Caliper cutting grooves into aluminum wheel?

[PNWYukon]

Has anyone seen this on their own rigs? A groove or grooves being cut into the wheel from the caliper?

It the craziest thing, because the caliper is a 1/4" from the wheel.

I thought maybe it was some gravel, but after removing the wheel and inspecting the caliper, there was aluminum shavings and some embedded on the caliper. WTH?

The caliper bracket has never been moved. Everthing seemed tight and as it should be.

 

[iamdub]

Loose on the slide pins? Maybe the caliper is pivoting up/out when the pedal is pressed. What size wheels do you have? I think they went up to 17" wheels for the '03+ (or somewhere around there) to fit larger brakes.

 

[Jason in DLH]

Just curious what it looks like...mind posting a picture?

 

[Fless]

Loose on the slide pins? Maybe the caliper is pivoting up/out when the pedal is pressed. What size wheels do you have? I think they went up to 17" wheels for the '03+ (or somewhere around there) to fit larger brakes.

My '04 LT came with 16" wheels, and I think there was an option for 17" wheels in both '04 and '05.

 

[bigdog9191999]

mine did, but it was because one of the caliper bracket bolts came out and allowed it to flip up and rub. otherwise I would be looking into other issues.

 

[exp500]

Better check front wheel bearings. Also look if your balance weights are missing.

 

[Rocket Man]

1/4” in which direction? Side to side or in circumference? Wheels can flex side to side when cornering hard.

 

[PNWYukon]

The caliper appears to ride about a 1/4" away from the inner side of the wheel, yet these grooves are there. The full circumference. These are stock Tahoe wheels. The deep groove on the inside of the wheel is odd enough as I can find it on all four wheels. We live 2 miles up a gravel road, so I can believe some of this is from gravel abrasion, but it really looks like aluminum particles embedded in the caliper side facing those grooves.

The caliper bolts/pins appeared tight and normal, and caliper did not shift or twist by hand.

The wheels are aluminum, so they could deflect that much?

This is the rear passenger side that we happened to hear making funny noises when the window was rolled down.

 

[Rocket Man]

The caliper appears to ride about a 1/4" away from the inner side of the wheel, yet these grooves are there. The full circumference. These are stock Tahoe wheels. The deep groove on the inside of the wheel is odd enough as I can find it on all four wheels. We live 2 miles up a gravel road, so I can believe some of this is from gravel abrasion, but it really looks like aluminum particles embedded in the caliper side facing those grooves.

The caliper bolts/pins appeared tight and normal, and caliper did not shift or twist by hand.

The wheels are aluminum, so they could deflect that much?

This is the rear passenger side that we happened to hear making funny noises when the window was rolled down.



View attachment 266924

It’s possible. Have someone push back and forth as hard as they can on the front and back bumpers while you watch that gap and see if they can make it change. That’s a small amount of the force of the truck itself as it goes around corners.

 

[wjburken]

We live 2 miles up a gravel road, so I can believe some of this is from gravel abrasion,

I’ve seen similar marks on folks’ vehicles around me that live on gravel roads due to pieces of gravel getting wedged in between things. Usually don’t cause an issue unless it gets between the pad and rotor. Seems to be a bigger issue on drum brakes though.

 

[Doubeleive]

has to be from gravel

 

[Joseph Garcia]

I'm certainly no expert in this area, but I find it really hard to believe that those grooves are caused by any 'deflection' of the wheel and/or brake components, if all connection points are tight.

 

[Doubeleive]

I'm certainly no expert in this area, but I find it really hard to believe that those grooves are caused by any 'deflection' of the wheel and/or brake components, if all connection points are tight.

I am pretty sure I have read about this before and the expert opinion was it was caused by gravel, common sense tell's me there's just no way metal on metal is going to flex that much under any kind of normal circumstances.

 

[George B]

I am pretty sure I have read about this before and the expert opinion was it was caused by gravel, common sense tell's me there's just no way metal on metal is going to flex that much under any kind of normal circumstances.

If it does flex that far it won't return to it's original shape...

 

[Bigshawn]

Mine has them inside but no where near that bad. That rotor ain't looking to good. Do you live in a area that uses salt or that other junk they spray on the roads?

 

[Bill 1960]

We off road a lot and run gravel quite a bit. At some point every vehicle I’ve ever driven picks up a rock that’s just the right size to get stuck in the brakes somewhere. Squeals and grinds until it wears enough off to escape. Sometimes reversing will kick it out, not always.

 

[PNWYukon]

Mine has them inside but no where near that bad. That rotor ain't looking to good. Do you live in a area that uses salt or that other junk they spray on the roads?

I think those rear rotors have 90,000 miles on them.

 

[Bigshawn]

I think those rear rotors have 90,000 miles on them.

Like i said mine have marks on the inside too but nothing that bad. I just figured it was from hitting the million pot holes pa/md have and some on the interstates are nasty. I would change them rotors soon if you have rust issues where you live. My front rotors looked the same way, junk like water/salt would lay in the vents of the disc and i didn't think they were that bad but when i went to take the front driver side off the vents had crushed. I hit it with a hammer and mini sledge for like a hour an got nowhere. I had to put a long bolt with a nut thru the caliper bracket and it slowly pressed it off.

 

[Rocket Man]

I'm certainly no expert in this area, but I find it really hard to believe that those grooves are caused by any 'deflection' of the wheel and/or brake components, if all connection points are tight.

Gotta drive like I do I guess lol.

 

[steve45]

... That rotor ain't looking to good. Do you live in a area that uses salt or that other junk they spray on the roads?

Not a thing wrong with that rotor, just the normal rust ring on the circumference.