Lighter steering after rear brake rotors replaced?

[gelo]

Hi, I had my 2020 GT's rear brake rotors replaced around a month ago. Ever since they were replaced, the steering wheel no longer felt "firm" as it did beforehand. However, I decided to keep it like that because admittedly at the beginning, I kind of liked it. However, after doing a long drive thru the highway, I felt terrified that at any time, one tiny wrong movement would cause an accident. There is also a little bit of a steering wheel play, where while I'm driving (in the city, didn't wanna test in highway), I could move the steering wheel every so slightly on either direction without the vehicle moving out of the straight line. I could also move the steering wheel a tiny bit while the vehicle is off (shouldn't be the case, right?). The alignment also seems slightly off as it veers slightly to the right when I straighten the wheel and let go of it.

What could have caused this? I did not think getting the rear brake rotors replaced would change the way the car drives. When I first got this a few months back, it felt "connected" to me, where I knew where the vehicle was going in relation to how much I moved the steering wheel. I felt confident driving it and it felt sporty. Now, it feels "disconnected" from me, and I am trying to get used to the way it drives now due to how loose/light the steering wheel is.

Tire pressure is 35 psi, which is what's listed on the driver's side door. I did not change my wheels/tires before this problem occurred. I did have my lug nuts switched, but it's the same size as the one it came with (hex size: 3/4", 12mm-1.50, bulge acorn)? However, those were changed before I had the rear brakes done and did not notice a change with the way it drove at the time. So something was probably done wrong when they did the brakes, right?

 

[N7turbo]

Did they disconnect your sway bar for some reason? Or over-torque the lug nuts?

 

[gelo]

Did they disconnect your sway bar for some reason? Or over-torque the lug nuts?

I'm not sure what they did. I just left the vehicle with them, then picked it up once it was done.

In hindsight, I should have stayed in and watched what they did. Also, I know there's a maintenance mode with the CX-5, and I'm not sure if they activated that prior to changing the rear brake rotors. I'm thinking they probably didn't, and something went wrong there? Though that's only an assumption from me.

 

[N7turbo]

You would know because you would have error lights on and the electronic parking brake would no longer work.

 

[gelo]

You would know because you would have error lights on and the electronic parking brake would no longer work.

OK, no errors and the EPB is working properly. So it's gotta be something else.

 

[yrwei52]

OK, no errors and the EPB is working properly. So it's gotta be something else.

It could be your rear disk brake dragging on one side which caused the pull to the one side while driving? The shop might not lubricate the caliper pins which may cause dragging. Of course if the shop did something wrong on maintenance mode, it could cause dragging too. You should try to talk to the brake shop about the changes you felt after the rear brake job.

Always mention the maintenance mode when you have a shop doing the rear brakes.

 

[cadcamjim]

I cannot fathom why the steering would feel any different from changing the rear brake rotors, unless, maybe they rotated the tires at that time? Due to wear patterns in the tires, a tire rotation can cause the steering to feel quite a bit different, at least for a few thousand miles until the tires start to wear into the new positions on the vehicle.

 

[HyFlyer]

I'll throw my guess in the ring ...

Can you put the old lug nuts back on?

 

[Conrad 16.5]

Hi, I had my 2020 GT's rear brake rotors replaced around a month ago. Ever since they were replaced, the steering wheel no longer felt "firm" as it did beforehand. However, I decided to keep it like that because admittedly at the beginning, I kind of liked it. However, after doing a long drive thru the highway, I felt terrified that at any time, one tiny wrong movement would cause an accident. There is also a little bit of a steering wheel play, where while I'm driving (in the city, didn't wanna test in highway), I could move the steering wheel every so slightly on either direction without the vehicle moving out of the straight line. I could also move the steering wheel a tiny bit while the vehicle is off (shouldn't be the case, right?). The alignment also seems slightly off as it veers slightly to the right when I straighten the wheel and let go of it.

What could have caused this? I did not think getting the rear brake rotors replaced would change the way the car drives. When I first got this a few months back, it felt "connected" to me, where I knew where the vehicle was going in relation to how much I moved the steering wheel. I felt confident driving it and it felt sporty. Now, it feels "disconnected" from me, and I am trying to get used to the way it drives now due to how loose/light the steering wheel is.

Tire pressure is 35 psi, which is what's listed on the driver's side door. I did not change my wheels/tires before this problem occurred. I did have my lug nuts switched, but it's the same size as the one it came with (hex size: 3/4", 12mm-1.50, bulge acorn)? However, those were changed before I had the rear brakes done and did not notice a change with the way it drove at the time. So something was probably done wrong when they did the brakes, right?

You can test to see if any of the pads are dragging in the rear by taking the car out someplace where you can get up to speed and stop the car without using the brakes. I know, I know, as I said 'someplace'.

Once you come to a stop, without using the brakes or minimal use of the brakes. Check the temps of the rear rotors with your finger, even better, do you have an instant read thermometer? You're checking to see if there's a temp difference between the two sides. If one side is hot and the other not, that side is dragging for some reason, and you have a problem.