Tirerack Issue

[Seatown]

Okay, I recieved new Brembo front rotors from tirerack.com last week and as soon as I had them installed on my 4runner I noticed the same warped vibrations that i previously had on my oem warped rotors. Yesterday i went in to Toyota of Seattle for yet another brake inspection (on the house this time) and they confirmed that the Brembos were warped. On of the tech guys explained that if stored improperly rotors can warp in the warehouse; he said that this was the likely culprit of my unfortunate rotors.

rotors were installed by a reputable dealer (in case you were wondering)

I contacted tirerack and they seem to be giving me the run around telling me that they were not warped when they sold them to me and not buying the improper storage story. I'm not about to spend more money to take them off and replace them while i wait for tirerack to decide if they're warped or not let alone if they were warped before or after they sold them to me. I have Toyota on my side with very detailed notes from the tech support; my expectations is that Tirerack will give me credit towards tires, but they don't seem to interested to offer anything up at this time. I'm really hoping tirerack steps up and offers customer service instead of turning the other cheek.

Is it possible for rotors to warp on their own based upon their storage method? I was told that they were stored on a palate flat.

More to come...

 

[pmrowczynski]

I'm not buying the improper storage story either. We're talking really thick hunks of metal which take hundred degrees of heat without deformation. Simply sitting on a pallet (horizontally or vertically) shouldn't deform them at all. If they were deformed w/o heat, I'd expect to see severe impact strikes on the rotors.

Could they warp them via a heating / cooling contraction? Yup.

Could I warp them by bolting them to something else improperly, maybe.

Would they warp sitting in a box? I seriously doubt it and would want to see some kind of bizarre explanation.

BTW: Have had great personal experience w/ tire rack. Bought some tires for the G35 which were too large on the rear (different front and rear rim sizes) which they were a) took back & paid for via their FedEx shipping number and b) shipped me out a different set of tires in about a week.

 

[Seatown]

That's my thoughts too. The thing is that i left the dealer with the new brembos being warped from the first stop light i braked; the rotors were warped when they arrived on my door step.

Break pads were two weeks old too!

 

[thetaxguy]

I'm not buying the improper storage story either. We're talking really thick hunks of metal which take hundred degrees of heat without deformation. Simply sitting on a pallet (horizontally or vertically) shouldn't deform them at all. If they were deformed w/o heat, I'd expect to see severe impact strikes on the rotors.

Could they warp them via a heating / cooling contraction? Yup.

Could I warp them by bolting them to something else improperly, maybe.

Would they warp sitting in a box? I seriously doubt it and would want to see some kind of bizarre explanation.

BTW: Have had great personal experience w/ tire rack. Bought some tires for the G35 which were too large on the rear (different front and rear rim sizes) which they were a) took back & paid for via their FedEx shipping number and b) shipped me out a different set of tires in about a week.

:iagree: The range in temperatures needed to warp rotors (still packaged) would be enormous. Not to mention that the rotors would need to be heated and cooled very rapidly.

Let's just put it this way: Unless TireRack unpackaged and put their merchandise outside on the hottest day of the year, and then put them in the freezer before they cooled down (many many many many times), you might have a let to stand on. If they left their merchandise in the packaging, then you would see signs of abuse or improper storage.

Could it be that the rotor is not seated in the correct position? I know this sounds absurd, but I've seem worse from a dealer.

 

[Seatown]

It is possible; i'm unable to check the seating of the rotor since Toyota took them off, examined them, and then put them back on.

 

[CJ3Flyr]

I hope you can get this resolved... I once bought brand new Brembos from Tirerack for my Trooper. The bad news is I had the same story...


:cheers:

 

[Seatown]

Chris, did you get the issue resolved with tirerack or did you let it go?

 

[CJ3Flyr]

Chris, did you get the issue resolved with tirerack or did you let it go?

I got a neagtive answer like you did. Through a friend of a friend I gained access to a brake lathe and took off just enough to true them up. 3 of 4 needed it. The guy who did it all the time said that it wasn't uncommon for cheapy rotors and even occasionally good rotors to be out of true.

After that they ran straight and true to this day... My Trooper now lives in Wichita with a friend. I'm in Wichita right now and drove it yesterday. With 90+k on the rotors it's still smooth...

 

[Nuke]

I can't imagine that rotors would warp from storage. Although unlikely, it's possible that the rotors came warped from the factory after getting past their quality assurance checks.

I've only bought Brembos one time, to replace warped OEM rotors on my 3rd gen. They were fine. And from all the Toyota forums I've been on over the years, this is the first time I've heard of Brembos being warped out of the box.

Have you contacted Brembo directly? That would be my next step.

 

[NCSCOTT]

I have a 04 also. It is a 2WD, but it keeps warping the rear rotors. 3 times now with 92500 on the odo. Last rear rotor change was Oct08, already warped again. OEM & 2 mid-priced sets from Advance. It has never warped the front. Have you had the rears checked?

My next move was going to be replace or rebuild the rear Calipers. I just hate the thought of doing that. I was also considering going back to the OEM rear rotors since the factory set lasted the longest before warping.

 

[Seatown]

My original thought after the brembo install was that rears were warped too based upon the vibration i was feeling. toyota confirmed that along with my fronts that one of my rears were also warped.