2000 Ford Taurus SES 24V DOHC Front brake question

Hey guys, I am trying to figure out why the brakes heavily pulsate when applied. The first thing I noticed was, for some reason the inner pads on both sides are not flush with the edge of the rotor, while the outer pads are flush. The other thing I noticed was there is a wheel stud that does. It seat in the hub properly. The stud is easy enough to correct, but the inner pad thing, that is weird because the new pads (wearever gold from Advance) are not flush on the inners, either. Your thoughts?

Thanks, Pop

Brake pulsation may occur due to a variety of possible causes. Some of them are:

uneven rotors, even new ones nowadays need to be checked and rectified if necessary

worn calipers and/or guiding pins

loose wheel bearings

Like Juergen mentioned, wheel bearings are a concern. Or loose lug nuts. But I'm confident you would have noticed one or the other during disassembly.

These pads are same inboard and outboard, so it's not like they can be swapped...

Rotors could just be incorrect for the application? Or just flat out machined incorrectly.

Only other thing I could think of rust buildup on the pad bracket. But it'd have to be on the inboard only, and it'd have to be quite a bit of buildup. :silly:

Almost always rotors...

Noah, do you mean that the existing rotors likely have too small a diameter? Thx Pop

Well the answer turns out to be pretty simple. Apparently whoever did these brakes before I bought this car didn't ensure the rotor was straight before bolting everything back together. And I admit I almost repeated the error. But I noticed today that The edges of the pads evened up very nicely with the edge of the rotor when I held the rotor in place with two lug nuts on the studs while I installed the pads and resecured the caliper. Problem solved! Thanks guys! - Pop

So the pedal pulsing is gone?
Nice find Pop

Yes! Brakes are much much better.

Thanks for everything guys!

Pop