Tundra Brakes

[ottorogers]

Have your rotors turned by a machine shop (not a parts store) before you add the new pads. Clean smooth rotors make braking feel so much better. Machine shops generally know what they are doing and only take off enough to make the rotors flat again.

Then read up on bedding in the new pads. It on;y take a few minutes and a quiet stretch of open back road.

I Will never turn rotors again, they’re too thin after you turn them and they warp easily, new rotors are not that expensive, I will buy brand new rotors and the hawk LTS pads, and of course bed them in properly

 

[kink]

I Will never turn rotors again, they’re too thin after you turn them and they warp easily, new rotors are not that expensive, I will buy brand new rotors and the hawk LTS pads, and of course bed them in properly

The centric rotors are far from expensive, I felt they were worth the expense for the front when I put on the first set of LTS pads. The rears I just threw the new pads on and called it a day.

 

[So Cal Adventurer]

I Will never turn rotors again, they’re too thin after you turn them and they warp easily, new rotors are not that expensive, I will buy brand new rotors and the hawk LTS pads, and of course bed them in properly

I’ll agree with this 100%!

Got my rotors turned and they were warped to hell again in 10k

 

[ottorogers]

The centric rotors are far from expensive, I felt they were worth the expense for the front when I put on the first set of LTS pads. The rears I just threw the new pads on and called it a day.

exactky what I would do

 

[Squatch]

If you turn them before they get thin and worn then no issues. if they are marginal to begin with then yes earlier warpage will probably happen. Most of the problems I've had with turned rotors had to do with "WHO" turned them. Not the process of turning them.

OEM rotors tend to be good steel. Cheap replacements not so much. Those often tend to flash rust overnight. That's why I either upgrade rotors or turn the OEM ones.

 

[ottorogers]

If you turn them before they get thin and worn then no issues. if they are marginal to begin with then yes earlier warpage will probably happen. Most of the problems I've had with turned rotors had to do with "WHO" turned them. Not the process of turning them.

OEM rotors tend to be good steel. Cheap replacements not so much. Those often tend to flash rust overnight. That's why I either upgrade rotors or turn the OEM ones.

yes OEM are very good quality, I agree, they always last longer than any aftermarket ones I have bought, but they cost way to much

 

[ntsqd]

90% of all "warped rotors" are not actually warped. They have an uneven transfer layer on them.
http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/-warped-brake-disc-and-other-myths

I do not have rotors turned either. I use a body work long board with 80 grit on it to rough up a rotor prior to bedding new pads on it.

 

[Vic Harder]

90% of all "warped rotors" are not actually warped. They have an uneven transfer layer on them.
http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/-warped-brake-disc-and-other-myths

I do not have rotors turned either. I use a body work long board with 80 grit on it to rough up a rotor prior to bedding new pads on it.

That's a great article! I learned a few things! Thanks.

 

[ottorogers]

That's a great article! I learned a few things! Thanks.

we can always learn, thanks for sharing

 

[So Cal Adventurer]

90% of all "warped rotors" are not actually warped. They have an uneven transfer layer on them.
http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/-warped-brake-disc-and-other-myths

I do not have rotors turned either. I use a body work long board with 80 grit on it to rough up a rotor prior to bedding new pads on it.

Having raced motorcycles most of my entire life, and occasionally cars, I’ll whole heartedly disagree with that article.

I have several rotors in my garage (I think they’re still there) that are warped to the point you can rock them like a round bowl and see the obvious bowing of them with the naked eye. Put them on a flat surface and one of them has an almost 1/4” bow in it.

Rotors most definitely warp!!! Especially on motorcycles when you’re racing in the woods, they are hot and you hit water.

While some of this article may be true, rotors most definitely warp!!

I’ll see if they’re still in the garage and snap some pics

 

[moveinon]

Motorcycle rotors are very different than car and truck rotors. Because they show and people do not like rust they are usually made of stainless instead of cast iron. They are also much less beefy because they do not stop as much weight. And I agree they definitely warp under stress. I raced Triumphs on flat track right after they started putting disc brakes on their bikes and we were lucky to get three races out of a set of front rotors because of the warpage. What I have found on my previous truck which did a lot of sustained breaking down steep mountain logging roads under heavy weight was that I got uneven wear on the rotors from the heat. It felt a lot like the rotor was warped but it came from some buildup on the rotor and mostly uneven wear that was easily measured with a micrometer. The heat must have caused it to wear differently in sections of the rotor.

 

[ntsqd]

Having raced motorcycles most of my entire life, and occasionally cars, I’ll whole heartedly disagree with that article.

I have several rotors in my garage (I think they’re still there) that are warped to the point you can rock them like a round bowl and see the obvious bowing of them with the naked eye. Put them on a flat surface and one of them has an almost 1/4” bow in it.

Rotors most definitely warp!!! Especially on motorcycles when you’re racing in the woods, they are hot and you hit water.

While some of this article may be true, rotors most definitely warp!!

I’ll see if they’re still in the garage and snap some pics

Apples and oranges comparison. Plate rotors, as used on motorcycles and some drag cars, are an entirely different species of rotor and that article is not talking about them.

 

[Old Crow]

90% of all "warped rotors" are not actually warped. They have an uneven transfer layer on them.
http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/-warped-brake-disc-and-other-myths

<snip>

Interesting read. That may explain what happened with my '02 Tundra recently.

I bought it in June and thought it odd that the brake pedal had that distinctive bad-rotors feel when they had been replaced just 13,000 miles previously and the truck spent most of its life in a garage (i.e., not driven much).

The truck also needed a front-wheel alignment so I had my local mechanic do the alignment and check the brakes. He ended up replacing the front rotors.

In a very short time I was noticing the same thing. I happened to have made arrangements for a Toyota dealer to take care of a missed recall item so I had them also check the brakes. Yep-- 'bad rotors'.... and they only had 700 miles on them. And I absolutely, positively knew they hadn't been overheated.

I noticed a big difference when I picked up the truck (of course). I've only put 500 miles on the truck since the rotors were machined so it's a bit early to declare victory.

Also-- the dealer machined the rotors on the truck. I wasn't familiar with the process so found this video to help me understand it....

.

 

[So Cal Adventurer]

Interesting read. That may explain what happened with my '02 Tundra recently.

I bought it in June and thought it odd that the brake pedal had that distinctive bad-rotors feel when they had been replaced just 13,000 miles previously and the truck spent most of its life in a garage (i.e., not driven much).

The truck also needed a front-wheel alignment so I had my local mechanic do the alignment and check the brakes. He ended up replacing the front rotors.

In a very short time I was noticing the same thing. I happened to have made arrangements for a Toyota dealer to take care of a missed recall item so I had them also check the brakes. Yep-- 'bad rotors'.... and they only had 700 miles on them. And I absolutely, positively knew they hadn't been overheated.

I noticed a big difference when I picked up the truck (of course). I've only put 500 miles on the truck since the rotors were machined so it's a bit early to declare victory.

Also-- the dealer machined the rotors on the truck. I wasn't familiar with the process so found this video to help me understand it....







.

Yeah, my friend turned mine on the truck too and I had never seen it. Super cool.

Also, wasn’t there a huge massive recall for either the first or Second gen Tundra due to rotor issues? Im almost positive there was