I'm starting to feel the brake pedal shake a bit for a hard stop....sometimes (but not all the time) shaking on the steering wheels too. So, is the rotors or bearings starting to go bad? I replaced my front rotors and brake pads about 4 or 5 years ago. I don't drive long distance or hauling anything with this 2014 LX 570?
Do I need new rotors, brake pads, or both?
- Thread starter Charlielj
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Sounds like warped brake rotors. If the bearings are going out you will likely hear a gravely grinding sound and it will happen whether on or off the brakes.
OEM parts.
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yes, the rotors I purchased was OEM parts. What could've made this rotors going bad so quick?
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If I checked the brake pads and they're good, is it ok if I just get the rotors and not new brake pads?
Define “good” on the pads? Technically you could just swap rotors but pad are very cheap, maybe $40 a set for good aftermarket ones and personally I’d swap them once I was pulling the calipers off anyway. Plus if you’ve left pad deposits from your pads n the old rotors enough to “warp” them the pads are probably worn more than you think.
If you haven’t flushed your brake fluid in a few years I always use my pad swaps as an opportunity to do so.
If you haven’t flushed your brake fluid in a few years I always use my pad swaps as an opportunity to do so.
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"Good" as the pad are not worn out to less than 3 or 4 millimeters. I flushed the brake fluid back in September 2023.
I did pads at 91k and again at about 142k. I live in the city but 2/3 of my mileage is highway, and probably half of that is towing. I’d expect ~60k out of a set of front brakes fwiw…
Your front brake rotors are warped. This is caused by excessive heat. Need to replace rotors and pads. I use OEM rotors and Akebono pads on mine. 30K miles is common for normal Brake changes for me especially on the front. Back tends to go for a while before needing replacement. I do mostly highway as well and have warped mine prematurely from heat build up in the mountains while braking as well as sudden severe braking due to dumb people slamming on the brakes or pulling out in front of me. Just part of it with a 6000 lb vehicle.
It has been 15+ years and their webpage has evolved a lot, so I can’t link the stoptech white paper on the issue anymore.
But yeah, what most people call warped rotors are nearly always uneven pad deposits, and if caught soon enough can often be addressed by getting the brakes nice and hot to spread things around again. But not always.
Totally correct that a hard stop to zero from freeway speed is the primary culprit here. The pads sit there and keep leaving deposits on the rotor in one spot, while the rest of the rotor cools. I try to leave room in front of the vehicle to creep forward and lessen the time the pads spend in a single spot on the rotors while hot.
But yeah, what most people call warped rotors are nearly always uneven pad deposits, and if caught soon enough can often be addressed by getting the brakes nice and hot to spread things around again. But not always.
Totally correct that a hard stop to zero from freeway speed is the primary culprit here. The pads sit there and keep leaving deposits on the rotor in one spot, while the rest of the rotor cools. I try to leave room in front of the vehicle to creep forward and lessen the time the pads spend in a single spot on the rotors while hot.
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You mentioned "mountains while braking", I did take this vehicle to Beartooth Pass about 2 years ago. It was my first time driving up/down a mountain. I did use the brake quite often while hauling 8 passengers and 200-300 pound of luggage on the hitch. I did switch to using engine brake instead after we smell something burnt from the engine bay. The burnt smell was later confirmed to be small oil leaks from the engine. Could this have ruined my rotors? I didn't drive very long with the brake until I switched over to engine brake.
Not sure as I was not in the vehicle with you but can confirm excessive braking in the mountains with extensive heat build up has warped mine. It’s unfortunate when you are moving at a good pace and come around a down hill bend only to find traffic stacked and have to slow rapidly only to repeat that.
Oil smell is significantly different than brake smell. I don’t normally smell my brakes unless I’m seating a new set of pads and rotors on break in. I can tell when they are hot and little smell but not much and nothing like oil.
Sure, down a mountain with that load and not using engine braking will lead to extremely hot rotors and pad deposits, which are “warped rotors”. I’ll bet that hot smell was brakes and not oil. Anyway, I agree with others, time for new pads and rotors all around. Parts are not expensive and labor is the same if you replace or resurface rotors or do the whole job.
The cheapest thing to do is to get the rotors nice and hot. My typical solution is to get going about 50 mph and brake very hard without engaging the ABS. Do that 3 or 4 times and then drive around for 5 minutes without coming to a complete stop to cool them off. That will hopefully spread the deposits around the rotor. If that doesn't work you rotors are probably warped.
My 2 cents.
My 2 cents.
This is good advice.
