Cracked Rotor / Question

Has anyone seen this happen to a rotor before? This was from the front, these were only 2 months old. They are the AutoZone Duralast Gold. Do you think it was just a poor manufactured part or could there be something else wrong that could have caused it? I have a 6” lift, not that it would make a difference. I’m just dumb founded currently.

 

Have to assume defective part.

 

Just get Toyota parts. They are very cheap

 

I think defective. I have quit buying any brake parts from NAPA or any others since it seems they are all selling Chinese garbage. The OEM brakes are about the best thing out there. I went Powerstop drilled/slotted rotors with z36 pads and they dont stop as well as the OEMs.

 

Definitely has to be defective.

I've been using duralast brakes for years and never had issues. Yeah they're not the best but when I was a poor college kid, I had to use what I could on vehicles.

Autozone should warranty those but then again, you're back to duralast parts. As others say, switch to OEM.

 

Holy chit!! I’ve seen a lot if mechanical carnage and fixed a lot of broken junk in my life and have never seen anything like that before.

My first thought was loose lug nuts, but there are no scrub marks on the wheel face, and no thread marks from the studs. So I’m with you. A bit dumbfounded. How easy is it to keep breaking it up with a hammer? (Wear a face shield or at at least safety glasses / safety squint, please!!)

 

After my last disaster with autozone brand some brake pads i had to replace caliper piston so i switched to OEM cant go wrong and they arent overly expensive

 

I would guess an over torqued lug nut. But that’s me.

Edit: or something stuck on the inside of rotor or hub face during install.

 

Wow that is bad. Did this happen to one or both?

That is a catastrophic failure. I have a hard time believing that any rotor would fail in such a spectacular fashion.

if it was just one, maybe it was a return that suffered abuse. If 2 rotors had similar issues- I would bet something is rubbing or hitting. Look for any shiny parts as I have a hard time believing a rotor would fail like this. I have never seen anything like this before. Had this not been a heavy duty rotor, your wheel(s) would of sheared off.

Oh- and an overtorqued lug would not cause this. The lug stud would snap if anything.

 

Ugh... I had a pep boys rotor crack on the disc itself and it claimed my rear caliper damn near my truck too..

 

I would have to agree. I see no marks on the inside or outside of the rotor hat that explain anything.

I’m thinking very poor metallurgy has to be the issue. Maybe too many melted down Jeep parts?

I’d check that wheel bearing for play, and the caliper for any stuck pistons just to cover all the bases.

 

Do you have wheel spacers installed?

 

I'm puzzled over the fracture surfaces being beige. That makes my hackles stand up.

 

Chinese pot metal.

 

It looks like a cold pour to me. Like the material was not at the proper temp and some of the areas started to solidify to early.

 

That really sucks. That's the worst I have ever seen! How could that many chunks be missing?
The really bad part I put these on my truck yesterday

 

Nope, no wheel spacers

 

That was my second set unfortunately, I put these parts on in October 2020, February 2021 I had to replace due to them being warped. Now this happened after 2 months. Just bought OEM

 

I messed with it a little bit prior to returning to AutoZone. It would break apart fairly easily

 

My mechanic (who I trust) talked me into them. He said he has had no complaints from other customers and they warranty is good. Hope I don't ever need the warranty.

 

I've used them before on different cars and a SUV and had no problems with them. I wonder if this one skipped the heat treat during manufacturing. What were the symptoms that caused you to look into it and pull the wheel? I guess you would probably be able to see the holes with most wheels still mounted.

Or maybe this is a new feature, you know, for brake cooling.

 

you know I did look into drilled rotors, this isn’t what I was thinking though haha!

I was going down hill and my steering wheel stated violently shaking when I started braking a little. When I say violently, I mean 2 hands death gripped on the wheel keeping it straight..

 

I have used them before with no issues, my Tundra doesn’t like them for whatever reason. Back to OEM for my Tundra

 

Plz include pics of any cliffs and/or mailboxes that gave their lives for what I heretofore proclaim Deathride 2021.

Search Elkhunter. You'll get it.

 

#1. I'm glad you are okay and so is everyone else sharing the road.



Here is what I see.

2 months old so this is a very low cycle fatigue area
the "hat" of the rotor takes most of the torsional stress from forward inertia and the brakes.
the "hat" area also has a large thermal load.
The fracture surface looks like a low cycle fatigue; almost an overload type surface. but its a picture on a screen...but it looks like some burnishing or polishing was occurring.
There are multiple cracks leading to high stress areas at opposing ends of the hat, both inner and outer, where there is a large change in cross sectional area (a 90 degree bend).
One hole is in middle of hat but has one fracture surface bordering a strange looking scratch mark that goes all the way around the rotor hat.
The color of fracture surface is likely road debris or muddy water

From this I'm thinking it is a casting problem in the hat area, particularly on the far edges inner and outer. I'm betting there are multiple cracks in the hat area. The ones that caused this were stemming from casting flaws likely at or near the surface. The large hole in the middle likely was caused by a crack in the middle of the material not visible to the eye.

If I had to venture a guess I'd bet the casting didn't cool uniformly.

Assumptions
The rotors weren't installed incorrectly with debris between the hub and the rotor leading to bending stresses.
The rotors weren't loose leading to vibration.

 

This guy gets it!

I was coming on here to say that it could be a cooling issue, or porosity in the casting. Because it most likely has a high percentage of Chinesium, that is most likely the reason it failed.

Glad everyone was safe!

 

I would say poor final inspection of casting prior to machining process. Add in significant centrifugal forces while in use coupled with frequent significantly rapid heating and cooling. Recipe for disaster!! Luckily it was prevented. Buy a lottery ticket before your luck runs out!!