Rotor resurfacing by dealership at 24K?

Couple weeks back I was coming down Big Bear mountain here in CA and every time I would hit the brakes I would get a bad steering wheel shake. I'm talking shake the entire truck bad. Let off brake and I would cruise without issue. I figured the issue was the brakes, but I had an alignment and re-balanced my tires to see if that would help, it didn't. Around town it was noticeable but not bad enough to not drive.

Today, went into the dealership to have them look at it under warranty. Service manager said Toyota is aware that the brakes designed for the Tundra are undersized and he could do a 1-time good will resurfacing and replace the brake pads for free. I asked that they check the caliper pistons for lubrication as well.

Has anyone else heard of this or experienced warping issues under 25K? Seems strange that I would need this done this early. I had my Tacoma for 45K and never had any issues and I don't consider myself hard on brakes.

Any comment or advice welcomed. My truck is still there so if there's something in particular I should be asking for please let me know!

Thank you

 

Not sure if I agree much with the undersized brakes. Warping is common with the crappy OEM rotors though. Get some decent Power Stop rotors or equivalent IMHO.

 

I had an Avalon sent to use by a dealer exchange. Well, when they do that we have to do the pre delivery inspection again. On my test drive I noticed a bad vibration when braking. Car had 200 miles on it. We ended up resurfacing all 4 rotors and replacing the pads. 200 miles. Only time I've had that happen. I have seen our trucks burn through pads quickly. Especially if they're lifted with big tires. More weight, more wear.

 

I have powerstop calipers and am very happy with them. I'm still on my factory original rotors that have been resurfaced twice. Next time I need brakes I think I'm going with EBC pads and powerstop rotors.

 

@matluth I agree with you on the undersized comment, service manager saying it was the first I've heard of it.

@mudslinger79 thanks for the reply, I was going to swap everything out this time but didn't think it was necessary with 24K miles. If they wanted to charge me for it I would have. Next time I need anything done with brakes, I plan on going with slotted rotors and better pads.

 

I thought that I had "warping" issues really early with my Tundra as well. I did some research and found that rotors rarely warp - unless you really heat the eff out of them (and I mean causing a fire type heat). Or, they can wear unevenly over a long period of time (which isn't the case if you have only 24,000 miles). More often, there are deposit imprints from the pads after a hard stop that cause the "warped" sensation. Either that, or the brakes weren't bed properly from the get go. I have posted it several times in the last couple of days, but here is a long video that describes the process of bedding brakes. It is more for racers, but it does cover how to do it for street pads.

After I did this procedure with my Tundra, I haven't had an issue with wheel shake under hard braking since. Hope this helps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdPX6rzuINc

 

If the front rotors are continually subjected to excessive heat from a lot of down hill braking they can and will warp. Granted it does take a fair amount of heat over time to cause warping. My local dealer service manager said as much concerning the OEM rotors. Lots of better aftermarket rotors to choose from.

 

@Atomic City Tundra Thanks I'll look into that vid when I'm not at work haha

 

I came down from Big Bear a few weeks ago with my fam (2 2017 Runners and a 2016 Civic). All of us experienced bad shaking/Vibration. Once we got down the hill the shaking stopped. We all came to the conclusion that is was the road.

 

I replaced my rotors at 45K with stop tech. If you tow often and run oversized tires, the stock rotors dont like it

 

A google search will provide several articles like this. It takes a lot to truly "warp" the metal.

http://www.mossmotoring.com/warped-brake-rotors-the-facts/

 

Stop Tech good!! (heat is not metals' friend)

 

Come down the front or back? I would agree with you on the road, but it was only when I hit the brakes.

 

Do not tow often, seems like consensus is to change out my rotors. Will do that next time

 

interesting article, thanks for sharing

 

keep the old ones though. they are oem toyota. you can probably resurface them.

 

I have always heard to avoid hard braking before a large water puddle. Something about the heat and then rapid cool down.