Pad life depend on YOUR driving habis.

For pulsation or front shimmy (common), Google something like "cadillac forums seville deville front brake shimmy pulsation".

Correct tire pressure, lug nut torque/sequence, hub - rotor - wheel mounting surface, tire roundness -all factor in there and our FWD cars are super super picky about correct wheel, tire, suspension alignment.

When all the above is done get to an open stretch of deserted highway and do several aggressive stops from 40 - 60 - 70 mph and do not hold the brake after each stop - drive away and cool the brakes for a mile, do it again. That should scour any pad resin deposits from the rotor - another common cause of shudder caused by babied brakes.

Brake rotors do not "warp" which is why they're machined from grain-free cast iron. They DO develop deposit spots and surface irregularities. See the white papers on rotor runout causes in the Centric and EBC websites.

Lug nut torque - hand torqued to 100 lb/ft in an increasing star sequence.

 

Thanks Submariner409. That sounds like how I bedded in the brakes initially. Is that the same process you are describing here? I am willing to give it a shot. I am certainly not a mechanic, but it seems like the rotors should have last longer than this, so maybe this will help.

When you say pulsating... do you feel it in the brake pedal..? or do you feel it in the steering wheel?
If you feel it in the steering wheel, then it's likely to be the front rotors are warped.

Yes I do feel it in the steering wheel. that was my thought as well.

The RF wheel bearing went bad either months before or after the brakes were replaced, I can't remember which now. This spring, the RF brake caliper seized up when I got to highway speed. It felt like a flat tire. I don't think it was a coincidence that it all happened on the RF.

I guess that is my concern that there is something else wrong (other than a warped rotor) and replacing the pads and rotor is through good money after bad.

 

I'd say brakes should last about 75K.(less if you drive in the city a lot... or more if you drive on the highway a lot).
When you say pulsating... do you feel it in the brake pedal..? or do you feel it in the steering wheel?
If you feel it in the steering wheel, then it's likely to be the front rotors are warped.

 

I'm running Raybestos high carbon rotors from rock auto and they're holding up better than most.
What you describe is a well known problem that goes way back to when these cars were young.
I've yet to see a solution for this problem. 38K miles is decent, put new pads and rotors on or
have the rotors cut on a pro cut machine.

 

https://www.cadillacforums.com/threads/2006-dts-best-front-rotor-to-eliminate-shudder-high-carbon-any-good.1127437/#post-18106766

https://www.cadillacforums.com/threads/2006-dts-brake-vibration-and-hammering-sound.1068170/#post-17574572

https://www.cadillacforums.com/threads/brake-rotor-and-pads-recommendations-for-2006-dts.928905/

https://www.cadillacforums.com/threads/brake-problems-2006-dts.237829/#post-2687513

 

When I had my rotors and pads replaced a few years ago, the RF started shuddering loudly after a couple of weeks, so they replaced it again. The RF wheel bearing went bad either months before or after the brakes were replaced, I can't remember which now. This spring, the RF brake caliper seized up when I got to highway speed. It felt like a flat tire. I don't think it was a coincidence that it all happened on the RF.

The brakes on my '99 Olds Intrigue started pulsing at 10k miles, and 10k miles after every resurfacing or new rotors. That and the clunk in the steering due to lube-loss drove me crazy for years.

 

Brake jobs are one of those things in life that appear to be so easy that ANYONE can do them. However, to do them right, so that they remain SMOOTH and solid for a long time, there a lot of little tips and tricks that come into play.

 

I just looked at Rock Auto again and I notice that there are many options for good old semi metallic pads from many of the major suppliers. They are mostly stated as fleet, towing or police options and I'm very tempted to try these. Perhaps the metal scrapes off the pad deposits on the rotor - who knows?
Our bad rotors had black deposits on the inside surface of the rotor.
They also have Akebono and Brembo that I've considered in the past but have not tried on the DTS.