JK Brake Rotors

About 10,000 miles ago, I changed the factory brake pads on my wife's 09 that we got 80,000 miles out of. I didn't change rotors or have them turned because they were braking smooth. I changed to Hawk LTS pads. We are starting to get a warped rotor vibration on the front from braking at highway speeds (getting off at exit ramps). Can I install new rotors on the front now and use the same pads, or will this cause problems? Or, should I spend $75 again for new front pads also?

 

you should be able to reuse the pads if they are in good condition.

 

I decided to do some more research into death wobble since there have been so many posts on it. I changed out the track bar and lower control arm bolts to 9/16" grade 8 this weekend, and the vibration of the front when braking from highway speeds seems to be lessened. We must have had the very first symptoms of death wobble after 90,000 miles.

 

Lots of random vibrations and oscillations get incorrectly termed "death wobble." True death wobble is so severe there's no mistaking it. You will crap yourself trying to get the vehicle stopped and out of the line of traffic when it happens. Everything on the dash or console that isn't tied down will fly to the floor. Your teeth will rattle in your skull. It's like a magnitude 8 earthquake inside your vehicle. Your first thought will be that a wheel has come off. I laugh when I see people post about "minor death wobble." If it's minor it's not death wobble. I had it occur a couple times on my MJ at speed on I90 and it was frightening to say the least. It will not stop or go away on its own, you have to come to a stop to make it stop. It usually doesn't occur under braking, but happens when you hit a pothole that sets off an oscillation of horrible severity.

 

Yep. Glad to stop it before it started. The JK's have undersized track bar bolts from factory. 9/16" fills up the bushing much better than the stock 14 mm bolts.

Death wobble can't just start on a stock suspension without something going completely wrong all of a sudden or severe prolonged neglect. Here, we seemed to be working toward a wobble, with it being exaggerated by only a slightly warped rotor. Most people get death wobble when they go with a lift. No lift here. Stock bolts are just inadequate and began to loosen. I could have probably torqued the stock bolts back to 125 ft-lbs, but i decided to put in the correct bolts. I'm sure bushings are changing with age too.

http://www.northridge4x4.com/shop/nr4x4-jeep-jk-hardware-kit

Maybe not death wobble here per se, just skinned elbow wobble

Glad I made you laugh.

 

Didn't mean to imply that I was laughing at you, not my intention. I was referring to posts I see on other forums where people refer to "minor death wobble" which is an oxymoron, and most of the time they're only talking about having an unbalanced tire or a minor vibration. I understand what you're describing and agree that yes, if not nipped in the bud it could lead to death wobble.

 

I understand. I've seen those same posts.