Keep Warping Brake Rotors Help!

In the past 50k miles my truck has gone through many sets of rotors, resurfaced and new sets, I will give a little background, and would like some suggestions on what to replace/ what rotors to buy this time.

Got my truck with about 100k on it its a 95 2.7 4x4 single cab, no major mods and I do not drive it hard or tow anything.

At about 110k I could feel a little warpage in the front end and was doing a major over-hall on the front end of my truck so I replaced the warped rotors that were fairly new (replaced by previous owner) along with upper and lower ball joints, tie rod ends and wheel bearings. I got the new rotors and pads from napa and kept the old rotors as spares since they were still with in spec. I should also mention that at this time I put about a 1inch lift on the truck and also replaced and adjusted the rear brakes, with new drums and shoes from napa.

At about 140k or so the rotors felt warped again this time it felt like the front driver side had more warpage. I replaced the rotors with a set from O'rilleys. I reused the pads and hardware. I should also mention that I cleaned up all all the hardware (it was fairly new from the last job) and inspected to see if it seemed like any of the pistons of the caliper were sticking/dragging. They all felt fine when I pushed them back in to fit in the pads.

About 1k later I could all ready feel a bit of shimmy when braking again more toward the driver side. I drove on them for a while and by 5k more miles you could feel it a lot more.

This time I brought the rotors to be resurfaced. The guy who resurfaced them confirmed my suspicion that the driver side had more issues. He said he had to cut a bunch of the driver side and only a little of the passenger.

This time I used the resurfaced rotors along with the old pads. I also added the brake propotion relocation bracket to the rear of my truck for the 1" lift I had put on in the past. I checked and adjusted the drums and they seem to be fine.

But once again the rotors have warped.


I was planning on buying a set of oem toyota rotors, pad and hardware. To eliminate the possibility of this being caused by crappy quality rotors. I was also considering replacing the calipers as it seems like one could be an issue of the driver caliper hanging up slightly. I was also planing on bleeding all 4 corners when I do the job as my brake fluid is old.

I guess what I'm after is there any thing else I should be checking in this situation/ What would you check and replace.

The rest of the truck is in great shape, no issues in the front end, wheels balanced, no weird tire wear ect

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

What is your perceived symptom of "warped" rotors, just a shimmy in the steering wheel?

When was the last time you did an alignment? What were the toe angles?

What pads are you using (brand and model)?

 

Tldr.
How bout try some tundra brakes?

 

One other thing to keep track of is proper torque on the wheels. If they are steel wheels this is even more critical. Over torqued wheels can warp the rotors.
That’s always the first thing I double check when they keep warping so quick.

 

I'm a "conservative braker", do a lot of coasting, try to predict traffic slow down etc and I burned through a set of stock brembo brake pads and destroyed the rotors after like 8-10k miles.
The tires/added weight were just too much for the stock brakes.
Tundra brake upgrade solved my issue. If you're going through that much brake hardware, might as well upgrade. Relatively cheap.

EDIT:
Looks like you have a 5spd, should be even easier to take it easy on the brakes.

 

Interesting, I'll have to look into that.

 

Your first mistake was reusing the pads when you changed the rotors. The pads were worn in the form of the bad rotors. So that effect transfers to the new rotors

 

I've got a nice new, red set of 13wl's sitting in the garage for you.

 

In response to some questions

As far as the shimmy I feel Its not in the wheel, its as I apply the brakes.

Once time it was Napa middle grade/ Brake best I belive pads and rotors and another time was O'Rilleys.

I torque my wheels to 85, with a torque wrench.

 

Also I was have 15" wheels, I would need 16 to clear tundra rotors correct me if Im wrong on that

 

Yea, you are correct. Although there's a template floating around to check clearance. Some 15's actually do fit.

 

Is your taco relatively stock, or do you have bigger tires, bumpers etc?

 

Still may need to do some grinding with 16’s.

 

Mostly stock. 235/75/15 tires, have a topper on the back. no offroad bumpers or anything like that.

 

Tundra brakes aren't the solution to all Tacoma braking problems. Even if the problem is a stuck caliper, Tundra brakes, while "fixing" the issue, are hardly necessary. If it's a stuck caliper piston, just rebuild the calipers.

Proper braking in of pads/rotors, getting new pads with new rotors, and considering if your driving habits are contributing to your brakes warping.

 

When you brake, the front end dives. There are additional loads transferred to the front suspension and steering (because stock geometry has bump steer). That's how out-of-spec toe angles, worn LCA bushings, etc. can cause shimmy under braking but be OK in cruise. You can check toe within +/- 0.1 deg with two jack stands and fishing line. You can check LCA bushings visually and steering lock-to-lock with the truck stationary.

When you removed the rotors, did you use an abrasive wheel to clean up any corrosion on the hub flange and on the back of the rotors?

Were the pads organic, semi-metallic, or ceramic? Not familiar with repackaged parts-store branding.

 

To this point, it is possible to make a big brake upgrade and get some EE or EF rated pads and go home with less stopping power than staying stock with some higher end pads that have a FG or GG friction coefficient. There are multiple factors that all combined will yield exceptional breaking. Yet, when ignored are guaranteed to leave an owner searching for more.

 

Clean and wire wheel the wheel and hub surface where the wheel and hub meet. Any rust can contribute to this problem.

 

I can see torquing them in the wrong sequence, but I'd bet money that simply over torquing your lug nuts will not warp your rotors. I mean, sure, if you're torquing to like 170# or something, that can cause damage (stripping/braking lugs), but even then I doubt that would warp a rotor.

Differential/excess heat warps rotors.

I see all these posts on other forums of people swearing up and down that the torque is what caused their rotors to warp. Their evidence? They took them to a shop, had the rotors turned, then reinstalled them with a torque wrench and the problem was gone! No kidding the problem was gone, you turned the rotors...

 

OP needs to address the problem of warping rotors before even thinking about increasing performance over stock.