Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Front brake grabbing/pulsing ?

Hi, the front brake on my 05 America grabs or pulses when I apply the brake. The harder I pull the brake the harder it grabs. I changed out the pads and for about the first 1/2 hr it worked fine but after that it started to pulse again. I noticed that the pad(s) rub slightly against the rotor for the full 360 rotation, not just a given spot and in looking at the old pads one is worn a little bit but noticably more than the other. The rear is fine, works like it's supposed to, any ideas why the front might be doing this?
Thanks
Max

Sounds like a warped rotor, not uncommon.

Mine pulses a bit too... I figure I musta been braking when I hit some water (heated rotor suddenly cooled) and it warped the disk a bit. Some say the stock rotor is more susceptible than a decent aftermarket one.

I've been told that sitting stopped with the brake on when the pads are hot can warp the rotor.

Both front pads should wear evenly. If one is wearing more than the other something is sticking or hanging up which could cause one pad to press harder on the rotor surface promoting warpage. Having said that it's probably too late if the lever pulses - the rotor is probably warped. Throwing a dial indicator on the rotor will confirm it. Did you lub all floating parts when you pulled the caliper for the pad change?