I've picked up the brake line hose replacements at Advance and the dealer.. there appears to be no quality difference that is noticable.

$15 a line .. I thought I had one collapsing recently and replaced both.

Excellent topic guys. Chz, make sure you keep us updated on your progress.

Oh.. BTW Chz

My LilSis had a brakes feeling locked issue on her non B'ville.. brake dust on one wheel worse than the other. Two brake line hoses later it drove like a new car with a funny looking wheel.

I know I'm chiming in late on this one, but wanted to say a couple things.

First, I agree with "The Bills" and think you should first look at your brake situation. The first thing I wanted to ask was...What did your brake pads look like when you changed them and the rotors? Did you note the wear pattern and if so, what was it like?

It very likely that the same problem that caused you to replace your brake pads may be causing your current issue. Additionally, I would ask if you cleaned the caliper grooves real well and lubed the guide pins before reassembly.

As already mentioned ad nauseum, older vehicles can experience brake line collapse and this often seems to occur shortly after a brake/caliper replacement.

If all the brake checks turn up nothing, consider the following possibilities:

I noticed you mentioned tire rotation and balance, but not alignment. Poor alignment can sometimes cause steering wheel vibration, accompanied by accelerated and likely uneven tire wear.

Also, believe it or not, sloppy tire/wheel installation can be a simple cause. If you aren't sure that the lug nuts were installed alternately and tightened in succession steps, you might want to make sure you do it yourself.

And occasionaly, parts of the steering linkage can be loose and need to be tightened: Tighten or replace loose parts as required.

Before you go and replace those wheel hubs, do a simple test. With the front end supported by jack stands, grap each wheel at 12 and 6 o'clock and check for play. Do the same at 9 and 3 o'clock. If there is very little to no play, you do not need to replace the hubs. After all that is not a cheap repair and yours may last for a long time yet.

BTW, typically the symptems you described are not associated with ball joint wear.

I'll stop on my way home and grab the lines. I may hold off on the new rotors (per Bills post). If need be, I can pick those up tomorrow.

Lash,
The brake pads were shot and very thin. They had a ton of grooves in them. From there, I changed both the rotors and pads. A few days later it was still not braking right, so I bled the brake fluid (which was black) out of all 4 lines. I went through 1.5 bottles of brake fluid until it was clear again.

Then a few more days down the road it was still braking like crap. Instead of rebuilding the calipers, I bought rebuilt calipers (with a lifetime warranty) for $45 each. After installing the new calipers and bleeding them again, everything was fine for about 3-4 weeks. Then the problem has slowly started to reappear to the point I am at now.

I did have an alignment done at the same time as the balance/rotation and the tires do not show any signs of uneven wear. When the problem started to reappear as of late, I rotated the tires myself and did tighten in a star pattern.

As far as the steering linkage, I consider myself to be very competent when working on vehicles, but I would not know what to look for that could be tightened. I'll check to see how much play there is in the wheels when I get home.


I'll keep you all posted, but please keep the suggestions coming if you have them. I'll try to update tomorrow (if I can)

This seems to point to your brakes as your problem, IMO. Now, you just need to check things out, one at a time and we'll get to the bottom of this.

Chz..

I'll speak w/o consulting WillWren.. but the Bills.. don't know what could come loose in the steering system. Nothing should and nothing should be loose. (Mike..please explain ...cause you lost me cuzzin)

Since you have replaced the calipers, pad and rotors..the hoses are the next and last item that could cause this. Once they are done.. you could still feel the vibration due to the calipers not releasing from the hoses keeping them fluid from returning. It is very possible you have bad rotors .. I'd see if you can swap them out being that they are very new.

That'* what I'm hoping for. I'm hoping that it'll just be an easy fix with the brake lines. If not, I'll move onto the other suggestions.

Here'* hoping

At this point..it sounds like the rotors are warped.

The hoses "should" fix the problem that caused the warpage..it won't fix the warpage though. Turn them or replace..

OK, here'* the update from this weekend'* work.....

I was able to change both hoses on Saturday and they went on just fine. I was also able to get the rotors exchanged (still under warranty with AZ) and got the new ones replaced. When I bled both sides the calipers appeared to release OK and the fluid was flowing fine out of the bleeder. Even when I tested it after I changed everything, both sides were OK. However, on my way onto work this morning I was smelling something funny (not too bad, though). When I arrived at work I noticed that my front driver side (which had all the brake dust on the wheel) was nice and cool. But the passenger side was giving off it'* fair share of heat.

I think I have isolated it down to the right side but now I am stuck at what to look at next.



BTW, I was unable to look at the rear brakes as it was impossible to open the drums. Even hammering away at the drum would not release it. Also, when the front tires were on I tested how much play was there, both tires moved about an inch or so (in the 9 and 3 positions). Not sure if that'* in the tolerable range.


***EDIT, come to think of it, I had done both side at once. When everything was put back together, I beld the driver side first, passenger second. So the passenger caliper was compressed with whatever air was in the hose. Do you think I need to redo that side?