Having a slight issue with my front disk brake, no matter what I try it's still rubbing, I think it may be very slightly warped as I have followed the videos off YouTube and they have not helped. Is there any way of straightening a rotor that is only very very slightly warped?
Instead of the fancy forked tools, you can use CLEAN adjustable wrenches. Use the caliper to visualize what areas are bent and make small adjustments at a time until you get used to how the rotor responds. You can get a rotor very true by using this method.
What kind of brakes are we talking about? It's possible you just need to center the rotor better.
I do the truing like this: http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/fix/diskrotortrue.htm
just instead of the dedicated forks use adjustable wrenches and/or locking pliers (CLEAN of course!). To see the bent areas better, you may put a sheet of white paper on the floor under the caliper as a background.
Not sure what you mean when you say "they" are "screwed in". The calipers are slotted where the bolts for fixing them to their mounting points are. These slots allow you to position the caliper so that the rotor sits directly in the center of the caliper. A quick way to set your brakes is to loosen the caliper fixing bolts then squeeze the brake lever and with the brake lever held down tighten the caliper bolts back down. It doesn't always work, so it might take some hand adjustments to get it perfectly centered between the brake pads. This procedure assumes your rotor is mostly true. You may also need to pry the brake pistons back before you proceed with centering the caliper if you simply can't get the pads to retract far enough to stop rubbing. Pry gently, I suggest taking the brake pads out and using a clean tire lever in the center of the pistons. If you must pry against the pads, use a very clean tool and be careful not to damage the pad material.
Sorry I was talking about The rotor being bolted in, not the caliper. The post mentioned the rotor not being centered so I wondered what that meant as the rotor appears to bolt directly onto the hub with no possible movement so surely thwart means it must be centered.
I have tried the loosening of the caliper, braking and then tightening the caliper bolts and it seemed to work until I applied the brake again and then it started rubbing again
Sorry I was talking about The rotor being bolted in, not the caliper. The post mentioned the rotor not being centered so I wondered what that meant as the rotor appears to bolt directly onto the hub with no possible movement so surely thwart means it must be centered.
I have tried the loosening of the caliper, braking and then tightening the caliper bolts and it seemed to work until I applied the brake again and then it started rubbing again
The only "centered" that is possible with the brake system is the rotor centered with the caliper. So you're either not centering the caliper correctly, your rotor is warped and is causing the rubbing (would be intermittent), or one of your brake pistons isn't moving (would be noticeable by seeing if one brake pad is sticking out of the caliper more than the other). Try adjusting the centering of the rotor by hand instead of by squeezing the lever. Loosen the bolts, visually center the brake rotor between the pads and slowly tighten each bolt down. It might take a few tries to get it to spin without rubbing.
Just come back in from the garage. I found the spot that was warped and bent it slightly using a clean adjustable wrench. I then re centered the caliper and it's now not rubbing anymore. It's still very close to the pads where I bent it but it just misses so I am happy with that, if it gets bad again I'll buy a new rotor off eBay, just been looking and there are some cheap ones flying about that will do the job. Thanks for all your help
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