you hit the brakes it STOPPED!

 

What is Bare or brembo's site?

 

A lot of folks on here seem to like brake upgrades from www.appliedrotortechnology.com or ART for short. I am strongly considering that option myself when my current rotors need replacing. I think the cost is around $300 for the front or the back, or about $500 for all 4. That would include rotors and new pads, if I am not mistaken. You might do a search for that on here and see what you come up with.........

 

$400 front, $380 rear. FTE people get a discount, but I forgot how much. If you do some searches or ask guys here who got the discount, you can find out (I think it's $650). I haven't heard anyone who bought these brakes complain, other than how long it takes to get them.

 

I have heard it takes a long time to get your stuff from ART. Seems like I've seen posts talking about 5 weeks as typical. I have no personal experience, though.