Braking Issue

Hey everyone, I’m new to the forum so hello from Staten Island. I really could use some help with a braking issue I’m having. I have a 2019 TRD Off Road. Changed my FRONT pads and rotors for the first time at around 48k miles. I didn’t go OEM… At about 60 mph and above when braking on highway my steering wheel shakes pretty violently and truck has poor braking ability at this speed. Any info on this issue would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

Was it doing this before you changed the front pads and rotors?

 

No sir. Only after I replaced the front pads and rotors. I did my rear pads and rotors a year prior and no issues with that. I find it strange my rears went first but who knows.

 

couple possibilities...pads not seated, warped rotors, sticking calipers,loose lugs, maybe dropped a wheel balancing weight..
and just curious, were your brakes worn out at 48K? or just changed as a precaution

 

Probably best to pull the wheels off and check to make sure everything looks ok. e.g. no loose bolts, pads in correctly, no residue on the rotors etc.

If all that looks good, it sounds like you got a bad rotor.

Re: rears wearing first. A mechanic told me the rears went first on my 3rd gen because of how they have the brake bias set. The rears engage first to help avoid nose dive. Not sure if that's true or not.

 

@Tama1968 thanks for the feedback. I actually still had a little meat left on the pads so just changed as a precaution. I also returned the first set of new rotors to see if another new set would solve the problem. It did not.

 

@HuskyMike, thanks. I’d like to say I checked everything several times but I’m still stumped as I’ve never come across this problem before.

 

I also spun (by hand) each side before I put the tires back on to see if anything was rubbing or seemed warped. Each side had the same exact feeling of somewhat easier to spin then slightly harder to spin then back to easier as I turned by hand.

 

Did you clean your hubs before putting the rotor on ? Also did you use any anti seize? If so remove it

 

Yes. I took a wire brush to both hubs before I put rotors back on. A decent amount of sediment came off. No I didn’t use any anti seize. Very puzzling to me.

 

Rear brakes do go first these days due to bias changes, as mentioned earlier. They contact the rotors just barely before the fronts do. I also have a 2019. Replaced rears first time at about 92k miles, fronts around 115k. I left the rotors alone in both cases, as they don't wear out very fast. I get my parts from a dealership, not aftermarket. Regarding the rotors, warp is extremely rare unless you get the rotors red hot. From all I've read, it's more likely pad material deposited unevenly on the rotor(s) that makes them feel warped. You could re-install the original rotors as a test, if they're still in good shape. I've read that bedding-in new brakes is a good idea to prevent this build-up, but haven't done that myself.

 

How many miles on the new front brakes before they started vibrating while stopping?

 

Stupid question: did you clean the shipping/storage grease off of new rotors?

 

One mistake I made when dealing with brakes on my Tacoma was never bedding them in and thinking the rotors were warping.

 

@Daddykool, thanks for all the info. Unfortunately I threw out the original rotors. Regretting that now. I was thinking about getting OEM pads just to see if that would do anything. As far as bedding thats something I haven’t done and will have to look into as well.

 

@Rocko9999, this happened immediately after replacing pads and rotors.

 

@SR5 Limited, yes cleaned rotors with brake parts cleaner.

 

Hmm. Doesn't seem like a 'warping' or uneven pad material deposit issue if it happened immediatley. Even with poor quality pads/rotor it usually takes some time or a really hot/hard braking event to cause this. I would suspect install issue.

 

Is there high humidity or rain? I had my dealer do a brake pad change with OEM and i happened to go down south where it rained and was hmid after sitting and i got the same thing. Went away after a long trip and fine ever since.

Helpfully you broke them in properly?

 

It sounds like you have unequal deposit of pad material on the rotors. Bedding is very important and much harder get right when you're mating two brand new surfaces. Try taking a scotch brite pad to the rotors to remove any of the deposited pad material. Bedding in should be done in an area where you're not going to get a ticket or come into contact with other drivers. Basically you're trying to transfer an equal amount of pad material to the rotors without stopping - from 50mph brake to 10mph with firm pressure w/o engaging ABS, don't come to a stop, speed back up to 50mph and repeat 8-10 times. I work for Brembo Italy.

 

Yes. I took a wire brush to both hubs before I put rotors back on. A decent amount of sediment came off. No I didn’t use any anti seize. Very puzzling to me.

Time to get a dial indicator out take the tire off put it on the rotor and spin it see what your run out is

 

I didn't see you post it but what brand?

I saw you didn't go with OEM. Could just be crap.

 

OEM pads on those rotors may not fix anything. If you buy anything, I’d buy rotors or get yours turned to remove any high spots.

 

Yes this. Sounds like a warped rotor issue especially since it wasn't there before. I have a 3M hub cleaning attachment for my drills that fits over the wheel studs and does a beautiful job of cleaning the hubs so that they are flat. Also aftermarket brake rotor and brake pad quality is all over the board. Generally you get what you pay for. Stick with premium aftermarket rotors and pads preferably made in North America. Have pulled many "Made in China" brake rotors that were warped right out of the box. As well as cheap Chinese brake pads that were downright dangerous and I mean smoking and not stopping at all when hot. I can usually tell just by the machined finish on the new brake rotor. A quality rotor will usually have a swirled fine micro finish on them. As for brake pads unless OEM I always use ceramic pads. Just relating my experiences after hundreds of brake jobs.

 

I feel like even decent aftermarket rotor brands that had a good reputation are now all poor quality. I have seen many warped/out of round rotors/drums on new aftermarket stuff. Sad state.

 

I’m ashamed to say I bought Duralast from Auto Zone. They weren’t cheap though.

 

Yes. I agree. That hub cleaning attachment sounds like a good tool to have. Appreciate all the feedback.

 

How much did you save by not buying OEM?

 

Last time I bought brakes at autozone, I got their best duralast one, black oxide finish. They did fine. But were not much cheaper than OEM rotors.