brakes, vibrating problem

[Curtoise]

right i have just got my little sr on the road, and at 50-60 there is such a bad vibration through the front wheel, the wheel goes crazy.... am i right in thinking that the wheels need balancing?
also when it starts to vibrate and i need to brake, the hole car jumps about and wobbles loads!
also after 5 mins of jouney the front passenger brake stinks and is smoking really badly!
however i can push the car with the brakes off so it doesnt seem to be stuck on !??!

[mk1nova_rich]

have you tightened everything up properly?

[Southie]

I thought you just had this mot'd so if that's the case it will probably be balancing and tracking, if its anything else then the garage didn't do a very good job doing the mot, check your wheel nuts.

[mowgli]

is it on original delco brakes?? if so, the sliders could be shot or the piston seized on the lh side. wait for it to cool down & have a good look at the caliper. once the brakes are fixed, then get it tracked & balanced

[Curtoise]

yeh i think there original, the mot did do a good job of mot'ing it, i think maybe the sliders need oiling?
i have a spare set in the garage with a new disk on it, because it feels like the disk is warped badly as it shakes the whole car :s

[mowgli]

take the wheel off, axle stand the car & put the wheel bolts back in & tighten them.. then run it up in 3rd or 4th. if it wobbles like hell, then its the brakes.

[djbrowney]

What wheels are you on ???

[blue_peg_16v]

possibly the sliders as said but if its stuck at any speed its probably warped the disc with the heat too stick some 256 ates on it and hve done with it standard sr brakes are poop

[blue_peg_16v]

What wheels are you on ???

sale as southies vauxhall 14in alloys

[Curtoise]

those 4 spoke thing southie has on his, surley that would show the unbalanced of the wheel?
altho the wheels do have weights on them i cant really get out and do it at the moment becasuse of the weather

[djbrowney]

pics ??? are they vauxhall wheels or aftermarket ?

[Iain]

If the brake is smelling and smoking it surely just can't just be a wheel imbalance? I had a similar experience in my Volvo, at 70mph the steering wheel was properly vibrating and the front disc was smoking when I pulled over. Replaced both calipers on the front and no more problems since.

I'd do what Mowgli says and get it on axle stands and drive it up to speed without wheels.

[Curtoise]

hmm, it must be the brakes its only the one i have had off compleatly, someone mentioned that this can happen if you dont bleed the brakes properly?
im gonna take it off, put a new disk on and see what happens, oh and clean up the caliper

[mowgli]

if you don't bleed the brakes properly, then you are more likely to have less brake effort on the lh side.. i think its either seized piston, or seized sliders.

[Curtoise]

yh, it brakes fine tho like i let go of the wheel and brake it doesnt pull to wither side...
the piston moves freely so must be the sliders :) but what about the wobbling? could that be a warped disk? coz it was glowing red....

[Sloth]

caliper is seized and has prob fubar'd the disk. like peg said get some 256mm brakes.

[Curtoise]

hmm now i think about it, when i looked the pins had come out abit i had to hammer them back, so it must of gripped and pushed them out rather than sliding,...

[Sloth]

256's all the way. caliper £10 off a 4 stud vectra or mk3 astra, disks are £25 brand new for a pair, pads £10 for ferodo 3466f pads from online autosport.

[Curtoise]

right went out for a drive and coasting at low speeds i can hear the disk gripping on ever rotation so the car lurches around, took the wheel off and the disk is warped or has uneven wear, so i took it off and put new pads and a new disk on took it out, now it brakes fine, and doesnt wobble or vibrate at all!
however when i pulled in there was some smoke coming off the brake? could this be because they are new? or is it ****ed.

[pikey1986]

sound like a duff caliper pal, sort that or your new disc might warp

[Curtoise]

right, my new disk has just warped FFS. the caliper must be cocked, what holds the caliper to the hub? because mine just slots off the hub?

[mowgli]

the 2 sliders have bolts up the middles....

[Curtoise]

hmm, i didnt have to undo them, it just slotted off?¬?

[mowgli]

get a new caliper..

[blue_peg_16v]

this isnt going to be another 20 page thread like the wheel bolt is it curt, why didnt you check the caliper over before refitting, as i said your going to have to buy new disks and pads again so might as well fit 2.0 256 ates the discs and pads are near enough the same price as the standard nova stuff so the only extra you will spend is on an extra caliper as you need 1 anyway

remember nova brakes were crap when new and newer cars will easily out brake a nova id upgrade for safty, they will fit under your existing wheels as there the same as southies and he runs 256s

also buy a hanes manual while your getting the new disks and pads all will be explained

[Curtoise]

right, the calipers fine, i gave it a good check so i put the disk on and rotated it and i realised it doesnt rotate flush... it wobbles, its not loose but it does not spin straigh.... even tho i have just had a new wheel bearing fitted.
the garage must not have fitted it properly and its not sitting flush so the only thing i can think now is to get a second hand hub with a wheel bearing already in, so if anybody knows of one lying around let me know....
i cant upgrade the brakes yet as i have run out of money.

[mowgli]

is the little grub screw still intact? cos they often break off, and you can put the disc on the wrong way & it will stick out more one side....and wobble

[Curtoise]

how can you put a disk on the wrong way? grub screw as in the one that holds the disk on? because thats fine.

[mowgli]

i've seen the little screw snap, leaving a stub sticking out...if you turn the disc thru 1/4 turn, it is on wrong.

are you sure the disc to hub face isn't properly clean?

[Curtoise]

yeh iv had a look and its clean, the screws fine in it, could it be the bearing isnt sat right?
thanks for you help so far :)

[brainsnova]

you could take the disc off and rotate the hub and see if it goes all over the place then you no its the hub and not the disc. if your saying it took the guys an hour to press it out the bearing etc then they might have wrecked it as i got both my bearings pressed in within 3 mins.

[Curtoise]

yeh, i think they have wrecked the end of the hub (the bit the disk bolts to)
it cant be the disk because i have been through two of them now and have 1 new one left..... they had to weld around the end bit to smash the bearing out so they have clearly ****ed it and they had to head it up loads with a plasma cutter!

[mowgli]

christ!!! who did you use? they sound like monsters.

[Sloth]

curt, new hub and 2.0 brakes. and ffs report the garage for **** work....

[Curtoise]

well i took the hub to them and said have you got an extra ten mins to press a new bearing in here? for £30,
and the end bit got siezed so he used a impact chisel and a plasma cutter and a welder to get it off,
it was one down my road.

[mowgli]

its a really good job the mot people didn't go looking too hard at your car.....

that garage took the p1ss properly. you should take it back & demand the work gets done properly at no extra cost..... if they tell you to sod off, then get trading standards onto them.

[Curtoise]

but it wasnt really official i just turned up and offerd them money to do it.
they might think im taking the piss,
and it was a retest so they only looked at the things that it failed on, but i would have thought they would se my wheel wobbling when they were checking the bearing.

[mowgli]

curtoise, you paid a man some money to do a job for you, and he fecked it up... in any court in the land, that is breach of contract.

[brainsnova]

next time offer £10 and ask if they are competant.

[Curtoise]

i just cba for the hassle, my friend has a spare hub i can put on so im just going to do that. it will need a new end bit either way

[mowgli]

so you spent on a bearing, then blew £30 and you still cba to go and get it rectified.... i advise you to buy a few snickers bars soon.

[Curtoise]

haha, hmm, so pretty much i just wasted £50, do you think u should remove the hub and take that too him?

[mowgli]

maybe drive the thing down there to show him his handiwork