Is there no way to avoid warping rotors?

[Carnoobie]

I consider myself pretty gentle on my brakes, cause i want them to last and dont want them warping. Harder braking, more braking, more riding the brakes = more heat. If I ride them harder like going down a hill I never hold it for long and let go whenever I can to let the heat escape. But to me the big key that pretty much not many do is when youre at lights (especially long ones). If I just finished a session braking hard or at a long light and I know the brakes are really hot, I pull ebrake so I can let my foot off the brake. This prevents any high spots forming on the rotors.

But no matter what I do, over time I will always get some shimmy and light pulsating feel in my brake when I brake. Nothing super noticable but I feel it. I cant afford to be doing run out tests every 6 months. Is there no way to prevent rotors from warping and staying perfectly smooth like when theyre new?

Do you think a lot of drivers drive with warped rotors (even if its slightest warp) and whats the long term effects?

Cause honestly, as much as I would love to, I cant be replacing my rotors and front pads everytime they get warped.

 

[JHZR2]

Never have had this. Drive carefully and respect physics is all I can say...

 

[Colt45ws]

I drive hard all the time and never have I had 'warped' rotors from something Ive done.
Heck, on my Cavailer I tracked it in a abandoned parking lot until I had smoke billowing out of the front fenders from the overheated brakes. After allowing it to cool, I drove it home and for sometime after that with no issue.

 

[LeakySeals]

City braking wont warp them. Repeated slamming on the brakes leaving the highway can.

 

[heyu]

From what i learned all aftermarket are made thinner in construction ,,NAPA auto parts has on their counter the difference in their much better product compared to AZ ,AAP ect and their rotors are much thicker ,,,Then there is OEM ,,,I have just changed the rear shoes last week and still have the original drums at 142,000 on my 94 Corolla and i still have the original front rotors on with a few pad changes over the years, I bought the car with 20,000 and know they are still the original drums and rotors

 

[yonyon]

First, you need to get them true once for a good starting point. New rotors shoved on there are going to have some lateral runout and may also have some conicity. Conicity isn't much of an issue, but lateral runout is. Shims can help a lot with lateral runout. An on-car lathe can machine them true as-mounted for effectively zero runout.

With a good starting point you would then need to keep them trued up. I like to creep at stops, but your parking brake trick should be just as good. Don't forget to use engine braking as appropriate on downgrades.

You're still unemployed right now, yes? If the car sits for days at a time you also have corrosion to deal with. The obvious answer would be to drive the car around the block once a day, but as a Bitoger I think maybe you would also see the downside to this extreme short tripping. As an alternative, do it once every three days as a minimum and within 24 hours after any rain or fog event. This also means you'll need to at least consider making at least one longer trip per week.

 

[spasm3]

I always use a torque wrench to tight the wheel lugs, on new rotors before they see any heat. When i have tires installed ,I loosen and torque them in the parking lot before i leave ( put any heat in them) . Heat seems to set a warp , and if some meathead got the lugs too tight, i have not left the tire place yet. Works for me.

 

[dparm]

Rotors don't warp, they get pad transfer which leads to an uneven surface.

To fix this, re-bed them:
http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm

 

[ABerns]

Another thing - if you don't bed in new pads properly, you aren't making full contact between pad and rotor, which can cause poor braking and high temps in spots (or so I've heard).

Of course, you seem like you know this. Strange problem - you could just be overly sensitive to your brakes compared to most drivers.

 

[dparm]

Also, what pads are you using?

 

[Artem]

It's the pads that are ruining your rotors. I have Hawk HPS pads on plain blank rotors and run my Scion tC VERY HARD, always on the brakes at the last second, ABS blinking, tires squealing. It's been a good 2 years and everything is perfect. Still smooth as glass even braking from 100mph+.

I say you upgrade your pads to something that can handle a bit more heat. AZ has performance oriented pads available.

 

[cool_breeze]

raybestos has a good article about this. seems unproperly torqued wheels are the leading cause for rotor warpage.

 

[spasm3]

Originally Posted By: spasm3
I always use a torque wrench to tight the wheel lugs, on new rotors before they see any heat. When i have tires installed ,I loosen and torque them in the parking lot before i leave ( put any heat in them) . Heat seems to set a warp , and if some meathead got the lugs too tight, i have not left the tire place yet. Works for me.


I forgot to add, that i sneak up on the torque values. I torque all the bolts about 1/2 way then go back around for the final click.

 

[Kuato]

Some vehicles are more prone to warping rotors, for example the 99-2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Putting on the e-brake at stop lights still puts pressure on the rear brakes. If you're in an automatic, you can put it in park.

Harder to help without knowing what vehicle we are talking about here.

 

[SuperDave456]

I seem to have had this problem quite a bit too. I try not to have any emergency braking but sometimes people do crazy things and you got to break.

Also, as rotors are turned and ground down they lose their thickness. You can only turn them so many times before they are gone.
They have "Minimum" thickness printed on them, but I imagine that as you approach that thickness you really lose a lot of their capacity to handle heat.

I'm replacing the pads and rotors on my Taurus tomorrow with the super premium ceramic set made by Raybestos along with their anti drag clips.
I'm hoping they last longer than 12 months before I feel the wobble that is warped rotors.

 

[GMorg]

I've warped rotors by hitting deep water with hot rotors. Uneven cooling of hot rotors can cause warp too.

 

[stockrex]

Yes, buy better brand rotors, torque lugs carefully to spec

 

[PHANI1]

spasm3 has it right.

Get a torque wrench and use it each time wheels are removed for any reason (new tires, rotation, brakes, etc). Don't trust any service shop or dealer to take the time to torque wheel nuts properly.

I have found that service shops OVER-TIGHTEN lugs nuts; for liability reasons.

Tighten 2 or 3 times, in star pattern (5 lug wheels) - 40 lbs, then 60 lbs, final 75 lbs. for my current vehicles.

I don't remember the last time I had to replace a brake rotor for being warped. That includes over 500k miles on several vehicles.

 

[mechanicx]

Brake pulsation it most often cause by excessive rotor thickness variation. Thickness variation tolerance is usually only 0.0008-0.001". Thickness variation is most often caused by excessive rotor lateral run out, but also corrosion. Lateral run out tolerance is usually 0.0015-0.002". So we are talking about very small. Properly and evenly torquing the lug nuts is important. If the run out is due to the hub then turning the rotors on the car or hub correction shims are the fix.

 

[blacklamb]

I also sufferED from "warped" rotors back in the day, solid face or slotted I always had a "warped rotor" feeling. I then started to poke around the ol internet and didn’t really find an answer until I saw the how to bed in brakes. I happened to have some Porterfield R4 pad a bit overkill for my Mini more than likely but my god it stops on a micron. So I installed my pads and rotors (EBC Ultimax) and ATE Superblue fluid and toqued my wheels and headed off for the bed in process. After doing the full bed in process (smoking brakes and all) I drove around for a while then headed home. From that point on I've NEVER had a shudder in my brakes and I've put my pad and rotor combo to the test I've had them smoking so many times I can’t even count anymore and they still are smooth as silk. I am now a firm believer in the bed in process.