I had a pretty severe shuddering problem on the front wheels while braking and figured I must have had warped rotors. After living with the problem for a few months I consulted the Org and decided I would attempt changing the rotors myself. Buying brand new rotors seemed like a relatively cheap option compared to turning the existing ones (which as far as I know are the original ones that shipped with the car 6 years ago).

Turns out my local Pep Boys had them in stock. The part number at PB is 31306G and they were only $31.99 each. They looked exactly the same as the ones that were being replaced. Pulled into a buddy's garage and jacked up the front end and put the car on a couple of jack stands and got to work.

First thing I did was remove the (2) 19mm bolts holding the caliper brackets on. The bolts were difficult to remove at first, but then I ended up using a long torque wrench as basically a breaker bar and that made removing the bolts a lot easier. Once these two bolts are removed the entire caliper assembly slides right off the rotor. I used an old wire hanger to hang the caliper from the springs so as to not have them hanging from the brake line. I've read about the rotors sometimes being rusted on and needed a few whacks from a hammer to get them off, but mine came right off.

I had also read about the factory applying a clear coating to the new rotors prior to shipping and used a little brake cleaner and wire brush on the new ones before putting them on. The calipers wouldn't slide over the new rotors, so I removed the top 14mm bolt and loosened the bottom one. Once this was done I could "open" the caliper and use a C-clamp and small piece of wood to compress the cylinder inside the caliper. Once I did that I replaced the top 14mm bolt (hand tight) and the caliper slid over the new rotor with no effort at all. I then tightened up the 14mm bolts on the caliper and the 19mm bolts on the caliper bracket (53-70 lbs based on one of the posts I read here) and put the tires back on.

Now for the moment of truth - the road test to see if my shuddering problem was gone. Backed out of the garage and took a short drive, and the shuddering was completely gone. Mission accomplished. One thing to keep in mind, after completing the process the brake pedal will go to the floor until you pump it a couple of times, so probably best to do this in the garage before you head out into traffic. :-) One last thing, I obviously didn't replace the brake pads, but they were still in really good shape and had a lot of pad left.

This job didn't take very long at all (maybe two hours tops, including grabbing some lunch in the middle of the job) and definitely something most people can do on their own. For less than $70 I was able to make my Max fun to drive again. That shuddering problem really sucked. Very happy with how it came out. Anyway, hopefully this post will assist someone in the future that wants to do the same job.

 

that is one long post, kinda hard to read everything being one long paragraph

Clean it up so its easier to read.

If it was me, I would have definitely replace the pads when replacing rotors.

I also remove the two 14 mm bolts first before the two 19mm bolts, take out the pads, press in the cylinder, clean everything with a wire brush and re-grease everything when putting everything back together.

Glad everything worked out good for you, DIY FRW,

 

OEM pads cause warping...not the rotors

replace with OEM replacement rotors and Hawk HPS pads

 

Brembo rotors are another good option...

 

I think there's a common misconception concerning the brake issues regarding 5.5 gens. I wonder if people are confusing uneven pad material distribution on the rotor with warping. I am experiencing the braking shudder w/ OEM pads but my rotors are not warped. The pedal doesn't pulse while this is occuring so I know it's not a rotor runout issue.

 

thats what i meant...i should have said "warped" rotors...its really just material transfer...but people on hear always call it warped rotors

 

I apologize. The question has been moved to the appropriate thread.