sorry for the stupidity, but does my 2000 accord lx have disc brakes, or drum? replacing pads/rotors due to vibrations in steering wheel while braking, and squeky pads... thanks

 

i'm not too sure about your rear brakes but every car since 1975 (probably earlier than that) has had disc brakes on the front... check your manual or local honda dealer for the correct specs

 

it's got rear drums

 

If there are vibrations in the steering wheel, it is due to warped rotors in the front. Even if you had disks in the back, it wouldn't contribute enough braking power to cause that. The only way to check if you have drums is to pull one of the back wheels off. Replace the rotors and it should be good.

 

its easy to check just go directly to the back b/c every car has disc on the front these days and if you see a sliver "disc", frisbee, plate looking thing behind your wheel....then u got em....

 

The vibrations in the steering wheel are from the front brake discs (rotors) being warped. They must either be resurfaced (ground down) or replaced.

How did they get warped? When you apply your brakes, you create heat. If the disc is very hot and you come to a complete stop, the area of the disc under the brake pad cools off more slowly than the rest of the disc, causing it to bend slightly.

How ot prevent warped rotors. 1) Don't brake so hard! look further up the road and predict when you will need ot slow down. 2) Do most of your braking early... so the brakes cool down before you come ot a stop. 3) when you come ot a stop leave a few extra feet in front of you vehicle to inche the car forward 2 or 3 feet every few seconds to allow the rotor to cool off more evenly.

I had a '91 Toyota Tercel with very underpwoered brakes that warped very easily. ALL of these techniques work very well. By also downshoifting with my manual transmission, I was able to get 70,000 miles at one point out of my front pads without them ever warping.

 

is it because its an lx that it has drums? or what?

 

LX trim on a 4 cylinder has drum brakes on the 6th gen accord, unless you bought them used and som1 did a rear disk swap... do u have a v6 or I4?

 

if you have a 4cylinder, you have rear drums,. If its a V6, you have rear disks. Its all irrelevant really though as what Shmoo said is true. Your fronts cause the vibration in the steering wheel, not your rears.

 

thanks guys.
next question:
i know now that i have rear drums, because i drive a lx I4. question is, if i put rims on, will the drums look "bad" if i get rims with thin spokes, where you can see the brakes?