Rotors replaced. Wobbling Steering Wheel Again...

I will try, I must say that I did similar stuff when I just put them on. Just to break them in so to say.
I don't have high hopes for this procedure, but if it won't help, how do I find the right shop to diagnose and do the right job on my brakes. Or should I go to dealer for this?
(I don't do this stuff on my own, don't have ability, tools, etc).
 
Porqupine82 said:
It's not your rotors, it's your lug nuts. Don't use an impact on them, tighten them to torque spec, and I guarantee the shimmy will stop. Did it on mine a few days ago
Click to expand...

That's a very bold statement; so I made it bold.

That's like guaranteeing someone's car isn't starting because it's out of gas. You know that's the reason, because when YOU ran out of gas your car wouldn't start, and when you put gas in it, it started.

For the record, OP, I personally would get the rotors turned. If they are contaminated or warped your issue will immediately go away. If it comes back in another 15k miles, I'd stop messing with the crappy prone to warping factory brakes, and do the Tundra brake upgrade.

If the issue DOESN'T go away after getting them turned, start looking elsewhere.
 
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Rotors heat up during breaking and this causes the wrap, hence, the steering wobble. It is your rotors that is bad.

Rear brakes are self adjusting ONLY if you use the park break and not otherwise.
 
potomacduck said:
OK, I should have added: the supposedly self adjusting rear brakes don't work.

I've had my eyes on about 10,000 brakes jobs in my life and I assure you, almost all 4Runner rear drums are out of adjustment.

Most of the time bubba pops off the rear drum and then announces with much fanfare; "heh, they got plenty of meat on 'em." then Bubba replaced the drum with adjusting the rear brakes and then you're off.

Poor maintenance is your cause.
Click to expand...

Says Toyota manufacturing has no flaws and it's a maintenance issue. ..then says Toyota manufacturing is flawed because it doesn't self adjust correct.


I think the moral of the story here is you do what works. And what works is the TBU. Hey, you said you'd get flamed....nailed it.

I have two TBU 4runners and it has fixed all my braking issues so much so that my wife who doesn't know the difference between a hoopdie and a Maserati can tell the difference.
 
I had steering wheel shudder during braking when I first bought my rig. I figured the rotors were warped and didn't bother trying to turn them. I just went to Napa and bought a set of premium rotors and ceramic pads. The shudder went away and hasn't come back. I regularly carry lots of gear and sometimes pull a motorcycle trailer and the stock brakes work fine for me. I guess if I was towing a heavy trailer I'd look into the Tundra upgrade but I didn't want to bother with having to buy larger rims along with the other parts to do that upgrade.
 
Porqupine82 said:
It's not your rotors, it's your lug nuts. Don't use an impact on them, tighten them to torque spec, and I guarantee the shimmy will stop. Did it on mine a few days ago
Click to expand...

I have used an impact on lug nuts a fair amount of time, mostly during my teens when I worked at a Chevron gas station, but for the most part over my life, I just used a lug nut wrench. Never had any issues. It wasn't until recent past that I've used a torque wrench for lug nuts.

I guess anything is possible but I'm having a hard time believing the OP's problems is related to improperly torqued lug nuts.
 
mtbtim said:
I have used an impact on lug nuts a fair amount of time, mostly during my teens when I worked at a Chevron gas station, but for the most part over my life, I just used a lug nut wrench. Never had any issues. It wasn't until recent past that I've used a torque wrench for lug nuts.

I guess anything is possible but I'm having a hard time believing the OP's problems is related to improperly torqued lug nuts.
Click to expand...

Tim. He guaranteed it. It's the issue. :frisky:
 
I guess I will have the shop turn the rotors, and re-adjust the rear brakes, if it's possible. And go from there.
Does it make sense to replace the front pads too? Even though they still have lot's of life in them?
Might even bleed them all and replace the fluid while at it.
 
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potomacduck said:
Sorry my friend, that statement is not true.

Out of adjustment rear brakes would NOT cause excess pedal travel. That's not how hydraulic systems work.

The increased travel in the slave cylinder would be equalized by more brake fluid entering the master cylinder from the reservoir.
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no, hes right. the further out of adjustment the rear brakes are, the more pedal travel is required to get the shoes to hit the drums.

nissanh said:
Rotors heat up during breaking and this causes the wrap, hence, the steering wobble. It is your rotors that is bad.

Rear brakes are self adjusting ONLY if you use the park break and not otherwise.
Click to expand...
rotors very seldom actually warp. usually the cause of the pulsation/steering wobble is from uneven friction material build up.


not true. any/all movement of the shoes SHOULD actuate the adjuster.

though sadly, "self adjusters" commonly do not work correctly.
I agree with what was said, most rear drum brakes are out of adjustment, and most people do not know how to correctly adjust them.

swampy_swimmer said:
I guess I will have the shop turn the rotors, and re-adjust the rear brakes, if it's possible. And go from there.
Does it make sense to replace the front pads too? Even though they still have lot's of life in them?
Might even bleed them all and replace the fluid while at it.
Click to expand...

yes, replace the pads too. not changing them, but resurfacing the rotors is just asking for trouble.
 
I was just wondering, is it possible to resurface (polish) the pads working surface just to make it smooth and straight? Those pads are fairly new...
 
swampy_swimmer said:
I was just wondering, is it possible to resurface (polish) the pads working surface just to make it smooth and straight? Those pads are fairly new...
Click to expand...

I've never heard of anyone doing it but here's a trick you could try. Guys do this with like computer processors to get better heat conduction.

Get a piece of glass and tape some sandpaper to it. Run the pads back and forth on the sandpaper until you're happy or your arms are tired.

I do not guarantee this to even remotely work. Probably will just end up with a slanted pad that has a nice surface on it.
 
all good topics here.

one more thing to add make sure the hard ware in front is not rusted. If it is it could cause the pads to jam into place and cause them to warp.

Also 1+ for oem rotors, they are 60 bucks same price as centric. why not?
 
First let me say I do not know what is wrong with the OP's brakes.

I am, however, pretty sure the rotors are not physically warped. How am I so sure you ask? A certain amount of personal experience and then a lot from this article :

http://stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/-warped-brake-disc-and-other-myths

I do not take credit for finding that article, I most recently saw it posted by another member here (sorry, guy, I don't remember your name). I've also seen it a few other places related to performance driving.

I highly recommend everyone give this a read, it will give you a new perspective on the function of disc brakes.

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk
 
seank said:
First let me say I do not know what is wrong with the OP's brakes.

I am, however, pretty sure the rotors are not physically warped. How am I so sure you ask? A certain amount of personal experience and then a lot from this article :

-Warped- Brake Disc and Other Myths

I do not take credit for finding that article, I most recently saw it posted by another member here (sorry, guy, I don't remember your name). I've also seen it a few other places related to performance driving.

I highly recommend everyone give this a read, it will give you a new perspective on the function of disc brakes.

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I call bullshit on both the over-tourqing of lug-nuts and the uneven deposits from pad material being transferred as the cause of most 4Runner owners experiencing extreme brake shudder.

Now I'm sure those things have caused many people issues and I would assume some of them were 4Runner owners — but I think anyone coming on here and painting a well known and very common problem with such a broad brush is just wishful thinking.

My reasons for calling bullshit are the following:

1) If this was the case, we would experience this on all disc brakes, especially those that were not bedded properly, which I'll assume is most cars and trucks on the road. I've never once seen a new car owner bed the brakes on a new car. I'm sure it happens, but not by most. Nor have I ever seen anyone leave a brake shop and go bed their brakes. So according to what I read in that article, most vehicles should be experiencing at some point "the shakes" since they have uneven deposits due to pad material transfer. Yet they don't.

2) I've not heard of one single person in this forum complain about the "shakes" returning after they went to bigger Tundra rotors. Maybe I just missed that thread though.

3) I replaced my pads and rotors about 40,000 miles ago because the truck shook violently. The brakes were last done by the PO. The PO advised me the brakes have always done that. They replace the pads and rotors and everything is good at first. But the problem always returned. Sure enough, after I replaced the pads and rotors, the problem slowly returned after about 15,000 miles. Thing is, I bedded them properly and I'm very cognizant of how I drive and how hard I work the brakes.


4) I always use a tourqe wrench on my lug nuts every single time — without fail. I also did my own tire rotations because I didn't want some asshat at the tire store hitting them like a cheap hooker with an impact. Yet I still got the shakes after 15,000 miles.

I've owned a lot vehicles in the last 24 years and put on about 500,000 miles commercially back when I drove a semi. Not once did I ever have the brake shakes that I do with my 4Runner.
 
I failed to mention that I did bed the breaks after I changed them 15K ago. Yet still...
I might have not done it correctly and pads material did not deposit evenly on the discs to begin with... Who knows.
That article is quite interesting. If the discs are not warped and it's just a pad's uneven deposit on them, maybe they just should be sanded lightly and new pads (of the harder material) to be installed to rectify it?
 
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swampy_swimmer said:
I had this problem a while ago and I replaced front rotors and pads with Centric part rotors and matching pads about 15K miles ago. Maybe less.
Now I have the same issue when brake from 35-40mph speed. My steering wheel dances in my hands.
Is it possible for the rotors to be warped that fast again? Those Centric parts rotors had some Kryo coating on them, that supposedly resist all the warping for a long time.
Might it be a deeper issue then just rotors/pads?
Click to expand...

The answer to that question is...ABSOLUTELY!

I do have personal experience with that exact issue with both Centric and Brembo brand rotors. But let's just say I have no practical experience. Search this forum and you'll find the same thing happening to 3rd gens over and over. It is well documented and has been proven to be fact. So you can adjust the rear brakes and seat your pads all you want, it's still going to happen.
As for the 10,000 brake jobs, well let's just say that could be an exaggeration.:gun4: If I did one per work day, it would only be 22.5 per month, but let's round up to 25 per month. That's 300 per year! It would take me 33 years plus to get up to 10K. Two a day would still take me almost 17 years to get to that number. Not saying it isn't possible, some guys do 3 or 4 a day in a busy shop. I haven't seen it though, not from ONE technician, and I HAVE been in the car business more than 33 years.

And after warping two sets of rotors in 35K miles, I'm happily going on 20K with my TBU and no warpage. And Bubba didn't even adjust my rear brakes!
 
I'll jump in. When I bought my truck it shuddered. Put new rotors and pads and within a year they shuddered again. Installed TBU with oem pads rotors and napa calipers. Just installed second set of pads and been over year easy and they still feel like new.

I have had completely in adjusted rear drums. Never caused a shudder. Just pull to one side or other in hard braking.
 
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