Warping Brake Rotors

I only have 41k miles on my '02 Tundra and it isn't driven hard. When I replaced the OEM brake pads at 20k, I also replaced the OEM front rotors because they were warped. I replaced them with a set of Brembos.

I just replaced them last night with a set of cryogenic-treated rotors.

I'll have the OEMs and the Brembos turned and keep as spares, but hoping these cryos do the trick.

 

I'm not familiar with the first gen tundras, and what they used for rear brakes, but im guessing they are drum? Have you looked into those to make sure they are still good? an 02 with 41k miles seems like it may sit a lot, so its possible that your rear drums are not performing like they should be, causing most of the load to be placed on the front rotors, which would, in turn, cause them to wear prematurely.

 

Yeah, the rears are drums and the shoes are still OK. I had read that the 1st gen Tundras had 'weak' front brake systems and warping rotors was a fairly common occurrence. I'll search for some info on bias ... it has a variable bias compensation valve that I believe shifts more pressure to the rears as the load in the bed increases. Don't know if there's a user adjustment though ???

 

Not sure, I did see a rotor/pad set from powerstop made for towing and performance, for a decent price. If what you got doesn't work, I'd give them a try.

 

Hey, thanks for the info, Jason. I am trying to find a good used camper shell at the moment, so I will probably wait to do any bias adjustments until afterwards.

I don't remember the brand of the rotors off the top of my head, but they were a little pricey (a tad less than $300). I didn't replace the front pads when I installed the cryos because they still looked good with a lot of material on them, but I'll verify which calipers I have prior to ordering new pads. May be worth the effort to change the calipers if I can retain the new (and old) rotors.

 

I have 02 also. My brakes sucked. I bought a set of calipers off a wrecked 05 and installed them with hawk lts pads and stop tech cryo treated rotors. It stops great now!

I also did the rear brakes just to make sure everything was right.

I would recommend using the rear parking brake every time you park. It keeps the rear brakes adjusted properly.

 

Toyota changed to the larger set up in 2003 and actually installed larger rotors, calipers etc. There was a TSB out and if you screamed loud enough they redid the whole works which consisted of all new from (and including) the backing plates out. They also changed out the rear drums to ones from I think a V-8 4-runner (same size, just heavier drums that were supposed to last longer). Got mine swapped out at 5600 miles. Ran the replacement rotors until almost 100k with new pads about every 15k. Put on drilled and slotted rotors at about 100 k and they have helped a lot. If the bigger calipers will work with the smaller rotors that would help as it is pricey to do the whole caliper / rotor swap like was done on mine. If the truck is driven empty the stock stuff worked OK...if you are usually loaded up the stock brakes sucked and didn't last very long (though the rears lived just fine).

 

^^ A correction in the above post, the 2003 and later early model Tundras did not come with larger front brake rotors. The rotors are the same exact same size and part number as the 2000-2003 model rotors. The calipers and brake pads are larger in the 2003+ model brakes. However, Toyota soon reduced the size of the brake pads by shaving them down, because the heat warped the rotors even faster than the smaller brake pads.

I have had both sets of brake calipers on my 2000 Tundra. The OEM rotors lasted the longest, living in a valley and mostly flat freeway driving over 100k miles before brake judder. Since then I have put on Raybestos USA rotors that lasted about 50k miles before judder. I then upgraded to the newer 2003+ calipers and pads at the same time that I moved into the Cascade mountains (steep roads with hard braking). I went through a set of new high-end Brembo rotors pretty fast, in less than 25k miles. I replaced them with Raybestos plain rotors last year, but they are not really Raybestos any more. They were stamped with Brembo om the side and they are starting to judder on me after about 20k miles. I have lot of metal to spare on the Raybestos and Brembo rotors, so I had them turned, but they cut them with run-out and they are worthless. They heat up fast and judder. BTW: I always use OEM Toyota brake pads.

So to try to get out of this Chicom Brembo early warped rotor rut, I am gettng a set of Centric cryo heat treated plain rotors from Tire Track. They are cast and finished and heat treated in the US. So we shall see... I have read good things about these rotors. They certainly cannot be any worse than the Brembos. Since Brembo moved to China they have gone way way way downhill. The cheap steel wears unevenly and creates scalloped wear on the rotors, which when the heat up, creates brake judder. Not technically warped , as people call them, but they are worn unevenly and in my opinion, that is warped. The real issue with early and mid model year Tunrdas is that the front rotors were designed way too small, they build up too much heat, especially with the second gen larger calipers, and they warp. That is also a common problem in many other PU and car models, not just the Tundra. Do a Google search and you can find lots of hate out there about front brake rotor warping.

 

A second item to note here is that the star wheels in the rear brakes of the early model Tundras were not effective. There was a TSB on this, and I replaced my rear star wheels leaving the stock brake drums and pads on and it made a world of difference. Before the update, I had the original rear pads on my truck up through 125k miles. Then after the update, the rear pads began to wear at a much faster rate, meaning they were being adjusted property. Also I did not have to tighten the rear brakes manually every 5k. Using the emergency brakes adjusts the new updated rear star wheels correctly and now the shoes stay nice and close to the drums. I wore the rear drums quite a bit after about 75k miles from the star wheel replacement, and rather than get them turned, I replaced them with new drums with new shoes recently. I check them rather often now. I also had to replace the rear axle seals on this truck at about 150k miles. The axle seals were leaking/streaking the brake drums on both sides. There is a TSB for that as well, and I have the newer/updated rear seals on my truck now. I do all my own work, BTW. Except I had the center box rebuilt by Toyota under warranty. It was stuck in 2WD after some serious off-roading in the Klamath Mountains.

 

I have a 2002 Tundra TRD. I have been dealing with the judder for many years. I finally replaced the calipers with the 13WL model, ordered them on Amazon from Callahan. The mechanic told me today after the install that the pistons suck too far back creating a lot of pedal movement before the pistons grab the rotors. Anyone else experience this?

 

I just bought an 02 tundra and have the same problem you are experiencing now I am kind of leery of the 13wl's now. does anyone know of any other options out there for new calipers for an 02

 

IMO just get the 03 and up calipers. Some quality pads and rotors. I went Napa on my 03 Sequoia. I also put braided stop tech brake hoses. I think the key is making sure the mating surface behind the rotor is clean as well as the surface between the rim and rotor. Then proper torque pattern.

 

A shop just replaced my rotors and pads with (not sure what brand). I’ll call them soon to find out the name, but this guy uses them on his truck so thats why I was sold.

My 02’ has the WE (weak) calipers and rotors were warped since the first six months. These new rotors and ceramic pads are great. Truck stops insanely fast compared to old.

The main research info I’ve found on these (or any other vehicle) is that the pads and rotors ‘bite’ together. Some metals and pads are not working together while others are. Also, keeping your brake fluid fresh helps.

These new rotors are not slotted and still on WE calipers. I’ve put 4,000 miles on them and so far so good. Very little dust from the ceramic new pads. Stops very nice. No more ‘judder’ coming up the a stop.

 

Called shop and they said ‘Brake Best’ pads (ceramic) and rotors. I’ll research later.

 

I have owned my 02 AC Tundra since new. At less than 5k my rotors were toast! This is a work truck in the mountains so the brakes get beat on pretty hard. With the bigger brakes I would get about 15k out of the pads and rotors survived for two or three sets of pads. Last time around I replaced the rotors with drilled and slotted rotors and some "RV" rated pads. Have about 40k on them and still doing good. Not sure if they offer drilled and slotted rotors for the stock size, but the switch to this type of rotor made the biggest difference I have seen as to brake life, with no decrease in stopping power. As to the drums, when they did the TSB on my truck it also included the rear brakes. It is my understanding that this simply involved different drums (I think the ones from the early V8 4-runner). The drum brakes went 95 k before needing replacement. This is with the proportioning valve locked in the wide open position due to the fact that I carried weight and also had airr bags so the truck was at empty ride height when pretty well loaded. I retired in June and pulled everything off the truck except the alum. side boxes so now run almost empty all the time. Left the valve open and it still works fine (does have abs).

 

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Always wondered what this thing was. Thanks for the input!

 

Bump. Here is the thread that got me going on LSPV.

Thanks to @jberry813