I own Volvo V50 d5 less than 150000km (93750mls) driven.

In less than a year I have now renewed three different rotor sets with brake pads to front, and one of those sets has been re-machined. All of these rotors has been aftermarket rotors, NK and Zimmermann. I haven't tried original Volvo rotors - yet. The rotors diameter is 320mm.

Every time after renewing rotors and pads the juddering goes away. But few months and few thousand kilometers it comes back. Just yesterday I changed the rotors and pads and this was third time in this year. I just hope that I don't have to renew anymore rotors to this Volvo..............

I have no idea why those rotors takes few thousand kilometers to get warped. I do not drive and brake like maniac, I do not drive into the puddles with hot rotors (I has not even rained here this summer). Brakes does not drag. At last week monday I renewed my summertires and car had 4-wheel alignment: they said there was no worn bushes or anything.

Has anyone here had a fight with Volvos warped rotors and how did you overcome it? Buy new original Volvo rotors? Change the car? I prefer no to change the car - well not yet anyway, it has big diesel engine with lots of torque and very good fuel economy. And it is warm at winter.

 

FWIW, most "warped rotors" aren't warped. The biggest issue is caused by a quick stop (generating lots of heat), followed by the driver keeping his or her foot planted on the brake pedal. With enough heat and pressure, the metallurgy of the rotor at the pad location is affected, causing either more or less drag at that point (forget which) which feels like a "warped rotor" every time that portion of the rotor passes through the applied pads. It's absolutely amazing how much heat can be generated by a quick stop from highway speeds, or even worse - by riding the brakes down steep hills (you can smell the results of this when you are behind someone doing it in the mountains).

My Acura's previous owner installed drilled and slotted rotors on my MDX. Why he'd do that on a 4,400 pound SUV is beyond me, but they've never been truly smooth, but have a discernable vibration as the contact area between the pads and rotors changes as the slots go by.

 

I've had similar experiences on multiple cars/makes over the years, totally agree with Habby. Additionally, it can be fronts or rears - sometimes its hard to tell which. You can try "deglazing" the rotors (light sanding with garnet sandpaper or go onto Amazon to shop for a deglazing tool/kit) - there are vids online as well. This problem is more common with motorcycles but applies to cars as well. The ultimate cure is to have the rotors machined or replaced but you may find some relief this way. Also, take care with how you bed in new pads. I tend so simply do moderate braking for the first 50 miles - avoiding hard braking (like when exiting a highway) and allow the wheels to slowly roll to a stop to avoid pinching to a hot spot. I'm sure there's a bigger discussion to be had on how best to bed in the new pads.

 

Ok... The juddering came back, and about 1500km (about 940mls) driven.

Over a month ago I renew my summer tyres and told to dealer to make the 4-wheel alignment. There was some miss-alignment and steering wheel was to the left after 4-wheel alignment. It took two more 4-wheel alignments to get the steering wheel to center.

Some said that the front lower support arm bushes are the reason to juddering: they need to be renewed because they are "tired" and worn at those miles (about 94000mls).

Well yesterday I renewed both front lower support arms. They came with both bushes and lower ball-joint.

Today I took the test drive - and it is lot worse now:
First, at speed of 75mph the whole vehicle juddered like my new summertyres are miss-weighted. This juddering did not exist with old front lower support arms, with old or new summer tyres, not between those three different 4-wheel alignment trips. The juddering at speed of 75mph got lost somewhere while I continued driving.
Second: now the steering wheel is to the right and quite a lot, maybe 4 or 5 degrees. And I can feel the car is no where near as good drivable as it was with old lower support arms.
And third: when braking, sometimes it juddered lot more than before, sometimes there was no juddering and sometimes there was only small acceptable juddering.

Well, first now I have to go to 4-wheel alignment - again, and see what it has to tell about wheel angles. Lets see after that how it goes.....

 

Replacing the lower control arms will impact the alignment. You are right to get a 4-wheel alignment. Also, make sure the wheel lug nuts are torqued properly. Over torquing or uneven torque can warp the rotors.

 

It's not clear from your description - did you get the car realigned after replacing the control arms? If I'm reading the post correctly, you haven't done an alignment since replacing the LCAs. If that's the case - go get an alignment, and it will almost certainly fix your problems. I'm not sure I'd use the same shop you used previously (seems like they struggled with relatively easy adjustments - I can center the steering wheel myself in my driveway in a few minutes).

 

4-wheel alignment done. And wheel angles where off the charts.

But it did not take away the juddering when braking: sometimes it does not judder at all, sometimes it does judder.

This starts to be fustrating. I don't know what to do next. Maybe Volvos original rotors and pads? Don't know.

 

Congrats on fixing the main issue - you'd be really (!) lucky if you were able to swap the LCAs without it radically affecting the alignment.

My guess is that the braking issue is just what I'd said before, about the pad "burning into" the rotor when they're really hot. This never happens to those who don't live / drive in hilly regions, unless they might happen to do high-speed stops (like when the freeway goes from 80mph to 0mph all at once). Leaving your foot on the brake after a stop like that will have an effect on the rotor (which could literally be glowing red or orange). You could try a light sanding of your rotors to see if it goes away, or heck - try spraying liberal amounts of brake cleaner on the rotors. A clean rotor is a happy rotor. There's almost no chance you've actually "warped" the rotor, unless it was a pretty poorly-designed rotor, at least.

 

More than any car I have ever had, Volvo dislikes aftermarket parts. Not sure if that is you problem, but it has been my experience.