Solving Problems with Pedal Pulsation

Months after a new installation of brake pads and brake rotors a pulsation in the pedal has slowly developed. There is very little wear, and there are no visual indicators of a problem. The brake pads are worn evenly, brake rotors look clean with no corrosion.

Measuring the lateral runout and disc thickness variation will give you a better idea of what is really happening. This runout can originate from improper brake hardware maintenance, corrosion and debris on the hub mounting flange, or even improperly tightening the lug nuts. The average maximum allowable runout is between 0.001" and 0.003" with some manufacturers specifying 0.000" of allowed runout. Runout can create thickness variations in the brake rotors which will lead to problems with uneven wear and pulsation. This type of problem is not to be confused with warping caused by heat distortion.

If a brake rotor has a high-spot of lateral runout, that point will circle past the calipers hundreds of times within just one mile, multiply this over thousands of miles, and that point will have scraped the brake pad millions of times. This seemingly small problem can cause enough of the rotor to be removed over time that a variation in thickness can be felt by the driver.