Warped Rotors

22 tundra has just 18000 miles and front rotors warped twice, any one else with same problem? Planning on replacing them. Any recommendations?

 

Are you driving a lot on mountain roads (i.e. lots of down hill breaking)? Something must be getting them really hot. Like 1 foot on the break and 1 foot on the gas.

 

Common issue with Toyota brake rotors. Its hitting or miss and how you treat them. Same goes for all other manufacturers of brake rotors. They are like batteries, only a handful of manufacturers that make them.

 

I do live in mountains, but not extreme. I never drive with both feet. But do some towing. I had ram 1500 limited never had brake issues.

 

Mine did same. I put on some new rotors and pads from brake performance and so far so good

 

I’m planning on replacing them, I don’t want to go for oem this time, i really think toyota used some shitty cheap rotors that are not holding up. I wanted to know what did other people go for?

 

My 17’s rotors were warped at about 22k miles. Some towing but not too heavy. For me I think it was due to steep mountain forestry roads and making water crossings while they were hot.
My 21 rav4’s rotors warped at about 20k. DC commuter car, high speeds with quick, often stops/slow downs.
I put frozen rotors on fronts of both. Pricey but only cryogenic rotors I could find in stock at the time. Rears were ok. I’ve had 0 issues with the frozen rotors. EBC yellow pads on both, they’re great pads but dirty on the wheels, lots of dust.

 

There’s a TSB for the front brakes. Do yours squeal like crazy when you brake in reverse? I took mine in and got told I need new brakes, pads, rotors, shims etc for the front brakes and it’ll be done under warranty but there’s a wait to get the parts on backorder.

The TSB number on my paperwork shows it to be TSB0043-24 if it helps

 

Having this issue now. 24k miles I just contacted Cobb County Toyota. Seriously considering buying an aftermarket rotor and pad set and having a local mechanic install. Instead of the dealership.

 

Make sure your lug nuts are torqued to spec. Large swings in torque from nut to nut can lead to accelerated warping.

 

Like I said, only a handful of rotors manufs. The same manuf for Toyota probably makes the same rotors for OEM brembo blanks or Powerstop. Take your pick and hope for the best. Pretty much 99.9% of OEM rotors come from foundry in China using the same iron. Now, like sou1978 said, make sure your lugs are torque to spec and not with just an impact gun. Over torquing, which ALL dealers/mechanics do using impacts, is also part of the problem. You should see the faces I get from tire shops when I tell them to torque my wheels and no impact gun.

 

these vehicles are made to do these things, like towing, for off roads, all terrain etc. they shouldn’t just go bad like that. It might be torque issues. One the mechanic at the dealership told me alot of people complain about tundra brakes, but they won’t cover it under warranty. He recommended powerstop rotors, so i’ll try those.

 

They won’t squeal, mine just have crazy shake while braking. But i’ll check with dealer

 

I would do a little more research on Powerstop. And don't be sold on slotted or drilled. Just saying.

 

you are right, I'm actually trying to find out what other people has to say who had them install and used them already. what would you recommend?

 

I had my oem rotors go bad also early on. I bought new front rotors and pads in Aug/2023. After going down the rabbit hole of brakes, I learned alot. So, I decided to go oem again for the rotors and Hawk LTS pads. Wheel lig nut torque plays a important role in keeping the rotor from warping. Reason for going back to oem was, 1 warranty. No issues so far. 2, if there are any better, good name brand rotors aren't cheap.
So I just decided to stick to oem and get better pads. EBC makes good stuff but I was having a hard time finding them and not cheap. Also, a lot of the name brands like to sell slotted or drilled, I didn't want that so that was another issue.
But like I said do your research to be better inform.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, this is actually my second oem set, that’s why i wanna try after market, otherwise i always go for oem parts, i wanna try the drilled rotors this time, i had better experience with drilled rotors on my m3. I’ll make sure to get them torqued properly, we’ll see how they go.

 

Stealership says it a wear item. I didn't feel like fighting with them. Those warranties are only good if the Dealer will honor them. This is why I don't buy extended warranties. She goes in for new front rotors and pads at our local shop that maintains our fleet of shop trucks tomorrow. I have not found an overabundance of Rotor and Pad options. I'll update afterwards.


On a separate note has anyone received a letter about our engine replacement? I received the 1st one and they said we would be receiving a 2nd letter at the end of July.

 

But how is it not a wear item? At 24k miles how can you really consider it a warranty defect?

 

it is wear item, but it should be covered under warranty, specially when there’s thousands of people complaining about same issue.

 

In my opinion, if there was a material defect the warped rotors would have appeared much sooner, almost all cases of warped rotors (or excessive lateral runout/disc thickness variation) are due to driving habits/overheating brakes

 

Never had luck with Toyota rotors. Living over a mountain with a steep curving road is hell on brakes. Dropping down to third gear in my 08 and putting it in tow mode still has me riding the brakes. I'd rather burn up the brakes than burn up the tranny trying to no ride the brakes. Best luck I've had is Centric slotted cryogenically treated rotors with Hawk Performance LTS pads. I do a bit of towing also and never worry pulling my 7k car trailer.

 

In his previous post he stated he lives in the mountains and tows...so I would not consider that normal driving..

It really has nothing to do with the dealership, the dealership would make money by doing pads/rotors under warranty, it's the factory that would be kicking the claim back

 

If DIY - may want to try replacing only the pads - someone passed that thought onto me a while back when i had that pulsating feel while applying the brakes repeatedly in SG traffic. So to Prove them wrong I did just that - only the pads and guess what - pulsating gone and has stayed gone.

 

Shop installed Akebono pads and oem quality rotors. Like previously stated there are not many manufacturers for the rotors.

 

It’s highly possible your rotors aren’t actually warped. They just got hot enough to allow brake pad material to become embedded in the rotor surface, creating an uneven surface and a pulsing feeling when braking normally. This has happened to me multiple times.

It feels like warped rotors, but if you do a couple bedding procedures (hard braking from 60mph down to 10mph without sitting on the brakes immediately afterward), you can remove those deposits on the rotor surface and get rid of the pulsing feeling.

Sitting on the brakes (like at a stoplight) after they get super hot is how the deposits build up on the rotor surface in the first place.

A Toyota dealer is only too happy to take your money replacing rotors whether it’s really the case or not. Replacing them will fix the issue until you get your new rotors hot again, and enough brake dust deposits into the heated rotor surface again. But buying new rotors probably wasn’t required to fix the issue.

Doing the bedding procedure above has saved me from new rotors multiple times. I’m at 65k miles on the original brakes.

 

My case of brake shudder has nothing to do with deposits, because there are never any full stops involved when it happens. I live in Colorado, and spend a lot of time in the high country. Going down any winding mountain pass, like Berthoud or Rabbit Ears, will cause the brakes to shudder. Using the brakes is unavoidable on those passes. No amount of downshifting will prevent using the brakes.

My 2 previous Tundras (2008 and 2015) never had a brake shudder problem on the same passes. In fact, the brakes on those 2 trucks lasted amazingly well, and always worked flawlessly. The OEM brakes on the Gen 3 Tundras are definitely sub-par compared to the previous Gens.

 

My brakes get hot and shudder every single time I go to CO and drive those long grades and mountain passes. It has lingered afterward and given the impression that they are warped even when I get back to Tennessee.

And I have fixed it with these bedding procedures afterward, every single time.

Just saying, it’s a completely free fix that people should try first instead of jumping to the conclusion that their rotors need replacing.

 

My brake shudder always goes away when the brakes cool down, so I see no reason to do the bedding procedure.

Bottom line, these Gen 3 brakes suck, and are potentially dangerous. I've never owned a vehicle with worse brakes in 62 years. Combined with the potential engine failure issue, and the shine has definitely worn off my new truck purchase in only 16K miles. It is what it is....

 

Sucks to hear. Some of the SC'd Gen 2 guys are running these Alcon kits. The consensus is that it now stops like it goes–with authority.

Not cheap, but very nice:
https://alconkits.com/products/toyota-lc300-tundra-2022-front-big-brake-kit