Torque your wheels and it won't happen, most of the "my mechanic" asshats out there drives the lugs on with an impact, some use torque sticks which are GM approved but do begin to become inaccurate after a few months. The best thing to do is torque your wheels with a quality torque wrench. I have six GM vehicles, my brother has three and my parents have 4. We torque all wheels religiously and have never had warping issues.

I will go on record and say, GM rotors have really gone down in quality the last few years but still work fine if properly maintained (i.e., wheel torque). They tried using ihboard rotors which eliminates the issues from not torquing but are more costly to repair and replace.

 

I agree. I always torque my lug nuts with a torque wrench. The only time I EVER had brake problems is when the dealer impacted, with a torque bar, my wheels back on after they replaced my wheel bearing.

After I replace my brakes after the dealer warped them......everything has been great again.

 

Not to burst anyones bubble, but I always torque my wheels with a quality torque wrench and had problems with the factory, R1, and EBC rotors. A little over 1000 miles ago I installed a set of Centric rotors (plain old solid ones) and they are good for now. And, by the way, never checked the lugs on my wifes Saturn since she has never had any brake problems and I am sure the wheels were installed with an air gun.

 

Right you are, the wobbles are back. The EBC's seemed like a dream come true, until about 6000 miles. Now they're shaking like crazy. Anyone who reads their warranty, should ask to just void the warranty and sell the rotors cheaper. Their automatic claim is that rotors never warp, just wear unevenly when installed incorrectly. My question would be "then why did they run true until now if they were installed wrong? Hubs were well cleaned as well as the wheels, and properly torqued.
I'm getting a dial indicator this week to check the hubs.

 

Follow up, got a dial indicator over the weekend and did not have good results even trying to measure runout with slotted & drilled rotors. I tried to measure hub runout and could get the gauge to reach. Anyway, put on my summer wheels and the shimmies disappeared, for now. I suspect they'll be back

 

The rotors most often wear due to the hub and if you can feel any movement they are out. In the old days you would leave the bearing a little play to knock the pads odd but today that no longer holds true as the pads should retract on their own.

Rotors today on all cars are lighter and if torques wrong will warp. Honda is the worst.

History will prove most of the complaints about rotors have happened since they went to the roller bearing hubs. They are just not a durable and there are companies now that specialize just in the hubs alone for the auto industry.

When the rotor wobbles it just keeps hitting the pads on each side and promotes uneven wear on each side. that is confused for warp. Might mic the rotor thickness around it and you will see it may be uneven.

Also the pad can leave material if they were never seated in. It can take a few thousand miles some time or just a few just depending on the conditions.

 

Whatever the reason, this problem seems wide-spread enough that Chevy should put out some TSB and do something to address it. Whatever is causing it-bad wheel bearings, poor rotor quality, etc something has to be done. The real mystery is why it only happens to some of us. So far my Centric rotors are doing fine, but it has only been about two thousand miles. I did check the runout before putting them on and it was within limits. Prior to that I watched as my R1 Concept rotors were cut and saw they were perfect. Yet, when we tried them the vibration was worse than before and began at 20 mph, not 50 like it used to. Obviously making them flat exasperated the condition. Meanwhile, the rotors on my wifes Saturn and my Jeep have NEVER had any problems, vibration, etc.

 

Mine started to shake after 40k miles and had to swap the rotors/pads by 47k miles. Hitting the brakes hard on the interstate (common here in Atlanta) was really getting bad. The hubs seem fine, after 2k+ miles on the new NAPA rotors, still like glass. I have noticed the NAPA pads seem to produce a little more dust than the stocks did.

As far as to why only some, driving conditions and the driver itself will do this. I know certain ones will disagree, but it's been proven many times in the past. So, to each their own IMO. I know it was not lug torque for me after 40K miles. Mines started after I moved to Atlanta.

 

Point taken, but if it is driving style or traffic conditions due to where you live, then how do you explain why I never had this problem in 36 years of driving in any car except the HHR? And why don't any of my other cars I drive currently have this problem?

 

The truth is it is an issue on many cars and the HHR is only one. If you go to most web sites they all have complaints on the so call warped rotor sydrome.

There are many factors that go into this and that is what is part of the issue and why not all HHRs and other cars deal with it.

The common issues are bad hub bearing that cause rotor thickness variation, pad material that embeds into the rotor and creates a grabbing that many confuse for warp.

Also The pad material in some cases if more prone to being embedded into the rotor.

We have already covered lug torque.

As you have pointed out driving conditions can help produce the pad material getting embedded. Like getting off a freeway and getting the brakes real hot and then standing on them. If the pads were never properly beded or burnished in the pad material will stick to the rotor.

The funny part is so many people blame the rotors and wonder why they never solve the issue. This is the big part of the issue.

But the bottom line is you are no alone and the HHR is not the only car with this issue. I have seen it on all brands, makes and models.

The biggest issue is few people ever bed in the pad once installed. Few mechanics do it nor to they tell the customer how to do it. THe first few hundred miles will effect you a few thousand miles later.