The Famed Warped Rotor Syndrome

[randomwalk101]

Stopping power is better than stock for sure. Brake pedal application is very smooth and not grabby. Dust level is similar to stock, HPS and SD are very dusty pads, LTS are lower dust, Ceramics are the lightest dust

Thanks..the reason I asked was because I am running EBC yellow pads.. Brake power is good but oh boy does it dust....I'm tired of cleaning wheels.

How is the stopping power of Hawk LTS be compared to EBC Yellow?

[AJUSA.com]

Would this discount apply to rotors/pads for my wife's '06 Nissan Pathfinder? My Tundra is starting to show signs of warped rotors, but the Nissan is far worse and needs attention ASAP. If so what would you recommend? Thanks.

Yes sir, my discounts work on all of your vehicles. I would suggest Hawk LTS for the Nissan with Centric Premium rotors.

No one can touch AJUSA when it comes to Powerslot price, also, they most likely do not have them in stock. I have 5 pairs in stock at all times (for new tundras). No wait ordering from AJ.

$270 for the front pair delivered. We are also an authorized dealer so no worries!

[AJUSA.com]

Thanks..the reason I asked was because I am running EBC yellow pads.. Brake power is good but oh boy does it dust....I'm tired of cleaning wheels.

How is the stopping power of Hawk LTS be compared to EBC Yellow?

Bite is much better when cold, overall the EBC has more grip but wont last as long. HAWK SD would be similar to Yellowstuff with a lower operating temp (You guys arent tracking your tundra, right?) and better cold bite with longer life. Noise and dust are still a factor though.

[xtacoman]

I put the slotted and dimpled rotors from brakeperformancewarehouse.com on my 07 4x4 about a year ago with the hawk lts pads. Sadly they are already warped and I have not overworked them at all. In fact the only thing different is that I got new tires and started taking the truck in to have the tires rotated where I did it my self before.

I am in the process of getting a replacement set of rotors and will post on the results later.

I just replace the rear set with the centric drilled rotors and the same hawk pads.

adding the rears alone made a huge difference in the way the truck stops. Now you can feel the rear pads taking some of the bite when stopping.

Overall I think the OE specs allow these rotors to be susceptible to warping because they are way too soft. This may be more of a function of over torquing the lugs as well as too much heat.

[GMP]

Thank you. I looked on your site and did not see any Centric rotors. I'll call this week.

[AJUSA.com]

I put the slotted and dimpled rotors from brakeperformancewarehouse

Aren't they out of business? Cheap iron and overseas casting with poor machine work is a good way to get warped rotors.

Go with a name brand that uses high quality iron and stand behind their product.



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[AJUSA.com]

Check out the ULTIMATE 07-11 Tundra Brake Upgrade Package

[davel825]

Forgive me I am a noob. I am in the military and towing my household goods to cali this winter. I am having the warped rotor shaked and was wondering a few things. First how does the cryo improve the rotors? Will this be the best option for towing since my total should be around 10,000 lbs?

[ct03911]

My DC has 10k miles and I have not experienced rotor shake yet. I did on my 2010 and my 2005. I replace brakes quite regularly on a race car and those two Tundra's so I have a few comments.
We know the stock rotors are poor or at least the stock pad/rotor combo is poor. I believe it may be the cooling to the rotor is poor but who knows. I would take advantage of any factory solution up to and including resurfacing the rotors but of course that reduces the ultimate life of them.
I am not willing to waste a lot of time when I get to that point with a dealer. I'll allow them to resolve it and the NEXT time, simply get a better brake package.

There are all kinds of rotor pad combos out there.

My best advice is stay away from drilled- no matter how nice you think they look. Slotted are much better for longevity. The dimpled rotors are without a doubt less effective than a slot. They have to be. Why bother IMO? Go slotted. Drilled rears, sure, many race cars do that with slotted fronts.

There is no free lunch for pads. You want more bite, they dust more. Sure, minor variations exist. I believe if you are towing a good choice is a LTS class pad. They are grippier but not the most aggressive. For straight street use ceramics etc are fine and produce less dust.

All brake pads need a break-in. The one mentioned above seems almost useless and one owner reported very poor brakes after using it. I am not going to argue with a manufacturers recommendation (or supplier), just make sure you are reading the actual factory bed-in procedure. It is usually aggressive.

A proper break-in requires a warm-up, medium to hard applications and then a few aggressive applications- all with adaquate cooldown, certainly after the last one.
The rotors should look different and you will smell the pads.
Anything less and you have not bedded them and THAT is why they don't work too well for a few hundred miles.
There are lots of sample bed-in procedures on the web. All are more aggressive than mentioned above. I would find and use the manufacturers guidelines but you need to get real heat into the pad and get pad material onto the rotor.

Instructions for bedding in your brakes
PAGID Racing

The links above are representative for those companies and pads. Find out YOUR PAD bed-in method.

Brake pad/rotor combinations definately have a different "feel". I like a linear but firm pedal. I have found street and LTS pads produce this, more aggressive pads can "bite" when hot and perform poorly when cool. Just a consideration.

Lastly, fluid. This is the single most commonly ignored part of the puzzle. I like ATE fluids for street cars, trucks, bikes. It has good feel (yes, fluid plays a big role in pedal feel), excellent heat resistance. Flush your fluid once a year if you really want to make a difference.

It is easy on all the Tundras and quite often overlooked when ordering brakes. Get new and better fluid.

[YotaDan]

Hi-Performance Brake Parts for Toyota Tundra's- Wheeler's Off-Road, Inc

[ct03911]

Check out the ULTIMATE 07-11 Tundra Brake Upgrade Package

Nice package. I like the rotors and have used those pads. The stainless brake lines look good, but I can't feel the difference on my race car even. Having said that, every brake improvement is cummulative to improving the feel and operation so if you want the best pedal feel and performance, along with looks, stainless lines are for you.

I agree with the ATE fluid too. ATE makes a blue and a clear. ATE 200 is the clear and won't stain your resevoir. They are identical except for the color. Motul 5.1 is another good fluid. Both have similar wet and dry boiling temps.

One gent above mentioned wheel torque. I had mine way over torqued by the dealer. I checked them when I got home. This is a big deal and may in fact be one of the real reasons behind all this. Good point.

[AJUSA.com]

My DC has 10k miles and I have not experienced rotor shake yet. I did on my 2010 and my 2005. I replace brakes quite regularly on a race car and those two Tundra's so I have a few comments.
We know the stock rotors are poor or at least the stock pad/rotor combo is poor. I believe it may be the cooling to the rotor is poor but who knows. I would take advantage of any factory solution up to and including resurfacing the rotors but of course that reduces the ultimate life of them.
I am not willing to waste a lot of time when I get to that point with a dealer. I'll allow them to resolve it and the NEXT time, simply get a better brake package.

There are all kinds of rotor pad combos out there.

My best advice is stay away from drilled- no matter how nice you think they look. Slotted are much better for longevity. The dimpled rotors are without a doubt less effective than a slot. They have to be. Why bother IMO? Go slotted. Drilled rears, sure, many race cars do that with slotted fronts.

There is no free lunch for pads. You want more bite, they dust more. Sure, minor variations exist. I believe if you are towing a good choice is a LTS class pad. They are grippier but not the most aggressive. For straight street use ceramics etc are fine and produce less dust.

All brake pads need a break-in. The one mentioned above seems almost useless and one owner reported very poor brakes after using it. I am not going to argue with a manufacturers recommendation (or supplier), just make sure you are reading the actual factory bed-in procedure. It is usually aggressive.

A proper break-in requires a warm-up, medium to hard applications and then a few aggressive applications- all with adaquate cooldown, certainly after the last one.
The rotors should look different and you will smell the pads.
Anything less and you have not bedded them and THAT is why they don't work too well for a few hundred miles.
There are lots of sample bed-in procedures on the web. All are more aggressive than mentioned above. I would find and use the manufacturers guidelines but you need to get real heat into the pad and get pad material onto the rotor.

Instructions for bedding in your brakes
PAGID Racing

The links above are representative for those companies and pads. Find out YOUR PAD bed-in method.

Brake pad/rotor combinations definately have a different "feel". I like a linear but firm pedal. I have found street and LTS pads produce this, more aggressive pads can "bite" when hot and perform poorly when cool. Just a consideration.

Lastly, fluid. This is the single most commonly ignored part of the puzzle. I like ATE fluids for street cars, trucks, bikes. It has good feel (yes, fluid plays a big role in pedal feel), excellent heat resistance. Flush your fluid once a year if you really want to make a difference.

It is easy on all the Tundras and quite often overlooked when ordering brakes. Get new and better fluid.

Nice writeup. Covered everything nicely.

Nice package. I like the rotors and have used those pads. The stainless brake lines look good, but I can't feel the difference on my race car even. Having said that, every brake improvement is cummulative to improving the feel and operation so if you want the best pedal feel and performance, along with looks, stainless lines are for you.

I agree with the ATE fluid too. ATE makes a blue and a clear. ATE 200 is the clear and won't stain your resevoir. They are identical except for the color. Motul 5.1 is another good fluid. Both have similar wet and dry boiling temps.

One gent above mentioned wheel torque. I had mine way over torqued by the dealer. I checked them when I got home. This is a big deal and may in fact be one of the real reasons behind all this. Good point.

Right on. I use the superblue dot 4 in my personal truck, great fluid.

[Fredthenuke]

FYI - now I have 20k and a year on the Hawk pads and Cryo's. Great setup! Very little brake dust - hell my front rims look like my rear rims after a few weeks of driving. No warped rotors yet. About to put a 10,000lb travel trailer behind the Tundra, though. We shall see how THAT does with them (along with a Tekonsha P3 trailer brake controller and all electric trailer brakes).

I'm going to have to chase down AJUSA for those SS brake lines now...

[energizzzer]

Just stumbled upon this thread. Not encouraged to hear about issues with stock rotors / pads. My truck has 650 miles and I'm already feeling a slight chatter upon braking! I've got an appointment with the dealer tomorrow. S*#t! I bought a Toyota so I wouldn't have these issues. Love the truck, but my enthusiasm is waning...

[RB Brakes]

Hi, This is Warren from RB Brakes. I have been hearing some continuing brake issues on Tundras and like to see if we can be of any help.

We make more light weight two piece rotors than any other brake company; some are huge, up to 390x34 for GT-R and 390x36mm for Mercedes. Currently we are solving brake overheat issues for Nissan GT-R which is heavy and fast and is considering to the the toughest brakes on earth.

For Tundra gen 2, I think a light weight two piece rotors or brake kit, and a big brake kit for gen 1 should permanently solve the brake issues.

Thanks for reading.