Warped rotors -- cant get this issue to go away

Instead of jacking an existing post on brakes ill describe my issue below.

bought truck at 37K -- about @ 45K brakes started pulsing. Got them turned and pulsing went away.

@ about 60K pulsing comes back. I replace with new rotors and new pads. Then at 85K pulsing comes back so i get them turned. Guy explains that if you do them quickly they go south quicker so he takes about 2hrs to do it. Didnt cost any more so I am inclined to believe him. So at about 100K pulsing comes back..

I torqued the lugs to spec. What Am i doing wrong?

This cant be normal

 

Changing the pads as well?

 

Riding the brakes? Are you getting them hot then blowing through puddles? My mom warps brakes like no other solid, slotted, drilled, doesn't matter. I've also been told the more they get more prone to warping. Since you've done new pads and rotors it might be an operator issue or sticky calipers.

 

I am sorry to read about this problem. It seems that warping rotors is a problem for a lot of trucks and cars. Our 09 Lexus had the same problem, and we never fixed it.
What brand of rotor did you buy to replace your original rotors and what pad did you use with the rotors. The original rotors are not made for long life, but for weight reduction and fuel savings. You may need to purchase a heavy duty type of rotor.
Your driving and braking style may affect your brake's life also. Do you drive in the mountains ? If you can answer some of these questions, then more people can help you fix this. Good Luck.

 

Brake rotors rarely warp. Pulsing brake pedal is caused by not properly bedding the brake pads when new ones are installed.

http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/-warped-brake-disc-and-other-myths

"In fact every case of "warped brake disc" that I have investigated, whether on a racing car or a street car, has turned out to be friction pad material transferred unevenly to the surface of the disc. This uneven deposition results in thickness variation (TV) or run-out due to hot spotting that occurred at elevated temperatures."

"There is only one way to prevent this sort of thing - following proper break in procedures for both pad and disc and use the correct pad for your driving style and conditions. All high performance after market discs and pads should come with both installation and break in instructions. The procedures are very similar between manufacturers. With respect to the pads, the bonding resins must be burned off relatively slowly to avoid both fade and uneven deposits. The procedure is several stops of increasing severity with a brief cooling period between them. After the last stop, the system should be allowed to cool to ambient temperature. Typically, a series of ten increasingly hard stops from 60mph to 5 mph with normal acceleration in between should get the job done for a high performance street pad. During pad or disc break-in, do not come to a complete stop, so plan where and when you do this procedure with care and concern for yourself and the safety of others. If you come to a complete stop before the break-in process is completed there is the chance for non-uniform pad material transfer or pad imprinting to take place and the results will be what the whole process is trying to avoid. Game over."

 

mountains -- lots of miles going down hill. I live at 7500ft almost anywhere i go there is down hill

NAPA premium rotors and pads

it rains about 5 months out of the year. The rest of the year it doesn't rain at all

I use low gears while descending to ease the work load on the brakes.

There is one downhill here that goes for about 5 miles with an elevation loss of about 3000ft. Its a heavy load on any brake system but like i said before, i use the transmission to help out. you wind up at sea level an hour later

There are some small historic (250 + years) towns here in Mexico where the roads are very narrow and lots of slow very steep down hill. Not much heat transfer at all. Ill put it in low but i still need the brakes.

daytime temps in the summer can get into the high 80s. There are no hills very close to my home so i dont start with cold brakes and increase temps in a very short time frame. Here at night it can get into the high 30s some times colder

 

My rotors are warped too...I have that same damn pulse/vibe when breaking at highway speeds...I'm gonna try slotted performance rotors...should probably do that anyway considering what I do with my truck.

 

i am not sure this is the issue. The pulsing doesnt happen right away. Its smooth as can be for some time. then little by little the pulsing returns.

 

My guess is that you are riding the breaks and over heating the rotors. Once they warp they tend to warp again as stress has been introduced into them.

Some people brake with their left foot instead of their right and lightly leave it on the peddle while driving. The slightest pressure can have the break dragging ever so slightly and cause over heating.

In such cases the answer is to not ride the breaks.
You could also consider going to Tundra rotors and calipers which are heavier.

 

No to your question.

It could very well be splashing on hot brakes. As described before there are some serious down hills and sometimes there is water running across the road. But, this last time i got the rotors resurfaced at the beginning of the dry season. It wont rain at all durning the dry season. Not a single drop! It just started to rain about 1 month ago. pulsing returned before the first rains

 

Ive been programmed to use only one foot. Ive been driving in mountains for about 30 years. Even if someone put a gun to my head I would have a hard time using both feet. It would be like trying to learn to write with my left hand

 

I understand, but the bottom line is they are getting too hot for some reason and that means either the calipers are not releasing properly (Toyota has that problem sometimes) or you are riding the breaks. Just because the truck goes through water it should not warp the rotors unless they have been over heated by mechanical failure or operator failure because of over use.

To find out if it is a caliper malfunction drive the vehicle at HWY speeds for about 10 minutes and try and not use the breaks. Then pull over and feel the rotors or use a infra read thermometer to see their temp. They should be cool enough to touch unless there is a problem.

If hot and you are not riding the breaks then the calipers need rebuilt, as they are not releasing as they should, and replaced along with the rotors.

 

It could very well be user error but ive been running in mountains for a long time and with some trucks ive never had a problem even running the trucks into the 100K range. Ive had the problem on a Honda accord and a GMC 1500 but was able to fix with one change of the rotors.

Ill check the calipers. that sounds like a logical step.

 

When reading about your response to the pads, did you get the ceramic,or the semi metallic, or the organic based brake pads.? Your rotor choice was a very good choice, NAPA is a high quality part . The fact that the rain impacts your brakes, the amount of vibration you get may or may not be normal considering your environment. If you can, maybe a choice of a less aggressive pad may not cause such a vibration.
Did you buy the Tacoma new, or used? Did the original pads cause more or less vibrations that you could compare to your present pad choice? I hope we can help you out.

 

Bought it with 37K

With regard to the original pads and vibration -- it was way more pronounced.

I cant remember what pads i put on it. I do remember it was not organic i am thinking it was semi-metalic. I bought the pads based on the recommendation of the NAPA guy.

To be honest I was never impressed with the braking abilities of this truck.

 

Hmmm, I had a service manager try to blame me for the same thing on a Dodge truck I used to own. During the first twelve thousand, they kept telling me it was how the ABS system was supposed to feel. After that, it was due how I drove. Driving for forty years and gone through only three-four sets of brakes in all that time? Now it's operator error? Really? Check your rear drums for out-of-round, get your calipers rebuilt and go with good, heavy duty rotors/pads.

 

You've got an extreme circumstance there, coming down from 7,500 feet regularly....

I've had great results with Brembo blanks and Hawk HPS pads - might want to try them or some Hawk LTS pads. I wouldn't bother turning rotors - if you are truely warping them, that will only be a temporary fix.

Might want to look at running some cooling ducts to the front disks. If you don't have fogs lights, that would be a great place to vent them from.

 

I like the idea that the potential problem is a malfunctioning caliper. That sounds like a solid possibility. Ill check that out so as to either rule that out or fix the problem.

I never listen to service managers. About user error id like to think that is not the case but anything is possible albeit very improbable.

 

read a very interesting thread a while back where it turned out to be bad wheel bearings. his problem was a mushy pedal, but I imagine that you could get a pulsing too.

jack your front up and wiggle the tire from top and bottom. worth checking anyways with 100k miles

 

Is it pulling while braking, or only one side warping? If not, then I wouldn't be looking at a caliper. Especially since a brake job seem to fix it, if only temporarily.