Non-Toyota rotors?

99 Avalon, about 53K miles. Had to change front rotors at about 24K miles because the steering wheel shook when braking at highway speeds.

Now seeing the same symptoms again. I'm thinking of using rotors that are a little more heavy-duty. Any suggestions? I have heard about Brembo, are these better or is that just marketing hype?

Also if I do go with non-Toyota rotors, am I forced to go to an independent shop or will Toyota dealers install these?

Reply to
ixat
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Any standard rotor will do fine. You can pick some cheap ones up for about $25 or so from NAPA. Stay away from cross drilled or slotted unless they are forged that way.

They will charge more to install parts that they don't supply. Rotors are pretty easy to install, if you wanted to do it yourself. I would just find a small local shop and have them do it.

Reply to
Josh

If you park the car outside in wet weather the rotors will "warp" faster than if parked under a roof. Fancy aluminum "open" wheels make the problem worse. All because the rotors are more exposed and rust where exposed. The "warping" comes from not rusting under the pads.

Brembo makes good high performance brakes. Can't say whether that applies in your situation.

Reply to
David Kelly

Never heard that before, is it true?, I thought warping came from heating and/or uneven torquing of the studs.

Reply to
Gord Beaman

Your best bet would be to have them machines on the spindle. Use standard brake pads. High metallic or ceramic will ground the rotors up and warp them quicker.

Reply to
Liberals are leaches

The OP's warpage is not coming from "not rusting under the pads". The surface rust that forms when parked for a long time gets rubbed off after a few brake applications.

Reply to
Ray O

A poorly stress-relieved rotor will change shape after being heated enough. This is pretty much the same thing as uneven torquing but internal to the rotor's structure.

Even the best will change shape if one hits a water puddle with hot brakes because the water will not hit the entire rotor at the same time evenly.

That brake rotor material was converted to rust and rubbed off making everything that rusted thinner while that which was under the rotor pads didn't rust is the original thickness. Repeat enough times at random positions and the effect can cancel out. Trusting to luck that the rotors are parked in the proper position for each rust cycle doesn't work very well.

Rusting is far from the only cause of rotor warpage, but is often ignored.

Reply to
David Kelly

Anyone care to explain this:

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build up on the disc (rotor) seemed to be rust, and it was only on the inside edges. The car was never left standing for long periods, and infact the pads weren't grinding away this rust - it was the other way around, the pads were actually being worn away by it. And the pads weren't soft either, they'd covered 40,000 miles at this point and still had around a third of their life left!!

Reply to
Johnny

In europe, to be legal, all brake pads must be "E" marked (I've fitted US imported Akebonos though, who can see a mark on the back of pad covered by a caliper). That means they must be a) no more than 5% more or less effective than standard pads (has really effected performance aftermarket if you want to stay 100% legal) b) contain no asbestos (has been in place for many years).

Without Asbestos, to remain within 5% of OEM pads has meant that the pad compund has had to be hardened. Disc makeup hasn't (normally cast iron).

It means now, where as discs used to last for 100,000 miles, and about

3-5 changes of pads, it's normal for pads to actually wear discs rather than the other way round, to a much more marked degree, with a set of discs quite often only lasting 30-40k especially if used in stop start urban driving.
Reply to
Sleeker GT Phwoar

The rust in the photo is not the surface rust that forms when the vehicle is parked. The conditions of the rotors was caused by stuck caliper slides. I hope you cleaned and lubed them with wheel bearing grease or anti-seize before putting them back together.

Reply to
Ray O

Cheers for the reply. Never noticed the brakes sticking to be honest. I do know what they feel like - my Toyota suffered sticking pistons recently, until I changed for refurbish calipers. I can't see how that can be caused by sticking calipers either - unless it's the extreme heat that does it? I think the rear discs may have suffered the same - I'm not sure, but they were changed under warranty.

Reply to
Johnny

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