Hey guys, I bought my used 2000 Silverstone about 5 months ago. I noticed the wheels shake at about 80 mph on the highway. Then my front left brakes make a screeching noise. I replaced the front rotors with new Brembo blanks, new pads, and new rotor screws. I also used an impact screwdriver to tighten the screws. A couple of months later same problem. I also noticed that the wheel doesn't mount flush against the hub, there seems to be a gap. Can it be a warped caliper? Bent wheel? Can a bent wheel cause the rotor screws to get loose? Please help!

 

Sounds like a bad wheel bearing and hub. The only thing the screws do is hold the rotor in place to make mounting the cailper and pads easier. Most people do not reinstall them when installing new rotors. The fact that yours are backing out is not a good sign (usually they have to be drilled out) What kind of wheels are you running? It sounds like the center bore of the front wheel is incorrect (to small)- which if this is correct will cause excessive wear to the bearing/hub/stud assembly and is extremely dangerous.

 

Can you post a picture of the gap between the wheel and hub?

 

Is it possible that someone put one or both of the rear wheels on the front?

 

I'm at work right now so I can't post any pics, I have the oem ap1 wheels. And the fronts are 205, rears are 225, so I'm positive they are mounted correctly. Like after awhile the rotor has play and can be wiggled.

 

Just because the tire sizes are correct does not mean anything. A majority of people that work at tire shops are complete idiots. I have known multiple people that have had tire shops mount the front tires on the rear wheels. Pull that wheel off and look at the specs stamped on the back of the face of the rim. If there is a gap between the wheel and hub than that is a huge indication there is something wrong. If the wheels are correct, it is possible there is minor damage to the exterior of the hub (ovaling or excessive corrosion buildup) which would prevent the center of the wheel to properly slide onto the hub.

 

^I concur with this, when I bought my car the dealer had my snowtires & wheels, which I ordered from Jim at the Tirerack, installed at a local shop and the tech didn't install one pair of hub rings b/c he said they didn't fit. Turns out he installed them in the wrong wheel (our front and back hubs are different sizes).

Anyhow, the shake could be from many things. Unbalanced wheel/tire, pitted CV joint (https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/392...clicking-rear/), or perhaps a seized brake calipr (https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/588...not-cv-joints/). Why not take it to a mechanic to have it looked at?

 

I agree with the idiots in tire shops comments; I labeled my wheels front-driver, rear-passenger, etc so they would know exactly what tire to mount where. They still screwed it up and had to re-do all four mountings and balancings while I stood and watched.

 

You don't even need to remove a wheel to determine front/rear.

Looking at a wheel mounted on the car, there's the lip where the tire bead seats, the spokes, and then a flat center section running to the inside. Take a tape measure and measure this flat area, from the lip where the spokes attach to the corresponding lip on the inside. A front will be about 5 and 1/2 inches; a rear will be about 6 and 1/2 inches.

From your description,your problem is that the rotor's surface where the lug studs are isn't being clamped against the hub by the wheel. At least, if I understand what you meant by a "gap" then that's the problem.

Think about the tremendous force transmitted through the rotor to the hub/wheel in braking. Those M6 screws aren't going to hold it. The wheel's flat mounting surface must press against the area of the rotor around the studs, squeezing it against the hub with some serious force when all 5 lugs are tightened. If this isn't happening, you have to find out why.

 

Typical: urgent request, with no response concerning the resolution.

If you expect others to answer your questions, you owe them a response regarding the eventual resolution of your problem.