Warped rotors
 

my 2016 has had warped rotors since about 15k miles, and now I am at 25k miles. I just called my dealer today to have them looked at and hopefully replaced. Have you guys had any luck with warranty on warped rotors? I know I can get cross drilled ones, but I am delaying that for a while because I am selling and buying a house right now, and I just want to not have to work on the truck for now.

Ideas? Stories? suggestions?

Thanks.

I doubt with that mileage they will warranty the brakes.

They might turn them for you as customer courtesy but i think rotors are considered a "wear" item.

Depends how kind your dealership is.

EDIT: There are much better aftermarket rotors available, I would suggest aftermarket over OEM if you end up having to pay

I would be happy if they turn them- I drive 70 miles + a day, and on the highway the truck shakes pretty violently. If I have to replace them, I'll do it myself, and buy better ones.

They aren't warped. Go out and do a few HARD stops.

It will go away for awhile.

They shake worse if I nail the brakes hard- if they are not warped what is it? Glazing?

Brake pad deposition.

Yeah, mine did this from 2,500 miles, until 12.5k miles. The dealership turned the rotors and scuffed the pads. At 16k miles, it started again. I tried doing the hard stop thing to clean the rotors off, and it works for a short while, then they start up again.

I have the Ford maintenance package - has anyone used it for brakes? How many times will they turn or replace rotors during the first 100k/6yr period?

-John

Yes.

it'll shake like a bitch. After a few HARD stops it goes away.

Warped rotors is a feeling, not actually a deformation.

Did a trip up to the mountains last year. Lots of really steep roads, and switch backs. Really tested the brakes. When I got back, I thought mine might be warped as well. Took to a mechanic I trust, and he told me to try several hard stops. I found an empty parking lot, and did 10 stops from 45mph down to zero in fairly quick succession. Not slamming on the brakes so they locked up, but hard and even braking. My "warped" feeling went away.

Mine was likely caused by the quick, and hard braking I had to do in the mountains. I plan to do the Powerstop Z36 brakes front and rear on my truck, but I'm going to wait until the brakes wear out. It'll be about time for new rotors by then anyways. Mine were turned once before I bought the truck.

Had mine machined twice. Hard braking did nothing to fix it. First time was at 56k, 2nd time at 73k plus got new pads. Second time was with only my powertrain warranty left and it was still free, but I bought the FMPP package with the truck which I guess covers that. My powertrain ends at 100k and I'll be going in at 99k to complain about it again just to get new rotors, the service advisor told me to do this.

few things.

1) you can indeed warp brake rotors and get then out of square to the hub. it does happen and the cause is people over torquing lug nuts. Now I've not experienced it on a truck per say but that doesn't mean it can't happen. I fixed a guys brakes a few years ago where the tire shop moron put the lugs down at near 400ft lbs some 4 months before the guy brought me the car. shook like mad.

2) pad deposits are the most common issue and remember now that you drive down the road on brake rotors 14 or so inches in diameter - those minor bumps in the rotor surface translate though the suspension pretty easily today. IE they have a significant torque arm.

3) another issue I find is people not taking the time to clean the hubs before putting on brake rotors with new cars - on a front driver there is enough mass that the wobble goes away. On a RWD car/vehicle not so much. you get some rust and crap between the rotor and the wheel hub plane - then you bolt the wheel on and it's crooked by a few thousands of an inch.

finally don't waste money on cross drilled rotors on a modern car. they can lead to other issues and won't help your effectual braking. slotted rotors maybe but that's if you use a really aggressive pad compound. Slots aren't worth much often today either because most good brake pads have a dust evac slot in the pad face. On my sportier cars I like a slotted rotor I wouldn't really recommend that on a truck.

If on the other hand you can get a bigger rotor - IE bigger diameter - I would do that but it will cost alot.

Those are indeed causes for warped rotors. I wonder on the quality of them though. For the 3 reasons above;

1) I bought steel rims with winter tires from the dealership and put them on myself. I always swap my own tires myself and I use a torque wrench.
2) This is possible, but since I like high mileage, I brake lightly and only hit the brakes hard for emergencies, which is rare because I keep my distance.
3) Definitely clean hub faces between tire swaps and grease lightly to prevent the rims from getting stuck on the hub. I also do this to my wife's car because I swap summers and winters myself and don't want to deal with stuck wheels.

Maybe #2 is the culrpit, but having had them machine twice in such a short time has me wondering if I should go aftermarket, or have the dealership replace with OEM next time and do aftermarket if it happens again down the road.

THIS is what most of my braking is... a nice, easy stop. I prefer a smooth drive, at least when I'm in a good mood. Lemme guess, you also do some stop-and-go or city-type driving? My wife is somewhat herky-jerky on the gas and brake pedals, and she never seems to have an issue with brakes. Me, on the other hand, seem to always have vibration in the pedal.

On my 2015, it's the right-front brake that "warps" the most, and I hear a click/tick/metal-on-metal type noise intermittently too, so I suspect a hanging caliper. My servicing dealer turned the rotors once already, and it's gonna need it again before winter. Luckily, I don't drive a lot, so I can space out my dealership visits.

For those with the FMPP, how many free turns/replacements do you get? Nobody's been able to give a straight answer on that one.

-John

I think you are right... I slammed the brakes a few times, and tried a few hard controlled stops so the abs would not kick in. That seemed to help considerably. I will cancel my service appt and save the money/

has it ever been to a tire shop for a rotate and balance?

On the pad deposits thing - so many factors. rotor alloy - how it chemically likes the brake pads. Pad compounds some are sticker than others

do you generate a lot of brake dust? Hard to say on a truck but the variance is high. I do alot of city driving and I always have to make at least one good panic stop a week. However I daily a 4 door family car.

Couple things out of testing that you don't often think about. long slow stops can lead to deposits as bad as hard quick ones. It's that whole rotor and pad chemistry thing but it's also the time. if your pads are softer than the rotors (and they're supposed to be) and you take that long stop you will grind that dirt into the rotor face - eventually it can and will stick. Worse you've taken say one full minute to stop from say 45. Not I don't have the numbers on the temps but let's say at the end of the stop you've touched 800 degrees F. and let's say your pad's breakdown temp is 1100. In theory you shouldn't have an issue - but that pad dust might well get soft. Under the pad - where it's pressed to the rotor - at the stop sign for 3 minutes or more. over time you get a bit of a ridge there, etc etc

There are just pad and rotor combo's that don't work. Example go ask the pontiac GTO guys about EBC red pads on DBA rotors. Deposit central - they just like each other too much. Use any other pad or any other rotor - problem goes away. Brembo and others actually test for this to a certain degree - with their own products.

Another issue the OE rotor might just be soft - I don't know how long people are getting out of them - but they might be soft on purpose. That's a newer design philosophy where the rotor is to wear as much as the pad and the shaving of which increases the effective brake torque. That same stop scenario where the pad sits on the rotor but with a rotor that is softer than the pad - you will press dust into the rotor face. This is a minor issue with Carbon/carbon brakes - and easily fixed buy a hard stop or 3.


When I start to get a little vibration in my family car I don't turn the rotors (takes too much effort) but I will if it's bad - take a palm sander and some 60 grit out to the car - take off the wheel and lightly as in nearly no pressure - sand the faces of the rotor for a short while till i can see uniform scratch marks - on both sides. Then I clean the faces with brake cleaner - and put the wheel back on properly torqued.

Tends to fix the issue for me. my car however is fairly particular since it's 19 inch wheels with 45 series tread and the rotors are over 14 inch diameter. Since I've changed my commute I don't have the issue.

When you stop, leave a bit of room and slowly creep forward so the pad is not locked in one spot on the rotor. Moving a bit lets that spot of the rotor get out from under the pad to cool, and don't hold the pedal down much harder than necessary when stopped. Cant hurt.

Yes I prefer a nice smooth ride. I'm also one to always be very early no matter where I'm going so I'm never in a rush. I'd say my overall mileage is 15-25% city. Of my 23 minute drive to work every day, 20 of those minutes are on the highway doing 60-65 mph (the speed limit here).


The FMPP covers as many turns/replacements/pads as needed while I'm still under warranty. Also covered all services, oil changes, filters (oil and air), inspections etc. I've never paid anything for service since I bought the truck. It's a great package. It also includes tire rotations but I decline them because I rotate them myself keeping track of where each rim goes with the winter/summer wheel swap.

They checked tire balance the first time I brought it in for the vibration and they were good. They also checked the alignment, and then they turned the rotors. Good dealership (Team Ford).


Haven't noticed any dust on the rims, and I usually keep them clean in the summer, so it's something I would probably notice. For the braking, don't necessarily take a minute with the brakes on to come to a stop, I just coast a lot. What I don't do is wait till the last 20 feet and slam the brakes like I see many people do. From 40-45 mph I probably brake for 8-10 seconds and it seems others are like 3-5 seconds.
I dunno, I've just never had rotors turned so often. I think most of my other vehicles have only had it done once, and that was with double or triple the mileage I have now.

Read this.

Haven't done my F150 brakes yet but did the fronts on my wife's Edge this past winter. Got pads and rotors at Auto Zone, pads are lifetime warranty and rotors are two year (no mileage factor) warrenty. Pads and rotors about $150.

:thumbsup:

FYI I have to do this on a pretty regular basis. (1-2 times a month) I'm getting better brakes when I need them. I'm pretty easy on my brakes most of the time. I coast to stop most of the time. (total opposite of my wife)

Maybe their guy ran the lugs downs with a impact gun over torque. Incidentally I hate torque sticks but that's another rant.

anywho - you might have a different issue but try the occasionally hard brake - like doing it in a parking lot or whatever makes you comfortable.

But they did that when I brought it in because of the brakes to begin with, after torqueing them myself. Anytime anyone touches my lugnuts, I retorque them myself. I've been doing it for at least 15 years ever since I had a bolt break off from overtorqued lugnuts on my Volkswagen. Every nut was a PITA to loosen so I brought it back and got the shop to replace the broken bolt and loosen them. The kid doing it probably had the air on max...

Has anyone tried just scuffing their rotors and putting some aftermarket ceramic pads on to fix this issue? I am not opposed to putting some drilled/slotted rotors on with better pads, but it would be cheaper to just sand my rotors which are still in pretty good shape, and put some decent ceramic pads or ebc's or something.

I guess i could just try and let you know, but wanted to see if anyone has tried already. typically I have just used the AutoZone Duralast Gold ceramic pads, and I have had good luck with those. They last a long time, and stop great.

THIS ALL DAY LONG! If you need a quick fix I've used a palm sander to take off brake pad deposits. Not what you really should do but it works OK as opposed to having rotors turned or replaced.......

Just make sure you clean off the rotor surface after sanding them..... :thumbsup:

^^^This is something a lot of people don't think about, the long slow stop might feel smooth but it 'can' cause a lot of heat. If you have that heat and either 'tap' or 'hold' your brakes after this type of stop you can get pad deposits on your rotor as well.

....been there done that lol

Since this thread has had a few new replies, I'll report in on my adjusted driving habits.

I am now braking a little later and a little harder, and it seems to be keeping my brake issues away. It felt like it was only the right front rotor that did it, but it's been mostly staying away when I do this later/harder braking thing. It comes back if I go a day or two without following this new regimen. This lends credence to the suspicion that my brake issues are related to pad material deposition.

-John

further aside - since it was brought up in this thread.

1) not all of what stoptech puts in their myth page is true either. Remember they are selling you on their parts too. Which are made in china - Stoptech is Centric.

2) Drilled rotors. Don't bother. Drilled rotors do little to nothing for modern pads and stopping ability. They might look cool but it doesn't help the pads outgas. Because modern ceramic pads don't outgas. Unless made correctly where the holes are drilled and reamed in 2 operations - they are prone to cracking in extremes.

3) slotted rotors. I recommend these but only to people that race. It isn't really for DD use. SLots if done right - sweep the pad face and help evacuate pad dust off the pad/rotor interface. It can also reduce the chance of pad glazing due to high heat. They make more noise - they eat pads a bit more - and they cost more. Unless you road course your F150 I wouldn't use a set on one. I do however use a set on my 4 door family car.

4) brake fluid - change that rot out after year 2. Brake fluid gathers water vapor once exposed - from there it created organic acids. (I had to ask a chemist - acids that contain Oxygen, Carbon and Hydrogen) Aside from becoming acid and damaging - the boiling point decreases over time to the point where it becomes possible to boil the fluid behind the caliper piston. This leads to spongy brakes and could be a bad day when you need it. I say trade at year 2, and every 2 years after or at the very least - get some test strips and test your fluid. However what's in the reservoir is not the quality of what's in the caliber or worse your expensive ABS control module. I flush mine after 2 years new - then every 2-3 depending on the car. (I use my brakes very hard on my DD)

so do you think getter better pads with ceramic formulation on stock rots will help out? I think I am going to try it and report back, as it's the cheapest option, and my brakes drive me nuts right now.

I suspect the stock pads are already a ceramic formulation. Thing is - there's many others out there.

On your comment about sanding them and using new pads. Sure try it if you want to . I would make sure you sand the rotor with a block of some sort. IE make sure the paper stays flat to the plane of the rotor face. Use a 60 grit.

clean the rotors front and back and spin them a few times.

pads - I don't believe in "lifetime" brake pads. so I would never buy the duralast anything. I do however like the wagner thermo-quiet line of pads for daily driver activity. They are a ceramic formulation - as are many.

If the factory pads are ceramic they suck because they cause a lot of dust. I've had good luck with Duralst Gold pads in my last 4 vehicles, and I don't believe in lifetime pads either. I change them like every 50k

Ceramic pads are low dust. Ceramic pads have lousy initial bite and lower ultimate stopping power.

Todd, do you recommend EBC pads over a chain parts store ceramic pad? I've never tried them. I just want to know what people run on stock rotors that stop well, don't fade, don't dust, and don't leave deposits

same thing happened to me, just took it back and they turned the rotors, no charge. still under warranty

This mystical pad does not exist. I don't like EBC.

Stop well. Meaning well enough for you? Many people are happy with ceramic pads and can't tell they don't stop as well as semi-metallic pads. If ceramic stop well enough for you and low dust is the primary concern, then get ceramic pads.

You shouldn't be getting the brakes hot enough on your truck where fade would ever be an issue. I would not put up with race pads squealing, screeching and grinding to get some level of higher fade resistance which I would never need.

Low dust? Ceramic for you. I wash my truck often, so my wheels never get dirty, and I can't stand they way ceramic pads feel, but again, it's a trade off. Feel and performance or dust?

All pads can leave deposits. Get the brakes hot and then stop and hold the brakes on and you'll get deposits. So let's say you've just gone down a long grade with a heavy trailer and rode the brakes the entire way down and there's a traffic light at the bottom. Put the truck in neutral and take your foot off the brake, if there's a hill use the parking brake. This isn't needed in normal driving.

If you are the kind of driver that doesn't anticipate, brakes hard at the last second and leaves the brakes on when stopped, you will start to leave deposits. Once it starts, it just gets worse and worse. Funny that the early cure can be some aggressive braking, as long as you don't come to a stop and let the brakes cool back down before you do.

OK, so let me explain my situation then...
My last 3 vehicles were a 2003 GMC Sierra 1500, a 2004 Chevy Avalanche 1500, and my wifes 2012 Kia Sorento. In all three vehicles, I have used Advance Auto Parts cheap rotors, and Autozone Duralast Gold semi ceramic brake pads. In all three vehicles the braking was vastly improved, and brake dust was vastly reduced over factory pads.

I tried in my wifes Kia a set of Wearever Silver pads at the suggestion of a friend I trust, and after about 5000 miles, they were basically crumbling.

Both myself and my wife drive similarly - about 20% city driving, and 80% highway, adn we both brake slow and evenly, no jabbing on the brakes at the last minute. My driving style has not changed between any of my vehicles, and I tow a trailer that can weigh up to 6000 lbs with no electric brakes, and my F150 is the only vehicle I have had brake pad deposits on. I find it hard to believe that the pad/rotor combination is so different that the same driving style would cause deposits like this.

I am open to suggestions that others have done as far as replacing the pads or rotors to fix the pad deposit issue. I don't feel like pulling my rotors off every six months to have them turned and scuff my pads.

That being said, if the Wagner thermoquiet pads, and new stock off the shelf rotors from an Auto Parts store will help the problem, I am all for trying it but I hate throwing away money. I had good experience with the Duralast Gold in the past, which I why I tend to lean that way in future. If I can get much better breaking with a more metallic based pad, I am open to using them, and I will try to wash my truck more often.

Does anyone have any recommendations based on their 2015 and newer f150 that had similar issues and replaced with a pad or pad and rotor combo?

Todd, this is what I was asking, I know theres not "magical" pad that fixes everything, I apologize if it sounded that way. I worked at a NAPA for close to 5 years, so I have a decent understanding on pads and rotors. I had used their top of the line metallic pads previously on an S10 and I was not impressed- when they heated up, there was a point that the truck slowed down, and with equal pressure, it seemed to coast when the pads got hot. I do not want that- I know ceramic helps with heat.

I'm not sure how to fix the F-150's brake issues, but I can tell you that GM vehicles that I've owned all used ceramic brake pads. Ford uses a metallic compound brake pad. I can tell you that when I put ceramics on a Mustang, my brakes squealed like no tomorrow. When I tried organic pads, the braking power was so reduced I had to use my e-brake to get back to the shop.

I think it's best to use a pad and rotor that complement each other. If you're looking for reduced dust, try a ceramic pad and a rotor that's made to work well with it.

-John

I did some searching online, and for severe duty, towing, fleet vehicles, and police etc, they recommend a metallic formula pad. The Wagner Severe Duty is PN SX1414 in the front, I may give those a try. They're about the same price as the autozone ones I was buying. They only sell them for the front though, as I know most of the force is on the front brakes. I'm still looking around, but I will let you all know what I decide.

Depends on which compound, who makes it, what it's use is for etc.

I run ceramics on my race car - I promise you it has better initial bite and far greater stopping power than you're use to.

I also run metallics (which incidentally are also a ceramic compound it just has metals in it - but semantics and marketing right) on my beater race car because cheap.

If you wanted something with low dust and good braking - you need to spend some money. Hawk Ceramics, AXXISS, Brembo, few others. I don't know what exactly is made for the F150 never researched it. But there are some out there that will be really good - just remember to check over the rest of your brake system.

Indeed. And there are rotor and pad combo's that absolutely suck together. Ask anyone that used DBA rotors and EBC Red Pads - deposit city. Trade to AXXIS pads fantastic operation. Take EBC red pads put them on brembo rotors - fantastic operation. Something in the chemistry doesn't jive occasionally.

Meanwhile on my DD I use the wagner thermo-quiet pads they are a ceramic compound they have great bite and great braking and I do at least one panic stop a week due to moronic activity on the city streets.

I'd give either a try. I'm a but surprised Ford would use metallics on the F150 but various tradeoffs. I don't think mine dust - I have an XLT though and don't have the payload or tow packages. Might be something there.

I know they use ceramics on the Exploder from the factory - and there I have been recommending people move to the pads on the Pursuit Explorer or the sport model. which are the same.

TO be fair there are some very performance oriented metallic or semi-metallic pad setups. and they will dust, you will however have to search out the cross compatibility. I think some HD style pads might well work for you, but I suspect even the ceramics would too.


You haven't noticed the brakes being spongy have you?

Brakes are never spongy, they still grab amazing in panic braking, but if I'm on the highway, especially towing or in stop and go traffic between like 0-50, the hotter they get,or the more I brake the worse they shake. I drive this exactly like all my other vehicles but I've never had brakes pulse or feel like this

I ordered some pads from Summit racing. I got them friday, but did not have a chance to put them on yet- so what I will be running is these:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/pwr-z36-1414

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/pwr-z36-1602

If you drive in the hills, haul loads, or tow trailers, you need the extra stopping power of Power Stop Z36 truck and tow carbon fiber-ceramic brake pads. These carbon ceramic pads are made for trucks and SUVs with higher gross vehicle weights. Their extreme pad bite offers superior performance to avoid high temperatures and brake fade. Power Stop Z36 pads feature a coefficient of friction that's 17 percent higher than OE pads!

they have good reviews, especially with guys running bigger tires or towing, so I am going to give them a shot.

I also got brand new front rotors (one of mine had some pretty deep grooves in it)
I got the carquest platinum rotors
https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/...m=brake+rotors

I will let you all know how they go- I need to get time to swap them. I bought a new house a few weeks ago, so I have been very busy lately.

Using a torque wrench when you put your wheels back on? You want an even pull on the studs as you tighten the lug nuts.

I just had the same issue at 45K miles. Shuddering when braking at any speed over 35 mph. Took my 2015 F150 in and the dealership soaked me for $1K. New rotors all around. Issue is gone. They said getting 45K miles out of them is good. Not fantastic but better than average. Said that they usually replace rotors in high 20s and into 30s. Not a warranty item, considered normal wear and tear. They even told me that the factory makes the rotors thinner now to save on weight and so they fail earlier and can up sell the rotors. This is just bad design ethics from Ford. Next time, I will get after market rotors. I couldn't this time due to lack of time, illness etc.

They didn’t just soak you, they gave you a whole line of BS to justify the soaking. My company truck(2015) is at 70k miles on the original pads and rotors, no issues and less than half worn. I drive in SF Bay traffic daily with the truck fully loaded. But I coast when I can and brake quickly and get off the brakes quickly. Also never sit mashing the pedal after a stop but roll forward a couple feet and hold the stop with minimal pressure.