What's causing my rotors to warp?

I have already replaced 3 warped rotors on my 2010 Toyota Trail. Does anyone know what is causing this? I put on NAPA heavy duty rotors. A local mechanic suggested Powerstop calipers.

 

From a 2010 I say not too bad. How many miles?

My wifes 2015 Highlander only 36k and they are baddddd.

 

If your calipers aren't distributing even pressure on your brake pads to your rotors that could very well be the issue. Then again if you're using crappy pads, or reusing glazed over pads from one set of rotors to the next that might be it. If I ever reused pads I scuffed them lightly with some sandpaper to knock the glaze off.

 

I dont think they make them as well as they used to. I just had a rear rotor resurfaced at Oreillys. They had been on there 5000 miles, but I had a seized caliper along the way and I think it got too hot. The OEM set from 07 lasted forever it seemed.

 

Is it the same rotor every time? You could have a weird setup on your specific rig, but unless evidence points to a bad part, it's probably due to heavy use or excessive braking. Do you tow a lot? I've put about 275k miles on 3 vehicles in the last 18 years and never resurfaced the rotors and only replaced pads once. My wife's minivan, which probably gets more abuse than my vehicles, has only replaced rear pads with 120k miles. (We have easy commutes though, so that could be a benefit).

 

Do yourself a favor and what has worked for me so far. Bleed out ALL the brake fluid and replace with Hi temp brake fluid (This is a complete flush). The higher temp fluid will reduce or eliminate warped rotors.

in the many cars that i have owned the past 30 years (and given a chance on stock brake fluid) i ended up with warped rotors on many vehicles. After replacing with high temp brake fluid the problems went away every time. usually within the first 30k miles this would happen on every vehicle. After the brake fluid swap it never happened again and all vehicles had over 100-150k miles each.

This is what i have always used.

http://valvolinechemicals.com/products/valvoline-dot-3-and-4-brake-fluid

Edit: the packaging has changed over the years so even though it says dot 3-4 it means that it is good for both but this is a tru synthetic dot 4 brake fluid.

I will check my bottle of brake fluid when i get home today to make sure this is the exact product i am using....i will update this post.

 

"Warped Rotors" are a very uncommon situation. Did you replace the brake pads after you replaced the rotors? That is essential. Also, have you checked your tire balance?

 

^^ Good point. I thought of this yesterday. Some of my vibration went away after the rotor. But it all went away after my rotation and balance yesterday.

 

million dollar question.....are you using a torque wrench to tighten the wheels??????

 

36k is about my rotor length!

 

No, we haven't been.

 

bingo !! always use one for aluminum wheels...always