Hello all..

Bought a 300SDL about 1.5 years ago and have since driven 20,000mi. When I bought the car, the rotors were smooth with no vibration or pedal pulsation while braking. Within 2000 miles or so, the brake pedal started pulsing while braking and I had a slight vibration around 60-80mph. Assumed PO had torqued the lug nuts improperly and this caused the rotors to warp.

Put on a new set of rotors after driving the car 3,000-5,000mi or so. Those did it again after a few thousand miles! I've been driving with warped rotors for the last 15k mi or so and it's driving me nuts!!

Rotors were replaced with OE type Balo rotors. Noticed at the time pads looked brand new even though I had already driven 5000 miles + whatever the PO drove since he had them changed! I've since driven another 15k and the pads still look like they haven't worn down much compared to new pads (looks like 80% pad life left!) Brakes make groaning sound when coming to stop sometimes.. Did NOT replace these pads when doing rotors.. they've been on the car 20,000mi +++ (WEIRD!)

Should these pads have lasted this long with no noticeable wear? My guess is that he had cheap "lifetime warranty" pads on the car and they're screwing up the rotors. .. does this make sense?

I'm going to check the back brakes to make sure they work, but am I wasting time throwing a new set of Balo rotors and Texar pads at the front axle? Or is there anything else I can check before I warp another set???

Thanks!
Neal

'86 300SDL 256,000km (154k mi)

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