I replaced pads and rotors on my 4Runner ~30k miles ago. The vibration I experience during 55-65 mph when applying moderate brake force has gotten to be unacceptably bad. I never did any bed-in procedure to start with, so perhaps that's part of the root cause. I believe that there must be some uneven pad material on the rotor. Has anyone had luck doing a fresh bed-in procedure to try to even out the surface of the rotor? Otherwise, I'll probably just replace all the hardware and start fresh.
Has anyone had luck repeating a bed-in to reduce steering wheel shake?
- Thread starter Parlay_Slow
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Double check that the rotors are flush against the hubs.
If they were fine for 30k with no bed-in, the problem wasn't from not bedding them in 
How long did it take you to drive the 30k? What kind of pads are they? What kind of driving conditions?
How long did it take you to drive the 30k? What kind of pads are they? What kind of driving conditions?
If they were fine for 30k with no bed-in, the problem wasn't from not bedding them in
How long did it take you to drive the 30k? What kind of pads are they? What kind of driving conditions?
About 18 months. They are NAPA One pads and rotors. Mostly commuting highway driving.
No I didn't clean the hubs. Georgia is pretty easy on cars, and everything looked ok.
I agree with Rand, I too would get a a new set and make sure you get all the rust off the hubs. I personally acid prep my hubs and back of rotors with a thin layer of anti-seize compound. I almost never have any issue with run out once you get the hubs true, and I fight a Minneapolis salt bath environment.
Nope but cutting the rotors always worked
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I'm going to replace the hardware and make sure I wire brush the hubs. Thanks.
Those front calipers are fixed, so they’re super sensitive to runout. Probably need to cut the rotors with an on-car brake lathe.
Yes, re/bedding the pads can help cut the surface of the rotor down with any runout. YMMV; aggressive pads are better at shaving off excess friction material compared to rotor-friendly pads. I would clean off the rotor and wheel hub before rebedding and see if the issue is fixed.
I have semi metallic pads on my Lexus and it is prone to develop brake shudder. It has large rotors and I suspect I don’t heat them up enough in my daily commute to keep a good transfer layer on them. Having recently moved, I’ve got a long fast highway downhill with a red light at the bottom. Timing the descent to where it gets a good, hard, thorough, hot slow-down every day has improved it lots.
Agree. I do several hard stops to scrub rotors. Works for me
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On-car brake lathes will compensate for any runout that's associated with that specific hub. Might be worth getting the rotors cut on-car if the problem persists.
Yep, end result is always under <.001", often under <.0005" if you've ever measured. It is rare to get this low with any new rotor.
I've never had that fix a non uniform pad imprinting issue.
Ive only ever fixed that by changing the pad rotor combo.
I went ahead and replaced the front pads and rotors (akebono & raybestos element 3). Completely fixed my issue.
The hubs had zero rust build up.
The hubs had zero rust build up.
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