Need to upgrade brakes and rotors that wont warp

Amazing. I asked this exact question last year and pretty much caught nothing but grief about how I don't know how to drive.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/120821-i-need-brake-rotors.html

Anyhow...

I know you said you put OEM rotors on it, but did you use OEM pads also? From my understanding, most "warped rotors" are not actually warped. The problem is uneven surface contamination from cheap pads.

All this to say. My old truck (06 prerunner) I bought used gave me hell with warped rotors... I finally broke down and put OEM pad and rotors on it, and never had another problem.

When I say bad, anything like a car wash with warm brakes, rush hour highway driving, mountain driving, puddles of water on a cool rainy day... All would "warp" the rotors on that truck.

 

Yes I did put OEM pads on them. Everytime I change my rotors or resurface them, I always replace the pads to be on the safe side.

 

I called Edwin this morning and he gave me a quote for that exact setup. However his quote was slightly higher than what I can get for powerslot or ebc rotors with hawk pads shipped. Now I'm even more confused as to what to get. I tried looking for reviews on sp rotors but couldn't find any positive reviews on it. I can find hundreds of positive reviews on EBC and powerslot. How are they compared to these other known rotors?

 

Make a habit of not coming to a complete stop with full pedal pressure when braking and you will magically stop warping your brakes!

It doesn't really matter how hot the brakes get, what compound your pads are made of, or how your rotors have cool looking slots in them. The most important factor in preventing rotors from getting warped is to NEVER come to a complete stop with the pedal fully depressed.

What you are trying to prevent is the extremely hot pad from "imprinting" onto the already hot rotor. When coming to a complete stop...slightly lift up off of the pedal to limit the amount of pressure the pad puts onto the rotor. You're still coming to a complete stop, however you are letting off the pedal just prior to the wheels stopping to prevent this "imprinting".

The rotor face is never going to have a perfectly flat surface that the pad can press onto. Wheel bearings, expansion of the brake components at different rates due to different materials etc. all have an effect on the "straightness" of the pad/rotor surfaces. That being said, while the rotor is spinning, the pad has little effect on "bending" the rotor out of plane, but when fully stopped, with the rotor HOT and the pad pressing down with full force, the rotor can "bend" locally and that's when you start developing "warped" rotors.

I've found that even after breaking in the pad, warping can still occur, that's why I never firmly depress the brake pedal when coming to a complete stop. Just before the wheels stop spinning, I let off.

Taken straight from the linked article:

 

Slotted rotors serve a very important purpose and are not just "cool" looking (although ricers will argue otherwise). The slots keep the pads from glazing by constantly "shaving" material from the pad.

Drilled rotors are junk. Porsche was the only company to ever do them correctly. Aside from Porsche, I've never seen a cross-drilled rotor that hasn't cracked. And I get quite a bit of track time and even more time interacting with other drivers/teams at events. Ricers absolutely love drilled rotors because, much like the rest of their car, they constantly fail.

Vanes are important for allowing air to flow thru the disc between the 2 pad surfaces. A solid disc will hold much more heat than a disc that has vanes and that is a bad thing.

Race/track pads are made specifically for operating at higher temps. They'll perform terribly when cold or warm, but get them up to 6-700 to 1000 degrees matched with the right tire and you'll generate some serious G-forces in brake zones.

That being said, do any of these have applications for us daily driving truck owners? Yes. Slotted discs would greatly help a driver when a heavy load is being towed. A street/track pad would also help.

OEM parts are not meant to be abused. I've done testing sessions where we've had pad transfer onto 800 degree discs and other sessions where we put a lot of heat into the discs and then quickly cooled them by running thru puddles or spraying them with a hose which warped them. And sometimes there was no pad transfer or warping at all (although this was very rare with OEM parts).

Bottom line is that not all pads/discs are created equal and each has a very specific application. Many Taco owners seem to have problems with their discs getting warped or pad transfer. Obviously the OEM parts are not able to withstand whatever abuse is being dished out, whether that is the offroading and splashing thru puddles and warping the discs or allowing the pads to transfer to hot discs.

If you're adding weight to the vehicle and asking for more performance, you need to upgrade your braking system. More aggressive pads, more aggressive discs and racing brake fluid. For what you are all doing, the brand isn't that important, almost anything is better than OEM.

Edit: Holding in the brake pedal at a stop shouldn't cause pad transfer, unless you were riding the brakes down a 1500' moutain while towing a skid steer. I'll bet that very few people here are seeing more than 300 degree brake temps, which is nothing, even for OEM parts. I was seeing OEM pads/discs fail at temps of over 600 degrees continuously. The tires were usually coming apart faster than the brakes were failing.

 

One of the causes of possible rotor warp is over torqued or uneven torqued lug nuts. My last truck was a Dodge Hemi Sport with factory 20" wheels. Every time I had a rotation or balance I would have to redo the torque at home with correct foot pounds.

 

I'm going to check my lug nutz right now. But I never come across a tight lug would make it warp. I say that because I don't have a torque wrench only a breaker bar. I also don't do the constant brake on brake off coming to a stop just a nice constant pressure.

 

This has not been my experience with Tali.

 

I went with autozone duralast gold and thay chewed my rotor up bad. liftime warrenty on pads but thay rough on rotor

 

X2 on lug torque. Uneven lug torque can cause rotor warpage. I always re-torque after the tire shop uses their impact wrench to mount a wheel.

 

this thread turned into an interesting educational bit on brakes, not bad

i still say go with personal preference, as long as the product has been proven its quality it shouldnt matter that much

we all know that no matter how many good tests are run and good products put out that you might be the lucky one to get the one retard part, hence something you know as good having a bad personal review

 

I had the same problems with my 2010 SR5 4 x 4 on 6 K & brakes went. So I take it back & then machined the rotors & week later same problem. The I go back this time more determined & the dealer put new rotors on.

One week later rear brakes vibrated & they machined rotors but they told me this is last free fix. Not happy camper with Toyota plus they put on those cheap ass Dunlop Grand Touring tires.

I have to wait for the switch out for tires & brakes since budget does not allow it. I filped a 2010 Accord for my Taco & had the same dam problem with crap brake parts but I had to pay for it so this the reason Honda will never get my business again.

My 2c

 

Did anyone read the earlier posted article on "warped" rotors.



Here it is again. It is a very informative read.
http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml

What many people call warped rotors is actually uneven pad wear and or glazing of pads. The key to not having this problem is proper break in procedure. I also recommend letting your brakes cool for several minutes before washing your truck/spraying water on the wheels/brakes as the rapid decrease in temperature can cause this issue as well.

In most cases, simply turning your rotors and installing new pads (with proper break in) will resolve the brake judder indefinitely.

 

ill bet money, ur rear brakes arent adjusted right. people smoke front brakes in tundras and tacos all the time. all beacuae the rear brakes arent doin their job... i gaurentee its not the brake materials

 

Brake issues with different cars. Might be time to start looking at the driver....


Good thread. Was looking to upgrade my brakes too because of towing.

 

I need brakes also. I already have HAWK pads.

So now I need ROTORS. . . .

EBC Drilled & Slotted for $216

or

Power Slot Slotted Rotors for $127.00


I just need something thats better than OEM. So is it worth the extra $$$ to go with EBC?

Thanks also.
​

 

dude you might be hard on the brakes, this will happen over and over. they are warping due to heat and friction.