Warped rear drum

Hello,
I purchased my 2021 in June of that year and at approximately 5000 miles I needed to have the rear drums resurfaced by the dealer. The pulsating went away briefly but was always present. I figured I'd have it checked again at my next service appt. At 7100 miles, the dealer tells me that the front rotors need replacing, pads need sanding and the rear drums need replacing because their warped. And they wouldn't cover it. I blew up and raised hell in the service department. I called Toyota and filed a complaint and the dealer requested that I leave the vehicle so they could do a more "thorough" check etc. and would push to have it covered. I've read stories about this issue happening. Is there a definitive resolution on this yet or am I be railroaded by the dealer?? I drive normally and the vehicle isn't even driven every day. No other vehicle I own or have owned have every had this issue.

 

both my 2nd and 3rd gen warp rear drums. My commute is very hard on brakes. It's 15 miles of about 20 traffic lights and speed limit is 55 so my trucks are constantly braking plus people drive crazy in this area, so I have to be hard on the brake pretty frequently.

 

I don’t have that problem at 26 mph

 

What

 

Hmmm, 5K miles does seem a bit soon but brakes are funny that way sometimes. I think those components are considered "wear products" by Toyota and thus is probably the reason for the dealer pushback on covering via warranty. Now, I am not sure I agree with your "I blew up and raised hell in the service department" tactic, but to each his own. Good luck!

 

My truck is so slow the brakes are lasting a long time

 

So I received a call from the dealer that they are covering the rear drum replacement and after doing so and taking a test drive, "everything seems fine and there's no issues with the brakes." I find that very interesting because at first, they wanted me to pay for a complete replacement of the rear drums as well as a complete front rotor replacement and sanding of the pads. So now the front rotors are fine or they were always fine and they just wanted me to pay for a replacement I didn't need. They also said that the rotors are on national back order..... And yes, me raising hell in the service dept. wasn't my finest moment. However when they're charging 10k over msrp for a Highlander Hybrid and see no reason to back their product and cover premature brake failure, I was a tad bit irate.

 

My rotors needed resurfacing early on (don't remember exact mileage). Toyota won't cover wear parts, but I'm at 100k and the problem hasn't resurfaced(lol).

 

Please have them explain the sanding of the pads to you so you can convey it to us. I get that you can glaze a set of pads when you overheat them but never have I heard of someone trying to sand a pad. If you have a problem with a pad then you replace it. They are less that $50 a set so why in the hell wouldn't you. Whomever you are speaking to at this dealer might be worth calling out. Front brakes on these trucks take a tech about 15 min total. They are just trying to upsell you because that's how they make money.

I suspect had you authorized the repair they would have said "yeah we tore the front down and resurfaced the rotors and sanded your pads" when they most likely would not have even pulled the front wheels. Even with heavy extreme braking your front pads will last a minimum of 30k. OEM anyway.

 

Sounds like they didn't know which end of the vehicle had the pulsation

 

Rear pulsation is a PITA with these trucks, all the more reason to do a rear disk conversion once you're out of basic warranty.

 

My 2021 had rear drum vibration from day one, it was easily diagnosed from pulling park brake while driving at any speed over 20mph. $10/drum at nearby machine/hotrod shop fixed it until the front rotors developed around 10,000 miles. Funny how much Toyota gets right yet manages to have common issues with so many others.

 

There is also a TSB on rear brake vibration. I believe it involves measuring the flange on the rear axle shafts and replacing them if they are out of spec.

 

rotors/drums don't warp...

https://alconkits.com/technical-info/brake-tech/56-the-myth-of-warped-brake-discs

 

I thought maybe I was the only one with this pulsating problem. I bought my 2022 OR last month in PA and drove it home to AZ. Didn't want to wait the 3 weeks to have a carrier deliver it. Brake shudder/shaking/pulsating/etc. almost right from the start. Also had a clunking/rubbing noise coming from the rear. Could feel it in the floor of the truck.

First dealership I took it to in AZ said my front rotors were warped and turned them. They didn't even listen to what I said about the clunking/rubbing noise and how I could reproduce it by putting the truck in first gear and letting it roll in a parking lot with both shoes on the floor. They did their post-fix test on the freeway. Zero improvement, complete waste of my time and money (no loaner cars but they have an Enterprise rental car desk in their dealership, Uber to the rescue). Will never go back there again.

Second dealership knew what they were doing. I was worried that they would not be able to reproduce the clunking/rubbing noise coming from the rear but they said they reproduced what I described and the problem was my rear drums. They turned those and I could hear the noise was gone before I even left their parking lot. No more shaking approaching stop lights and at the bottom of off ramps when braking. I remember when the advisor asked me if I could feel it in the steering wheel he said if I can then it's the fronts, if I can't it's the rears. Makes sense.

I'm really surprised that this truck has had these issues when I drove it off the lot in PA with 5 miles on the odo and I don't drive this thing like I stole it but it is what it is. It also is not a daily driver. Happy and relieved dealership #2 found the prob. I don't think they will but if they tell me what the OP's dealership told him when I bring it in for the 5K service, for me it's just a good excuse to dump this OEM stuff and replace with aftermarket discs and drums. I like ceramic pads better anyway.

now... time to hunt down a pair of rock sliders.

 

church yo…




(so many people don’t get this)

 

I am convinced it’s mostly QA/QC on the materials in, somewhat extended supply chains…. some off-spec steel/zinc/aluminum here, some crappy rubber there a little paint that ain’t and it all snowballs…


one look at any of the small metal brackets that are all over a Tacoma, that you can watch rusting right before your very eyes, tells the tale of crappier materials these days.

 

Within 8-12 months of owning my 2018 I had the right rear drum replaced twice because they were warped. The dealer also turned a front rotor because it was "out of round" I think they noted. That rotor was replaced because the steering wheel vibration came back within a 1000KM or so. All covered under warranty. All within the first 10 000 KM.

 

I've driven the truck a short distance since they replaced the rear drums and it seems to drive fine. I'm very nervous however and I'm driving very cautiously now because I'm terrified hard braking or taking an off ramp is going to cause excess heat and create another problem. The dealer covered the replacement drums and insisted that since this has occurred twice, to make sure I alert them if it happens again and they will take care of it, whatever that means. Still bothers me that had I agreed to pay for the initial repair, they would have charged me for a complete front rotor replacement as well as rear drums. Only when it was obvious I wasn't paying did they ask to "take another look at it" and come to the conclusion it only needed rear drums.