is a rotor the cause of shaking at stops

The vibration is typically due to a warped rotor. This is caused by excessive braking and getting the brakes hot. When the metal cools, it does not cool evenly causing the metal to warp. A groove in the rotor would not tend to cause a vibration, but if it's bad enough, maybe a gritty or rough feeling on the pedal.

Hi crumbob, if the rivets in the pads are sticking out past the pad, which they probably are, that is what caused the grooves to begin with and my opinion is yes, that will cause a vibration when brakes are applied. New pads will probably fix it, if the gouges are not too deep the rotors can be used as is unless they are warped. If there are blue streaks on the rotors, that is from heat and the might be warped. Put a straight edge on them, all different parts, both sides, and if you see no gap between the straight edge and rotor they are probably ok to use with new pads, or go have them surfaced. Hope I was some help.

Mark and I were typing at the same time.., but we agree..sort of. I know for fact Mark knows what he is talking about, but I still think rivets on rotors can cause a vibration. A groove on a rotor with a pad that has material on it, then no, it won't

I'm with Mark and FordNut on this. Warped rotors are very common on smaller cars and will absolutely make the front end shake. Between the rotors themselves being small and the cheap metal that they use to make them they tend to warp very easily. It's not uncommon to have to use a hammer to remove an old rotor, especially if its an original one. Also make sure that the calipers are moving smoothly and aren't froze up. This will cause the new pads to ware out extremely fast and not give your brother very good braking ability when he needs it. WHAT'S UP FORDNUT? LONG TIME NO SEE OR TALK.

Matter of past experiences I guess.. lol. I can say I've done brakes with pretty severe grooves and no complaints of vibration, just rough feeling. But I do agree It's always a possibility of any type of flaw or irregularity in the pads or rotors to cause vibration or rough feeling in the pedal. "Vibration" and "Pulsation" may be the two terms to differentiate?

Oh one other thing it's not worth trying to turn the rotors on a brake lathe. Just get new rotors and pads.

Good morning Gentlemen..I come and go, TA77 have to do some traveling on occasion. Dad is 94 and I platoon with my sister taking care of him

FordNut, Oh I totally understand. I took some time off myself, had a ton of things to do over the weeks around Christmas/New Years and the NFL playoffs, LOL.

not rivets on pads arnt sticking out totally full wear strip and the front two tires are brand new and the alighnment is good

The rotors can still be warped and give you the pulsating when you hit the brakes.

its not pulsating it is shaking and oriellys will turn rotors for eight buck each and I took them off

Pulsating shaking same thing. They will probably tell you that the rotors are out of spec and can't be turned once they start turning them. If they do turn them and get all of the warp out its not going to take much to make them warp again now that they are thinner. That's why I just put new rotors on they are so cheap to just replace.