Warped rotors and drums every 15-20k miles ISSUE FINALLY DISCOVERED!!!!!!!

I agree. That's what I'm going to do. Thank you.

 

Thank you. I will.

 

Nope, not a 2 footer. I do a lot of stop and go driving as I run a cleaning business and have to keep appointments frequently. As I said though, I had a 2nd Gen 2005 for 13 years, 215k miles and never problems like this. I am at a loss because, like I said, Toyota is supposed to mean Quality Build.

 

If you have gone to the same dealer. I’m guessing the mechanics that have done the job. Didn’t take the time to bed in the pad and rotors. Then you pick up and go driving and literally the first time you stop and keep your foot on the brake you will imprint material on the rotor face do this a couple times on the way home and it’s just a matter of time the shudder shows back up. Now as you continue to drive you lay down pad material on the rotor face unevenly and the shudder returns.

 

IMO I would try the caliper upgrade by itself and see how you like it. Drilled/slotted rotors are expensive and are a bit of a controversial subject. Most SCCA members here use larger calipers on solid cheap centric rotors. Most of those guys run their cars pretty hard and have no issues. But if the price is not an issue, I'd say go for the full kit.

You definitely want to diagnose the car before upgrading, as these kits are not cheap. I still don't think this is user error, as I used to go through pads on my F-150 every 20k and had no problems. I also go through race pads on my Miata every season and reuse the same rotors with no problems, and I use cheap $20-30 rotors on that car.

 

Thank you. I am going to get it inspected by an outside mechanic and probably upgrade.

 

Just have them turn the rotors, replace the pads and bed them in correctly.

 

Drilled/slotted rotors are of no use on a street driven vehicle. Drilled/slotted rotors are designed for providing a path for gasses to escape from the pad/rotor interface when operating at high temps like a track vehicle would experience after several laps. Auto-X stuff just doesn't generate the temps/conditions that would benefit from this, so certainly street driven vehicles would also not benefit from this.

 

Truthfully the gasses issue is even less of a factor now days than it was years ago. Many of us run solid rotors, less likely to develop cracks in them. Slotted do provide some cleaning of the pad or in wet conditions can proved some help. In some cases it’s just about getting some weight out of the rotors which are the heaviest component and can screw with the unsprung weight as you go to larger and larger rotors.

 

It most likely isn't an issue of poor build quality by Toyota, rather poor service and ineptness of the dealership/service dept.

No matter how many times this comes up, people refuse to believe that brake rotor "warping" doesn't happen (except when physically bent from extremely over tightening the wheel lugs - usually by using an impact wrench to install a wheel)

Inept/lazy/stupid/uncaring mechanics see brake jobs as low profit grunt work. Often they just replace parts and send it on its way.

They don't make anymore if the clean everything, inspect for wear and/or build up on the caliper pistons so many don't. If you didn't get charged for two cans of brake cleaner...there's a good chance that's the problem. A little build up on a caliper piston is enough to make it just a bit sticky, the brakes will still work they'll just slightly drag all the time. The brakes then overheat.

Most can follow up to this point then they get side tracked because the tech tells them the rotors warped, insinuating that it's the drivers fault.

No they didn't warp from being overheated. The discs get hot and then when you come to a stop at a long light and hold the brake pedal down, the hot disc cooks the uncured resin binder in the new brake pads. When the brake is released a little of the resin/liner is bonded to the disc. Now with that thin deposit the next full stop that lines up with the same spot bonds a little more. This area is just a couple thousands of an inch thicker, but it feels like it's much thicker when it pushes back each time it rotates.

As Ripley said....Believe it or not

 

Actually i was told the gen1 tundra, and tacoma at the time shared the same brake components. The tundra was too big/heavy a vehicle for those tacoma brake components. Trick was to use the heavier land cruiser rotors, and calipers while modifying the backing plates so they'd fit. The cheaper fix was the EBC rotors which worked fine for me.

 

You keep saying bent rear axles and that causes everything . Check them or have them checked and then replace if need to before putting all new brakes on again .

 

1st gen 6lug Tacoma came with the S12 caliper and the tundra came with the S13/13WL caliper in my experience. The 13WL was a direct bolt on to the Tacoma when paired with the correct rotor.

 

Bent axle lawsuits & allegations:

https://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2018/toyota-tacoma-bent-rear-axles-warp-brake-drums-lawsuit.shtml

https://www.torquenews.com/1083/pro...ta-tacoma-brake-drums-read-about-axle-problem

 

Would investigate if your current shop is overtorquing the lug nuts. For multiple sets in a row, this could also potentially be the common variable.

 

I thought it would help with keeping them cool and lessen the likelihood of warping.

 

Makes sense. I understand.

 

Yes rotors most certainly do warp. Especially cheap ones. Rapid heating and cooling will do it.

 

You're not. Since the rotors and drums are chunks of iron, the amount of heat needed to 'warp' them would have given you brake fade from boiling the brake fluid long before you felt pulsation.

BTW, as others have posted, those don't really warp. Drums can become out of round for a variety of reasons, including improper reassembly, casting flaws, etc. Rotors can become unevenly worn by something as simple as improper torquing sequence on the lug nuts.

And your move to an independent is a smart play, because the dealership is feeding you a line of misinformation AND overcharging you for the work performed.

There are good dealers, good service advisors and good techs at dealers. Just not enough of them. So with a situation like yours it's well past time to move on.