OEM Front Rotor Life

Akebono has never been a supplier to Toyota that I'm aware of. Toyota has always been Sumitomo, which later morphed into Advics sometime around...2005? (Advics is a joint effort of Aisin, Sumitomo and Denso)...which toyota has a big stake in.

 

I bought a set of Bosch rotors for about $80 from Amazon and they've been great. I see they're only $70 now. Local place wanted $20 per rotor to turn them + driving and dropping them off for a couple days didn't seem like it was worth it so I just bought new. They've resisted warping longer unlike the factory rotors.

 

Pad hardware is regional. Years ago...pads did not include hardware at all, it needed to be purchased separately. Toyota OE pads didn't even include shims...those were transferred from the old pads to the new pads with a dab of grease between them.

As more and more corrosive de-icing chemicals came into use in the rust belt, hardware needed to be replaced because it was mostly gone. We had customers in the northeast / midwest threaten to stop buying our brand if we didn't start to include hardware kits in all the pads...we fought it for a while, but then changed the program to include hardware in everything...now the west coast / southern customers started screaming because without rust, the hardware kits rarely need to be replaced, but the prices of everything went up a bit to cover the included kits...can't win.

As far as auto parts go, rusty areas and non-rusty area might as well be 2 different worlds. What works well in one market will fail in the other and vise versa.

 

Toyota is the major shareholder, as of March 2023. It would be a surprise if Akebono didn't supply any components to Toyota.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Au...kebono-Brake-says-it-faked-data-100-000-times

https://paultan.org/2021/02/25/brak...tion-data-on-components-in-over-100000-cases/

https://www.toyota-global.com/compa...ion/purchasing/member_companies/kyohokai.html

https://www.akebono-brake.com/english/ir/shareholder_stock/main_shareholder.html

They also supply components to Toyota racing teams.
https://www.akebono-brake.com/english/product_technology/sports/wec.html

 

Some are made in China, but the other (european) versions are popular enough that the vendors are indicating if you're purchasing euro version or the Asian (chinese) version. I chose a vendor that was selling the euro ones. They aren't the first product I've seen produced in both places with one being sold as a "Not made in China" part. Just takes some due diligence if that's something that matters.

 

Until you measure your rotor thickness, the question of resurfacing or replacing is totally irrelevant.
A small lip on the outer edge doesn't necessarily need to be addressed, at all.

 

Turning rotors is so 1982.

They got effed up by turning them 50% of the time anyway, and I doubt the few techs that do it now have any more skill than they did back then.

My opinion is that they get warped by over torquing lugs.

New set is less than $100.

 

Is there a brand name or are there brand names associated with these WF rotors or calipers?

 

at 60-70k, i put new pads on the same rotors which were in excellent condition, just eye test, but felt fine after install. Now at almost 140k and i bought new pads and rotors, trying to find the time to install.

At 140k on original rotors and happy with the performance, even towing 4000lbs, went with oem again. ive never turned rotors, i just buy new. Always seemed like a hassle if you dont have the equipment yourself, or a "buddy".

 

Waupaca Foundry does the castings for a whole lot of manufacturers....Advics is one of them, the Big 3, Akebono, etc. They put a WF casting mark on most of the stuff they make. Very little aftermarket, as it's obviously expensive for shorter production runs. When you're making hundreds of thousands of something to support new vehicle production, pricing comes way down. Nobody in the aftermarket is ordering hundreds of thousands of anything at a time.

 

I have a 3rd gen but since this discussion is going on I’d love your thoughts:

I got 98k out of the OEM front pads and rotors. Couldn’t get OEM replacements quickly so went with Autozone Duaralast Gold or whatever their best stuff was. It’s not 10k later and they feel terribly warped already.

Considering I got basically 10x that with no warping from OEM I’m curious if there’s anything you’d check that may be wrong with the brakes to warp so quickly with the same driving habits?

then the question is.. warranty them and put new Autozone stuff on or don’t force myself into yet another brake job in 10k and just buy OEM or other more reputable brand now?

 

Don't assume warp unless you used a runout gauge to actually measure it.. you may just have embedded pad material in high spots. Did you bed in the new rotors when they were first installed?

 

OEM 2G front rotors aren’t worth anything ever.

better rotors that actually work exist. Such as StopTech cryo slotted in the long brake thread.

it’s Duracrap there you go, checked.

 

This is a pretty good article

https://alconkits.com/blogs/news/the-real-truth-about-warped-brake-rotors

 

yeah they were bedded in properly and worked great until a few hundred miles ago. When spinning the drivers side by hand I can feel the increased resistance at a certain point, passenger side feels uniform.

So do you suggest doing another round of the bed-in procedure even though they have been in use for 10,000 miles?

 

If it's embedded pad material, redoing the bedding procedure will not help as the problem material is already embedded into the rotor. You can (try) turning the rotors to remove the bedded material, but I have read that many times it doesn't work as the cutting head just ends up riding over the material while turning. It may be easier/less problematic to just replace the rotor and do a proper bed-in because even if it is warped, you have to replace it anyway.

 

Yeah doing some other reading it sounds like more abrasive pads could potentially help (this pertains to cars that are tracked, not sure they would even make this type of pad for a tacoma), but more of a pain to change pads then change them back than it is to just swap new rotors and pads in and be done.

thanks for the insight everyone.

my contribution to this thread - OEM front rotors lasted me 100k problem free. Aftermarket lasted 10k.

 

I've heard that a lot about Autozone brakes. I wouldn't run them.

 

Just an FYI for reference. Stock pads (and most aftermarket pads meant to replace stock pads) are ceramic. IF more abrasive pads were desired, you could use metallic or semi-metallic pads. They are much more abrasive, but also produce more brake dust. I believe Raybestos and Wagner sells metallic or semi replacement replacement pads. People have moved away from metallic/semi pads overall because the dust makes their rims look fugly (and it eats away at the finish).

 

I just replaced mine at 203,000 miles.I didn't measure for warp, but was feeling some vibrations at certain speeds while braking. Replaced them and it was gone.