What's causing my brake rotors to warp?

Starcrwzr · **Posted:** Tue Dec 08, 2009 4:57 pm

I just had to have my front rotors turned after five months, they were brand new back in June, which seems like a real short time for them to warp. What's the problem with these things? The ones I had installed in June were Raybestos Premiums. Did I buy a crappy brand? I admit that my commute is hard on brakes, driving from 4300' to sea level every weekday, but I would expect brakes to last longer than five months. :evil:

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 08, 2009 5:10 pm

Starcrwzr wrote:

I just had to have my front rotors turned after five months, they were brand new back in June, which seems like a real short time for them to warp. What's the problem with these things? The ones I had installed in June were Raybestos Premiums. Did I buy a crappy brand? I admit that my commute is hard on brakes, driving from 4300' to sea level every weekday, but I would expect brakes to last longer than five months. :evil:

That did in your rotors,downshift and use less of the brake pedal and the rotors will last longer.Turning rotors just will make the rotors warp faster .

ihatemybike · **Posted:** Tue Dec 08, 2009 7:25 pm

Yeah, downshift and engine brake. Sometimes this is as simple as hitting the O/D Off button on the shifter. You'll be amazed out how much slowing you'll get just by dropping out of overdrive.

Also, make sure the lug nuts don't get over-tightened. Over torqued nuts will also warp the rotors. I highly recommend getting a cheap Harbor Freight torque wrench to keep in the Jeep just for this (it will come in handy elsewhere too).

JEEPIN36COKK · **Posted:** Tue Dec 08, 2009 7:50 pm

I just let off the gas, coast, have a bigger gap between me and the moron (person) in front. Letting off the gas also makes others brakes wear out faster than yours :twisted:

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue Dec 08, 2009 9:19 pm

JEEPIN36COKK wrote:

I just let off the gas, coast, have a bigger gap between me and the moron (person) in front. Letting off the gas also makes others brakes wear out faster than yours :twisted:

this above makes a huge difference, I drove truck for a few years an dlearned how to judge( somewhat ) what others may do and slow down when you see a car out ahead hitting their brakes etc

Maybe thats why at 134,000 miles mine still has the original rear brakes and rotors and only front pads replaced at 98,000 miles ( which the priginals still had half pad left

Too many people are in a huge hurry and spped up, slam on the brakes, speed up again etc etc etc

liquidxit2 · **Posted:** Tue Dec 08, 2009 9:40 pm

JEEPIN36COKK wrote:

I just let off the gas, coast, have a bigger gap between me and the moron (person) in front. Letting off the gas also makes others brakes wear out faster than yours :twisted:

I do this as well, but the sad reality of living in Maryland is when I do it some jerk ALWAYS cuts me off right after.

tommudd · **Posted:** Tue Dec 08, 2009 9:44 pm

liquidxit2 wrote:

JEEPIN36COKK wrote:

I just let off the gas, coast, have a bigger gap between me and the moron (person) in front. Letting off the gas also makes others brakes wear out faster than yours :twisted:

I do this as well, but the sad reality of living in Maryland is when I do it some jerk ALWAYS cuts me off right after.

two words for that

ARB BUMPER

as soon as they see that in the rear view they are trying anyway they can to get out of your way!

ReneDave · **Posted:** Tue Dec 08, 2009 10:48 pm

Hah, you'd be surprised how little of an effect that has on Maryland commuters - even the big ol' armored TJ gets cut off on the morning ride by cars that'd be little more than speed bumps. :twisted:

Constant braking then sitting at a stop are the #1 enemy of brake rotors - running down a steep exit ramp with a red light at the end is the typical example of this. Basically you're heating up the pads and rotors, then trapping the heat in one location causing the warping. All of the above suggestions will help, as will letting off the the brakes when you do have to come to a stop during your commute. Do what you can to let the rotors keep from heating up in any one spot and you'll increase their longevity.

Beyond that, when you replace your rotors and pads look for a combination that maximizes cooling and operates at the coolest possible temperatures. It sounds backwards, but middle of the road semi-metallic brake pads can actually work better for this than high performance pads - they may not grip as hard, but they'll work at cooler temperatures instead of needing to heat up.

SavageUrge · **Posted:** Wed Dec 09, 2009 8:39 pm

Make sure your rear brakes aren't locked up or seized. Have you ever had your rear calipers serviced? You need to remove the pins that the piston rides on and hit them with a wire wheel and high temp grease to keep them moving smoothly. If you haven't done this, then your rear brakes are probably seized and you're doing all your braking on your front brakes. This causes an extremely high temperature situation which will cause the rootrs to warp in no time at all. Especially if you're doing a lot of hilly driving with sudden stops. This happened to me, so I just wanted to share the experience and pass it on to my fellow LOST members.

long_tall_texan · **Posted:** Wed Dec 09, 2009 11:33 pm

All good advice already on here, but thought I would throw something out there too. I was in Napa a couple weeks ago and they had some 2 rotors on the counter that were cut in half. One was the Napa premium one, the other was the AutoZone/Pep Boys/Oreilly's specials. Huge difference in the thickness of the steel of actual disk. Overall thickness was the same, but the Napa had a lot less gap in the middle. Makes for thicker steel. Thicker steel is harder to warp. Hence the reason TJ said turning the rotors would cause warping sooner.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Wed Dec 09, 2009 11:42 pm

long_tall_texan wrote:

. Hence the reason TJ said turning the rotors would cause warping sooner.

That and once you warp the rotor is can never be unwarped,you can cut the surface straight but the rotor is still warped(the molecules) and will continue to warp at a faster rate since less material is there to dissipate the heat.

long_tall_texan · **Posted:** Wed Dec 09, 2009 11:44 pm

tjkj2002 wrote:

long_tall_texan wrote:

. Hence the reason TJ said turning the rotors would cause warping sooner.

That and once you warp the rotor is can never be unwarped,you can cut the surface straight but the rotor is still warped(the molecules) and will continue to warp at a faster rate since less material is there to dissipate the heat.

Yep. What he said. If you go all technical and stuff...

Jeepin_it_real · **Posted:** Thu Dec 10, 2009 2:39 am

by any chance are they the rear rotors?... cause if they are did any one think of the e-brake catching or being too tight?

What's causing my brake rotors to warp?

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