Brakes/rotors temperature question

Can anyone test the temperature of your rotors after some hard stops?

The reason for my question - mine are all around the same temp except the drivers rear, which is 70-80* hotter. I got a good deal on the power stop pads and rotors and finally put the fronts on today. Back are still stock. I’ll probably do them tomorrow.

After doing the process to break them in, I used an infrared thermometer and all of the rotors were around 180* except the drivers rear, which was 250*. I let them cool for an hour and went to do it again and they were all around 270* except drivers rear which was 350*.

I think the easiest answer is a stuck caliper. But mine are in pretty good condition and only have 2 years and 26k on them. And I haven’t noticed any issue before today when I tested it. Also I remember my 2010 seemed to do the same thing. That’s why I’m thinking it’s a proportion issue with tundras. Like most of the stopping power is the drivers rear.

I did open the bleeder to push the calipers in to be able to get the new pads in but had a bleeder bottle and don’t think air got in. But the pedal does feel like it goes down a little more so I’ll bleed them all once I do the rear. But once the pedal makes contact, it stops immediately. I’m still car sick from the abrupt stops to break them in.

 

At this point since you said your sick from the abrupt stops, I would just not do the bedding process. Personally I've never bedded brakes and have never had an issue.

 

Bleed again, with help of someone pushing down the pedal while engine is on and opening bleed petcock. Keep checking fluid level in master cylinder reservoir. ( you sound like you know what you’re doing).
I’m wondering about that DR. Rear. make sure the pads are in right position and they have small amount of lube on the top of the brake pad. Maybe its hung up that way? Check stainless clips too.
Also check parking brake pad clearances. Adjust as needed
Good luck Sir.

 

Yeah I’m done with the break in today. I’ll try again when I do the rears though. Maybe tomorrow. I’m not too sick still.

 

I’m going to try to get the rear done tomorrow and then bleed all 4 corners. I haven’t touched the drivers rear yet. That’s why it’s weird that it is the only one getting really hot. Passenger rear is the same temp as the fronts. The front pads are in right, but I probably over did it with the brake lubricant. But I figure it’ll eventually wear or wash off. The fluid in the reservoir never got below min line but I topped it off anyway.

So bleed with engine on?

 

If your able to get a friend to help you, pump it up and bleed out with foot pedal press, start from the RR LR RF LF person in cab can report back to you...soft or hard...pedal. Give it a go tomorrow as you planned. That’s my 2 cents.

 

Turn off traction control and stability control.and test again..

 

I’ll try that this morning on my way to work. Never thought that the electronics might be messing with it. Thanks.

 

I would follow manufacturer recommendation on bedding In. You can ruin the pads if you hold down the. Take too long during their first tempering. Some brakes don’t need this but if the manufacturer recommends it Onwouldnt skip it. If the bedding in is causing you problems it would have been on both sides of the truck not one. Something seems wrong with the driver side.

 

I did the bedding process by mfg instructions. But so far I only replaced the fronts and it’s only 1 in the rear that is getting hotter than the rest. I haven’t replaced the rear yet, it’s all stock.

I’m going to do the rear today and bleed them all. I drove normally to work today and checked and all were around 150-160 except drivers rear, which was around 220.

It doesn’t seem stuck. Just that it’s doing most of the braking. Maybe bleeding all wheels will fix it.

 

Let us know how it works out Tim.

 

So I think I found the problem. The top caliper pin, the one without the full boot, on the passenger side was almost impossible to get out. It took a lot of work to remove it. Also the passenger side didn’t slide freely along the pins like the driver side did.

Put on the new rotors and pads. Put in new pins and bled each one with 50+ pumps on the brake pedal. Went through 2 bottles of brake fluid. Pretty sure I did a full flush.

Then I went and did the bedding. Then drove around for about 5 miles to let them cool and did soft braking til I got home. Tested the temp again and all were around 120, even the drivers rear, except now the passenger rear was around 150. Don’t know if it will be an issue now. I’ll check it again with more breaking.

New problem though. Both inner pads on driver and passenger rear were almost impossible to get in the caliper. I had to use a hammer to get them started to be seated in the clips. Don’t know if I should take them off and grind them down a little.

I also had a noise like something rubbing every time the wheel turned around. It was very loud at first until I did the hard breaking, then got pretty quiet at the end. Checked lug nuts and all were tight.

Here is a pic of my old caliper pins. The rusted one was the passenger one that was hard to remove. The driver side slide right out.

 

The noise is the back of the rotors rubbing on the backing plate (happens on the rears). You have to grind the back of the rotors a little.

 

Thanks. I don’t feel like taking them off again. I might try to bend the backing plates backs a little today with it all on the truck. After driving around to do the break in, the noise was mostly gone. And I told my son that the radio makes any noise go away.

 

I'd make sure the rear pads are moving freely. They shouldn't need a hammer to get in. Did you install new clips as well? Sometimes rust builds up under those clips.

 

I was thinking of getting a grinder and taking them out to grind down the sides of the pads a little and clean the calipers. They were really rusty. I am worried that the new ones were so hard to get in, but the old all oem ones were pretty hard to remove too. They were wedged in there good but still worked.

Because of all the rust and that one pin was a pain to get out, I was also thinking of replacing both rear calipers. They are $110 a piece for stock ones, so not that bad. I’d do stainless lines at the same time too.

I think I’m going to drive around like it is now for awhile to see how it works.

 

I use a small dremel when I install new pads and hardware. Sometimes the brake backing plate castings have too much material on the sliding ears that fit on the new hardware, excess from casting. I had to do this a few weeks ago on a new set of pads for my suv. If they dont move back and forth over the hardware fairly easily once set in place i take a little off any casting material that wasnt shaved down enough from the factory.