I'm dealing with a warped rotor problem on my 07 TCH and dealer service is not a realistic option.

Since my front rotors warped at around 35k/miles with 90% pad left, this speaks to a defect or deficiency in the original design, so I looked into a set of performance brakes.

I used to run cross-drilled rotors and hi -perf pads on my other cars and it was always a pricey, but very worthwhile upgrade. But I found a GREAT deal on brakes for the TCH at brakelabs.com.

They are offering a pair of zinc plated, cross-drilled rotors and a set of ceramic pads for $112, with free shipping if you go through their ebay store.

Sold! It will take me all of 30 minutes to install and I'll get back to you how it went. I'm very excited to get rid of the shake and shimmy when decelerating off a freeway. It's a little unnerving.

 

Were the lug nuts overtightened? Overtightening things seems to be routine anytime you have your car serviced these days.

 

Nope. They have always been dialed in to 72 ft./lbs, by me and no one else has touched it. Even when I got new tires, they used a torque stick and I double-checked it when I got home. Beyond that, I've done all service on the car.

 

You've probably thought of this, but let me just add this, just in case. Hot brakes and water don't mix well, often resulting in warped rotors. Washing the car right after driving (without letting the wheels/brakes cool down) is one way this can happen.

On another note, are you sure the rotors are warped? Seems to me that braking on an off-ramp would use mostly regen braking until a very low speed??

 

Interesting, my manual ('09) said 76 ft/lbs for the wheels.

 

The problems occur when a guy hammers the lugs down to the limit of his impact gun, typically 150lbs or so, and/or not in a cross pattern.

 

Points of curiosity:

1. How did you determine that the the rotors were really warped? Was it excessive lateral runout or excessive thickness variation? If so, how much? Was the sole determination the 'wheel shake', with a conclusion of rotor warpage?
2. What bearing run-out do you have?

The reason I ask is that I've had issues with brakes on a previous car that showed up as shimmy during a stop after a fairly long highway-speed run. Rotor thickness variation was OK, as were lateral and axial runout. Issue turned out to be rotor surface finish due to incorrect pad 'bedding', and strangely enough, too little use. After extended highway travel, there was enough temp variation on the rotor surface to cause the first stop or 2 to be a bit rough. After a period of stop-and-go driving, the shimmy went away.

To your issue: the concern I would have in using non-OEM pads is the mucking up of the regen-to-friction brake transition ("grabbiness") With the more aggressive pads and different rotors, please let us know how it works out - particularly the transition point, and how 'lurch' as you come to a stop...

 

Well I never go to the point of actually clamping a dial indicator behind the wheel. I thought I was covered under a warranty for anything that goes wrong, that shouldn't. So when the SA was calling me to schedule for the visor issue, I mentioned to him the other concern I had and he said: "It's the rotors". Further comments from him suggested it is a common problem on this generation. Then he told me it wasn't a warranty issue, and I blew a brain gasket.

In my experience the sensation caused by hub/bearing runout is a bit more like a howling, that you can feel throughout the front end.

When I was younger I had a heavier car and like to to drive it a bit hard and I went through a set of rotors every year. That was lateral runout of between .002 and .004. What I experienced subjectively on the Camry is reminiscent of the early stages of that failure. Of course now that I'm old and gas is expensive, like many of us I consider it a challenge to maximize economy, minimize braking, etc. That's why I was so shocked when the rotors (apparently) warped.

You make an interesting point about the transitional braking characteristics... I will report back on that.

 

Some of the folks employed as 'service advisers' would be hard-pressed to find their backside if they used BOTH hands. There are some good ones out there, but I've found them few and far between. Same goes to techs - and the comp structure is such that they can't afford to properly diagnose a problem; often they throw parts at what the most likely fix might be and hope it goes away. There are bunches of rotors tossed or over-machined where the real problem isn't the rotor, but hub or bearing run-out, which results in 'hot spots' and uneven surface finish.

Without finding true root cause, the problem is quite likely to recur. From the SA perspective, that's OK as long as the recurrence is 40K miles afterward. Taking the mike to the old rotors could well save your new ones from a premature death. And on a TCH, anything less than 250K miles is premature for rotor wear-out.

 

I tried to access the above web site to no avail. When did you buy your parts?