Warped Rotors??? Here's Whats Happening and How To Prevent it! - RyGuys Garage How To

If your vehicle has warped rotors like my wife's Grand Cherokee did, here's what's happening and how to prevent it in the future. ALWAYS do these steps when servicing your brakes or rotors and you'll never have issues and save yourself a lot of money down the road

[@fastkw2496]

A lot of it has to do with peoples driving habits. They want to speed and break hard at the last moment and get the brakes red hot with a heavy vehicle, and then hold them against the rotor in one spot at the light that brings on all the problems you’re addressing.

[@caughtme17]

thats me, i'm the problem. I needed to hear this.

[@IrnBrummmmmmm0]

U read it Not heard ​@@caughtme17

[@rikzevenbergen3648]

@@caughtme17me too hahaha😂

[@robdixson196]

All very good. A 3rd thing though. Lateral runout, you want it below .002 inches preferably below .001. 90% of the time it is just rust between the rotor and hub that puts it out too. Big lateral runout will turn into shakin' brakes within a few 1000 miles EVERY time. It's well worth the time to get both the hub and mating surface of the rotor shiny clean.

[@DavidBeatypersonal]

Great concise video and I think that is why my brakes keep warping. Thank you!!!

[@HeiseyMotors]

Happy to help! Good luck!

[@tbottomley12]

Thanks brother! I am going to try what you mentioned and add some drilled and slotted rotors and hope the warping stops!!

[@HeiseyMotors]

It definitely helps with heat dissipation as well as brake dust removal from the rotors. Hope that helps. Biggest thing when it's all apart is making sure those pads move freely in the caliper with zero resistance and they should wear evenly. You CAN warp drilled/slotted rotors, although less likely. Just make sure everything is free and lubed up and they'll be okay. Something I didn't mention is the rubber lines for the brakes. Those go bad in a short amount of time, so if your rig is over 15 years old just replace them while you're in there. If they squeeze shut, it'll keep brake pressure on and cause warping too!

[@on1ytheb3st]

You hit the nail on the head man! I had a shop years ago replace my rotors at least 5 times in row and like clockwork they would keep warping over and over; they would just shrug their shoulders when it happened. I finally tackled the job myself with really nice components and made sure the caliper slide pins were as free as possible. The one thing I overlooked was making sure the pad ears could slide freely. Too much corrosion build up in those areas and I didn’t take that seriously. Low and behold, things warped again. Still dealing with this issue today but I’m thinking it might also be because my two piston calipers aren’t applying even pressure along with this issue. I’ve just been dealing with this issue for so long I kind of gave up and just deal with it, probably not the safest conclusion but I’ve wasted so much money on this BS as it is.

[@LeFrench307]

I am going through the exact same thing.

[@on1ytheb3st]

@@LeFrench307 finally figured out it’s because of my wheel stub axle. It’s worn on the top and bottom and that is why no matter how many times I’ve replaced my tapered wheel bearings I still get play at the 12 and 6 o’clock position of the wheel when rocking back and forth. Because of the nature of my hub and bearing sub assembly this in turn warps the rotors because of excess play.

[@MrsSunshine75]

@@on1ytheb3stthat makes no sense! Good luck.

[@on1ytheb3st]

@@MrsSunshine75 do you know what a stub axle is...

[@MrsSunshine75]

@@on1ytheb3stI guess not, please explain how it can cause a brake rotor to warp!

[@sebastianbird5986]

The anxiety I got when you let the brake line hang

[@HeiseyMotors]

I do it a lot. It's fine. The inner part of the brake hose is either crushed or it isn't so letting it hang really isn't going to do any damage to it if it's a lighter caliper. Now for my Duramax, yeah I'm gonna hold it up with a zip tie.

[@deadbrother5355]

These point make sense for vehicles that have been in use for a while. Any ideas why my rotor/s warped on a brand new truck within 4 months of spring/summer driving?

[@rikzevenbergen3648]

When your brakes are warm and you get a good amount of cold water on it it will warp too. So maybe you drove through a big puddle when your brakes where really warm. Or could be if you use a power washer on your rims after a long drive the brakes will still be warm and the water will warp them

[@deadbrother5355]

@@rikzevenbergen3648 valid point, but in my case I doubt that was it. Do you think a hard stop on a freeway offramp, followed by holding the brakes at the red light could trap enough heat between the pads and rotor to do it?

[@xillusss8092]

Verry well explained video ☺️

[@razvankdv6151]

Correct me if I'm wrong...that looks like an ATE caliper. ATE says not to grease those pins...only lubricate the caliper bracket (part which the brake pad slides on to). Recommendation is to replace the bushing and pins at around 80-100k km. TBH I did have good results with silicone spray (find something which can withstand high temp) on the pins (very light greasing). The bushings are supposed to be made out of EPDM..hence no need for extra lubrication (according to ATE).

[@HeiseyMotors]

I grease slide points regardless of caliper. If it slides to create an even stopping point, it needs greased.

[@duhwolf6413]

Runout on rotors is caused by excessive heat. A strong contributing factor is lug nut torque. If a lug nut is over torqued and excessive heat happens then it will bend the rotor the same as any heated metal resulting in runout beyond specs. The explanation in this video is about DTV but it all boils down to runout. Without actually doing a runout measurement and then caliper the rotor at max and min runout the DTV can't be verified.

[@richeyrich2203]

Now, I’m not quite sure how that would cause a rotor to warp out of true. I’ve always had solid rotors warp on heavy vehicles after coming out of mountain passes. You spend a lot of time on the brakes, heating them up, and then come to a stop on the rotor and a little bit of it out of true from the rest of it.

[@HeiseyMotors]

Because if your brakes fail to slide in and out of the calipers correctly from the caliper slides or when your pads slide on the metal, it causes high and low spots on the rotors causing uneven braking and then shaking in the tires and wheels when braking from the uneven applied pressure

[@letstalkwithandrewlove7880]

Thank you

[@missinglinq]

Helpful

[@Mephistopheles_Baphomet_TruGod]

What are those steel shimsyou speak of called to search online for and/or do you know of whom to buy from my friend! Outstanding educational vid! God bless my friend.

[@HeiseyMotors]

They come with every new set of decent brake pads so you can change them out

[@calling.4.shleepy995]

it’s the brake hardware and and extra tip is to take some copper anti seize and rub it on the outer edges of the hardware where the edges of the brake pad backing meets the hardware this will allow the brake pad to slide smoothly

[@rossbethell4187]

So uneven wear is what you mean…not warped.

[@HeiseyMotors]

The surface of rotors can warp from too much heat if your pads are sticking. Warping can mean being uneven, it's also a term most searched which is why its in the title of the video

[@papabits5721]

The rotor surfaces are uneven there not warped

[@HeiseyMotors]

Google the definition of warped. I said nothing that wasn't correct here

[@Squishenstein]

If you use the hardware like you’re supposed to, that part of the bracket doesn’t matter. Because that’s where the clip goes.

[@HeiseyMotors]

If you use the hardware (like you're supposed to) and you have rust build up underneath on the bracket side, the hardware creates an additional clearance issue which needs to still be ground down. You must not work with rusty vehicles in the salt belt

[@v60polestar88]

Not true. Warp rotors are brake pad deposits on your rotors. Brand new cars get warped rotors. Its has nothing to do with the pins slides at all. Proper bedding of brake pads prevents warped rotors

[@HeiseyMotors]

Look at all the experts coming out of the woodwork saying I'm wrong... Except I'm not. The information you provided was an ADDITIONAL thing that could cause rotor warpage FROM what I listed in the video. Nothing I said was wrong. Y'all folks are exhausting

[@mfr5725]

Sometimes brake rotors can feel warped if you make a hard stop and heat transfers pad material from the pad to the rotor. Yes, they need to slide. You can do a bedding procedure to see if it's just material transfered from a hard stop or if the rotors are truly warped.

[@badgerm3837]

No such thing as warped rotors

[@Bilytkid]

Yes, there is. I have one on my car. You can us a dial indicator to measure it, turning it by hand. Also, with both front wheels off the ground, tires and wheels off, start the engine, put it in drive, then look at the discs as they're turning. (also check the bearing hub, which may have been bent, if someone used a hydraulic press on one side, pressing in a bearing, causing it to bend)

[@badgerm3837]

No you don't. Watch the video, even his description shows uneven wear not warping, rotors can get glowing red hot and not warp. @@Bilytkid

[@ciprianbenec4091]

The rotors were "machined" by the brake pads.