Warped brake rotors?

Snal~

Snal~

I Run A Tight Shipwreck (Tragic Boating Accident)
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Have a bit of an issue with my 2018 Tundra.
We go down Saluda grade on I-26 almost every weekend. I'm typically running with traffic at or above the speed limit.
While on that section, if I apply the brakes I get wheel wobble. Friday evening it was worse with semi-violent wobble.
It does not do this anywhere else, not even mildly.
All the signs of warped rotors, except that it doesn't do it anywhere else.
Would warped rotors not do this any time the brakes are applied?
Truck has 61k on the clock and still on the original pads, so it's likely due for pads but passed dealer visual inspection at the last service
a couple of months ago.
 
Pogue said:
Sometimes warped rotors become more apparent after they have some heat in them, and sometimes more obvious at higher speeds.
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This.

My F150 gave the same symptoms on 321 out of Blowing Rock. New rotors = gone.

An old timer gave some advice. Torque the lug nuts all the same. When hot it tends to keep this from happening. Not sure if it's true but since I torque them anyways.... 🤷
 
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Pogue said:
Sometimes warped rotors become more apparent after they have some heat in them, and sometimes more obvious at higher speeds.
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Yep what he said.
Could also have cracks or stress cracking that will show more with heat.

Wifes Taco is fine cold or cool. Get them hot they will shake the steering wheel.
 
One thought....
Tacos were still using Drum rear. They need adjusting or constant use of Ebrake and combo of backing to auto ajust.

Did the Tundra still use Drum or disk? And is there a need to adjust the rear other than parking brake on Toyota. If rear drums are out of adjustment could super heat the front.
What Temp were the disks? Same or within 25 to 30 deg front to back?
 
Mr.Gadget said:
One thought....
Tacos were still using Drum rear. They need adjusting or constant use of Ebrake and combo of backing to auto ajust.

Did the Tundra still use Drum or disk? And is there a need to adjust the rear other than parking brake on Toyota. If rear drums are out of adjustment could super heat the front.
What Temp were the disks? Same or within 25 to 30 deg front to back?
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Disc rear. I didn't check the temps.
 
I failed to mention that I was pulling a 14' utility trailer with about 600# of siding on it. No trailer brakes. Forgot about that, and didn't think about that as it was happening.
The truck pulls that kind of load like it's nothing, but I'm sure it taxes the brakes.
 
Yep sounds like warped rotors to me. For the reasons mentioned above. An unbraked trailer will certainly make it worse/more noticeable.

As a note from my experience. Turning rotors ends up being a wash generally. Cheaper than new rotors but they warp that much faster especially on vehicles that tow. By by the time you can feel it in the wheel, they need to much material removed to resist heat anymore.
 
I’ve toasted a couple sets of rotors buzzing around the mountains, perhaps driving a bit more spirited than I should have been. Same symptoms, they were fine until they got some good heat in them, felt like you were driving across railroad tracks when you got in them hard.
 
My Tundra was bad on front rotors. Never noticed the wobble unless braking at highway speeds or going down a hill and getting on the brakes. My wifes Sequoia is the same. I really noticed it last year after a trip to Boone pulling a loaded trailer up and back. Pads looked great afterwards and I didn't notice anything driving it around town. Get up to highway speeds and brake and the wobble is back.
 
papa_smurf said:
Google "Jeep Death Wobble". Worn suspension components, and alignment issues can also cause this.
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That's the One Thing I hated about my Cherokee. That and the fact that nobody seemed to know exactly what to do to fix it.
 
Catfish said:
Am I the only one who carries a torque wrench with me when I get new tires so I can re-torque the lugs before I leave the lot?
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Nope, cep I don’t wait.
I tell them up front, “ do not wail on the lug nuts, and write on the ticket there you’ll replace studs if you do . I’ll torque at the bay door when you back it out.”
 
experienced the same on my 2003 sequoia with 270k on it. new pads and rotors is helping some, but I did notice the lower bushings on the shock/struts are bad and also in the sway bar links. seems like my rack and pinion assembly could use some love too.... someday.....
 
Yes, you can have warped rotor symptoms some times and not others. Loading and heating can affect this during braking operations.

WORD OF ADVICE:

It seems few, if any, rotors are turnable these days. But if you should have rotors with enough metal on them to turn, DON'T BOTHER TURNING THEM IF THEY'RE WARPED.

Turning them WILL get rid of the warped rotors symptom...but at the cost of uneven thicknesses to the rotors. Which means they'll warp again, only faster.

So if you've got warped rotors, just replace them.
 
hp468 said:
In my experience you replace everything in the front suspension 3x. Then sell the vehicle.
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That pretty much is the strategy I went with.
Still, there was no better vehicle on the deep sand at Ocracoke than that tomoto with wheels.

"Air down the tires"? Absolutely not needed....just put the red tank in 4WD via the handy transfer case lever and off we go.
 
Catfish said:
Am I the only one who carries a torque wrench with me when I get new tires so I can re-torque the lugs before I leave the lot?
Click to expand...
I need to start.

Local shop torqued down lugs on daughter's van so tight my son-in-law broke a 4-way lug wrench trying to take them off... (he's a big fella).

After he was done he called the shop and had a chat with the owner.
 
You shouldn't have worn suspension components at 61k, brake rotors on a heavy truck that sees some towing, or living in the mountains, very possible. You shouldn't see any worn suspension components until 150k or more unless you are really working the truck. On a Tundra, probably well past 150k before you see those issues. On a brake inspection, they are probably going to take a quick look at the wear slot on the brake pad, look for any obvious oil leaks around the brakes and make sure the pedal doesn't go the floor, and that's about it for most inspections.
 
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