2013 4Runner Squeeky Brakes & Warped Rotors

[Whiplash Willy]

Starting at about 15k miles, my front brakes started squeaking when coming to a complete stop. Usually when I am stopping from a speed if less then 40mph. The squeak started when I hit about 10MPH, and continued to squeak until I stopped. At about 20k miles, I started to notice signs of a warped rotor (light steering wheel shake/pulsation when braking downhill at speeds of 40+MPH)

At 21k miles, I just took it into the dealer to fix this. They ended up machining the rotors, with the on vehicle lathe, and installed new pads (Front Only).

Everything is fine for now, but I am wondering what the root cause of this problem, that made my brakes squeak and warped my rotors in only 20k miles. My worry is that if the root cause was something other then my original pads, and per-resurfaced rotors, that the problem will show up again in another 15k-20k miles, and I will conveniently be out of warranty when it does.

My question is, what could cause these issues in such a short time? I am not sure if it is something I am doing (driving habits) or a failed break component, like a stuck piston.

 

[scotter8]

I have a 2003 with 173k miles ... at about 140k, the driver's side rear brake caliper froze. It was more sticky than frozen and the 4runner was my only car, so I kept driving with it for a little while. I noticed because I could really smell the brakes with the windows open and the wheel was getting hot. It got to the point (within a month of 150mi/week) that white smoke came from the wheel, so I bought reman calipers at NAPA. (I feared white smoke was axle grease through the hub.) I was going to replace rears only, but NAPA sold me fronts and I didn't realize until I got home. So I got started on the fronts, a friend drove to pickup the rears, I replaced all 4 calipers and bled the brakes. The pot was frozen in place and russssty. But for about $200 it was fixed.

I have an older high mileage car, you have a 2013 ... but I've heard the Toyota calipers are known to freeze. After normal driving, walk around and feel the wheels, especially at the hub/bolt circle. Is one wheel hotter than the others? Are any of your alloy wheels bubbling? (Mine did, but I drove on it for a month.)