Shaking when braking at high sp

So I recently made this post about my truck rattling when braking at highway speeds: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/shaking-when-hitting-the-brake.509921/ ...basically my truck feels like its going to shake apart when I brake at speeds of 50mph+

After doing some research, I think the problem might be warped brake rotors (not sure if correct terminology?). I called my mechanic this morning and his first thought was the same. Before I take it to him though, has anyone else had this issue? It's a 2015 with 43,000 miles on it, so I wouldn't expect the brakes/rotors to wear out that quick. I also bought it certified used next last September, and I think I'm right around the expiration of my bumper to bumper warranty, so I'm wondering if you guys think it would be worth it to take it to a local Toyota dealer for maintenance, rather than my usual mechanic, and try to get them to pay for it? I just had my inspection done a few weeks ago, so I know the truck doesn't have anything major wrong with it, but I'm always skeptical of the dealers' shop because I know they try to wheel and deal you to rip you off.

 

I think most commonly the "warped rotor" feeling causes the steering wheel to shake when braking. Does this sound about right to what your truck is doing? The thing with this issue is that your rotors can have plenty of life left on them even though they produce this effect with braking.

You might be able to get the toyota dealer to turn the rotors, but might not be worth the hassle. Depends on how good your dealer is. My thoughts are they will tell you the pads/rotor are a wearable item and that it is not covered under warranty.

I personally would buy new oem rotors and pads, plus the shim kit and put them on. That's just me, you might be able to get away with just rotors or turning them, or even some auto store rotors. It's ultimately up to you to decide.

 

i think stuff like brakes, wheel bearings, and driveshaft are on the 60,000 mile powertrain warranty.
Call dealer and ask about that first to confirm if you'd be covered.
If they're sleezy, they might find something to fix thats not in warranty but it's at least worth checking out before you pay someone else.

 

The feeling isn't just in the steering wheel, it's feels like the whole body of the truck. I'd compare the shake to the feeling you get if you're driving a manual transmission and the engine is about to stall out.

 

I've never experience that from bad rotors, how ever I guess it could be possible. I don't have any ideas really on what else it could be. Good luck maybe see if a toyota tech can diagnose it under warranty and go from there.

 

Rotors don't warp easy.

rear brakes sticking, rotors with pad material on them, sticking caliper could be the problem

do a few hard stops even with the shaking, if it is less after a few stops then its material build up on rotors

 

Warped rotors is a misplaced term.

It takes a tremendous amount of heat to warp plates of metal as thick as rotors. So unless you are a preofessional race car driver or drive downhill an hour to work, your rotors are not warped.

What usually happens is people who get aggressive with their braking they heat their brakes up, then when they come to a complete stop, part of the brakepad material burns into the rotor. Over time it leads to an uneven friction surface leading to shaking. When this gets bad yes the whole truck shakes like crazy.

A vast majority of the time it is because of how you drive. Coast down and don't accellerate excessively leading to you needing to make quick stops all the time.

I would have the dealer check it out just in case anything is covered under warranty.

But honestly ask yourself how aggresively you drive.

 

Replace the rotors and be done.

 

Mine warped at 22k same year, dealer said wear item not covered. I replaced with ebc rotors and green stuff pads. So far so good with 63k miles. Dealt with the shaking for 20k miles. It didnt fix its self. I now wonder if ive messed other stuff up in the steering system as it wanders more now.

 

They could also over torque your lugs and jack up your rotors....

But if the problem only occurs while braking, my money would be on the rotors.

 

Yeah actually now that I think about it, after hitting the brakes a couple times the rattling would dissipate, so it might be build up. It was a lot of stop and go traffic on the highway, so that would explain the acceleration followed by quick braking. I also admittedly have a habit of treating it like a race car when I'm on the way to work in the morning (it's a 6 speed TRD sport, so it's hard not to have some fun with it), which might contribute to build up as well. Does this material build up require a full rotor replacement? Or can you just get it grinded down or something?

 

If you have your rotors "turned" it can buff that brake pad material off and fix tge issue.

Its cheaper to just replace the whole rotor yourself.

 

I know this thread is a little old but did you ever resolve the issue? My truck is a 2015 with only 17k miles on it and it shakes like crazy when braking over 55mph!

 

Are you still under warranty? I'd take it to the dealer and make some noise. It shouldn't be doing that with the mileage that low.

 

The cheap fix: take off rotors and sand using 60-80 grit pads on rotary sander to break glaze. Then clean discs real good with a good brake cleaner (yes, chlorinated brake cleaner). Sand pads if not worn, clean. Sand rear drums to break glaze. Sand, clean shoes, and adjust rear shoes. Bed in brakes.

Centric Bakes says its likely not warped rotors: http://www.centricparts.com/files/W...ric White Paper B1-2012-Warped Brake Disc.pdf

 

The rotors have lost their ability to stay straight and true when they get up to temp. They need to be replaced. Resurfacing won't help. If they were warped cold and hot you could try resurfacing. But just the fact that they are straight when they are cold and only when they get hot they begin to warp means that the metal cannot stand the heat that is generated during braking. Buy new rotors, don't get cheapies, and when you're putting them on lubricate the ends of the pads a little bit so they can slide around as needed inside the caliper. You could also check the brake shoe clearance back in the drums. If they are a little sloppy then the front brakes have to do more and more of the work causing more heat

And honestly I have no idea what you guys are talking about as far as brake pad material on the surface of the rotor!!LOL

 

My 05 did this exact same thing

New rotors made it go away, theyre super easy to swap out, pull the tire-pull the caliper-tap on the back of the old rotor with a rubber mallet-pops right off.
Slap on new rotors & pads and good to go no more braking and shaking.
I went with the powerstop truck & tow slotted rotor kit, love it!

 

Having rotors not perfectly straight is not uncommon. And it doesn't take much for them to cause wheel shake. I'm pretty easy on brakes. My truck has 183,000 miles on it and the rear pads have been replaced once. Front pads twice and I should be good until at least 200,000 miles when I'll probably have all 4 done along with new front rotors. But the front rotors have had to be turned 3 times.

For those guys who use brakes sparingly brake dust builds up on the drums or rotors creating a glaze on the metal. It is often irregular and creates the same effect as the rotors being warped and causes the wheel shake. The best way is to simply have them turned. Another way is to get up to speed and hit the brakes hard, just short of locking up or causing the ABS to kick in. Do this several times to get the brakes hot, this will help eliminate some of the build up on the rotors. In fact this is done anytime you have new pads installed in order to seat the pads and help prevent this issue in the future. This is a temporary fix that I used to help reduce wheel shake until I could get them turned. Guys who are harder on brakes never have this issue because they keep the rotors hot enough to burn off the brake dust.

And don't let anyone tell you rotors can't be turned. It cost me 1/4 the cost of buying just 1 quality rotor to have mine turned. Yea, I could have bought cheap rotors for just a little more than having mine turned, but then I'd have cheap rotors.

 

Had this problem at 40,000....had a quality front brake job done and problem solved. Now if I could only solve my maddening front end chirp/squeak I would be fine. Probably one of the front body mounts.

 

Yeah I took it to a trusted mechanic (a buddy of mine) and he said my rotors were shot, so I ended up getting new rotors and brake pads. Problem is gone