I was putting on some new rims on my G5 today and when I took the base steelies off, I saw that 2 of the wheel studs had retaining clips on them to presumably hold the rotors on...I've never seen this before. I put on my new rims and they wouldn't sit flush because of those clips, but when I tightened up the lugs, they became flush.

I take it for a test drive and now as soon as I hit the brakes, I get a subtle pulsation when i hit the brakes (warped rotor feel) and I'm now thinking I should have taken those retaining clips off. Would these clips have caused an uneven point when I torqued down the lugs at those 2 studs causing the rotor to be slightly askew? I already checked for other clearance and everything is fine.

Need some help before I start ripping these things apart again...

 

Yes you should have removed the retainers before installing the wheels! The factory wheels don't hit them but the aftermarket wheels can. You may have crushed them and made it look flush but it isn't! Make sure you torque the lug nuts to 100 lbs-ft in the pattern shown in the owners manual too!

Those retainers are installed on the assembly line to hold the rotors and/or drums on while the car is moving on the asembly line before the calipers and/or wheels are installed.

 

if its only when you hit the brakes i would say that one or some or all the wheels are NOT seated properly or tourqued properly. It happens. Been there, done that.

 

X2, I done this once or twice. I was in a rush

 

are the rims balanced?

 

Thanks guys. I've never seen retainers on wheel studs, so i was unsure if I should even remove them. I'll take them off tomorrow and see if that fixes the problem.

I haven't confirmed if the wheels are balanced, but I get zero shimmy and no problems at all until I hit the brakes, so I'm ruling that out right now. When I get those clips off and it's still there, that'll be the next thing I check.

 

i don't think the retainers have anything to do with it, i think the wheels are nor balanced

 

its the retainers....happened to me....i waited and ended up warping rotors.....

 

Exactly. Get them off now before the rotors get too hot one time and warp. It may have happened already, it can happen if they were torqued unevenly when put on, those clips only make it worse. Hope thats not the case here.

 

yes....luckily GM thought it was there fault... but yes if you dont get those off your rotors will warp bad....and your may have already warped slighty

 

Yup, the retainers were the problem. I just went out and took them off, put the wheels back on, and took it for a spin. Smooth as a rail when braking. I only drove it for a mile last night, so I'm pretty sure I didn't warp the rotors...hopefully!

Thanks guys for the input...

 

yea nothing is going to happen in a mile....that isnt even long enough to get the brakes warm....

glad we could help...

 

Could Be Retainers Or You May Need HuBrings...

 

too late....problem solved....but you are corret it is the retainers