Brake rotors keep warping

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I changed the brakes on my 14 dart about 6 months ago and after about 3 months they started to pulsate through the steering wheel when braking I replaced then and low and behold once again. They are advance Auto parts brakes. Has anyone else had issue with their products like this? I've never warped a rotor in my life until now I'm not hard on brakes either. Any ideas?
 
Could be a combo of cheap pads and rotors. Had that issue on my Toyota truck with Autozone parts. Got so bad after a few months it was scary. Got oem pads and Brembo rotors. Lasted 80k+ no warping.
 
Originally Posted By: PimTac
Are the pads clearing the rotor when not being used?

Yes I checked that also the wheels are always torqued with a torque wrench.
 
I have a 2011 F150 and I have had problems with pulsation (frequently mis-diagnosed as "warping") through two rotor replacements. About two years ago I had new pads and rotors installed front and rear. This time I tried seating in the pads. I made six hard stops from 35 down to 5 mph as rapidly as I could, followed by six more from 50 to 5 mph. I then drove the truck for 15 minutes without hard braking to allow the pads to cool.
So far, absolutely no pulsation. The theory is that this lets the binder in the pads stabilize so that pad material won't transfer to the rotors.
 
Originally Posted By: spasm3
What pads are you running with the rotors?
Originally Posted By: ram_man
There car quest Ceramic premium line


Never used those. But i would try a different pad. What are the pad ratings ? I'd look for an FF pad or GG, nothing less.

You may have rotor deposits and not actual rotor warping.
 
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The Carquest Premium brake pads are rated FF.

I bet you could very well be right about pad deposits.
 
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After replacing two sets of rotors myself due to pulsating brakes I have been informed that actual warping is very rare and scrubbing/cleaning the rotors of deposits will actually solve the problem in a lot of cases.
 
Originally Posted By: ram_man
I changed the brakes on my 14 dart about 6 months ago and after about 3 months they started to pulsate through the steering wheel when braking I replaced then and low and behold once again. They are advance Auto parts brakes. Has anyone else had issue with their products like this? I've never warped a rotor in my life until now I'm not hard on brakes either. Any ideas?


I think I found your problem....

All kidding aside, get some Napa Ultra Premium coated rotors and Akebono ProAct pads and properly torque the lug nuts and you will be good to go for a long time!
 
Are your back brakes working properly? I've seen front rotors warp when the back brakes were worn out or out of adjustment.
Are your front hubs clean and rust free? It doesn't take much to slightly tilt a rotor (too much lateral run-out).
 
Originally Posted By: cos

Are your front hubs clean and rust free? It doesn't take much to slightly tilt a rotor (too much lateral run-out).


^^^This
 

According to the factory service manual, the maximum allowed lateral runout is 0.0008”, which is an extremely tight spec. Advanced Auto rotors are economy rotors and even when those rotors are installed onto a clean hub, you are lucky if you see under 0.003”.

The only reliable solution to this problem is to machine the new rotors using an on car lathe.
 
Originally Posted By: Garak
How about checking runout upon install, as cos alluded to?


Yes. A very important step that many people take for granted, including techs swapping pads and rotors.
 
+1 One of the most important steps. Cleaning the hub face, the back of the wheels and center hole so the wheel slides on easily is very important especially with aluminum wheels. A tight center can cause uneven tightening.
You can use a drill mounted wire wheel or what I finds works well on the flat wheel surface is a 5-6" round random orbit sander with 120-150 grit paper, it does a nice job,
just sit it on the back of the wheel nice and flat and run it, move it around slightly but do not move it off the center too much, you want it uniform.
Don't worry about pits you just want the junk off.
 
The rotors are of uneven thickness, not actually warped. Most likely from deposits. Could be machined poorly from the start.

I pretty much only use Akebono ProAct ceramic pads and have little issue.

My 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee had similar issues before I went to the Akebono. My 1999 3/4 Dodge Ram could have the cheapest brake parts and never had the issue.

I might guess that when the brake components for a given weight are marginal, you are more likely to have the issue. The Jeep got a TSB which upgraded the calipers and pads from smaller Teves to larger Akebono and that was part of the solution also.
 
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