Warped rotors

[1Titan]

Originally Posted by Fontana Titan

1Titan...I wanted to answer your question first about what pads have to do with rotors warping.

Pads have almost everything to do with rotor warp. Warping comes from heat. It can also come from extreme change in temperature (ice cold water on a very hot rotor). Pads come in different compositions. Some are organic, others are metallic. While metallic may wear longer they are a harder compound, causing greater friction which translates to heat. The pads will last much longer but if you're hard on brakes you'll be machining the hell out of your rotors. Organic seem to be softer and wear out sooner but as a result you tend to see less heat and less warp. Another thing about pads. Never buy aftermarket. I don't care how reputable the brand. I always get Nissan factory replacement.

Hopefully it's a pad issue and they replace pads because mine got machined at 3000 miles. I'm not too happy about it and am even considering asking them to replace with new rotors. One thing I read somewhere is that there is a known lubrication problem with calipers where the pistons don't back off all the way causing unnecessary 'drag' on the rotors. Again we're back to heat. If that's the case the rotors will definately warp. I took mine back to the dealer today to have some dash rattles addressed and also asked them to pull all 4 tires, re-lube the calipers and machine the rotors if they are at all warped.

Good luck and hope this all helps.

Thanks Fontana I'll keep that in mind re: brake pads as possibly being the cause for the warped rotor issue. If you get "upgraded" pads on yours please share the part number so when it happens to us we can make sure they use that same pads for us.-Thanks

[Titan4UGA]

Originally Posted by pagerdaddy

There is a nice big brake kit that came out for the Titan. And hey, its
only about $3,000!

Steve

Only 3k!!! Wow what a steal, I should buy about 5 then to give as Christmas gifts!

[Half Shovel]

While over torqued wheels will warp the rotors, I heard from a friend who works at my Nissan dealership that there is a problem with the calipers, and that the pistons are sticking, causing the warpage.

Of course this is 3rd party info, but I'd be interested to see if it rings true.

Half Shovel (Drivus Titanus Alloticus)

[BoneDaddy]

Hi All,

I'm in the buying decision process and very concerned about this warped rotor issue. In the process of doing my homework and reading post on numerous forums, I have noticed one common ingredient to the problem.

I have seen many people state that this happened inside of 5000 miles, AND with 1000 - 2000 of that being on long trips. To me this indicates that they are not doing heavy stop and go driving that would cause excessive wear to the system. Rather, I believe that there is a "stuck caliper" that is sticking to the rotor and causing extreme heat on these long hauls warping the rotors.

Does this theory seem to make sence to any of you here? I see that a couple of you are getting the calipers worked on (lubed & replaced). I would be very curious to see if that fixes the problem.

Best of Luck to you all! Hopefully, I can be an "owner" soon myself!
Tony

[Titan4UGA]

Originally Posted by Half Shovel

While over torqued wheels will warp the rotors, I heard from a friend who works at my Nissan dealership that there is a problem with the calipers, and that the pistons are sticking, causing the warpage.

Of course this is 3rd party info, but I'd be interested to see if it rings true.

Half Shovel (Drivus Titanus Alloticus)

Today I just talked to a reliable source that works for nissan and he says that they are in the process of shipping new calipers to dealers for the first Titan recall, for this brake problem everyone is having.

[bbqhog]

I got my Titan back yesterday with resurfaced rotors, new calipers and pads. No more vibration. YEA!!

[rocafella]

I just started to get my vibrations when i apply the brakes. It seems to happen when i get in the 40 mph all the way down to 20 then stops. Ill be taking it in like everyone else. I hope they get a fix for this soon. My titan has 4500 miles on it now. From what ive been reading it sounds like its happening in the 3000-5000 mile range. Other than this problem i havent had any other complaints. Love the truck. BTW, i just looked over at edmunds.com and saw that the titan was #1 on their full size pickup test. WOOT, go Titans.

[nj1266]

I hope I can shed some light on this. Tundra owners have been through the same problem that you guys are having.

Let me start by saying that machining rotors is BULL CRAP. Rotors do not warp. It is an old wife's tale that needs to be debunked. I have been racing cars for 5 years and I have not seen a warpped rotors yet. Here is what happens: Your brake pads get overheated for various reasons and then they transfer brake material unevenly to the rotors. When the brakes cool down the brake material sticks to the rotor. When you drive and hit the brakes you get the wobbly impression that is very common to all of you. Machining the rotors destroys their structural integrity. What needs to be done is to sand the excess brake material off the rotors and use NEW brake pads. In essence, the brake pads are the problem and not the rotors.

The 00 to early 03 Tundra had the same problem. Toyota issues a TSB to machine the rotors and replace the pads. IT DID NOT WORK. Then Toyota issued a new TSB in early 2003 replacing the calipers, rotors, and pads with new ones. The new calipers had larger diameter pistons in them. This fixed the problem.

The Tundra had too small front brake calipers and was overheating the pads. This caused brake material to transfer unevenly to the rotors. This cuased the wobbly feel that you get when applying the brakes.

I suspect that the Titan has the same problem. I know that Nissan will issue the same crappy TSB that Toyota did the first time. I guarantee you that machining the rotors does not work. It is a band aid. Nissan needs to redesign the front calipers and use bigger pistons. This will help the pads apply equal pressure to the entire rotor surface. It prevents pad overheating and pad warppage and uneven pad material transfer.

[dickyn]

Since this is your first post, let me say that I don't know much about this subject, but Nissan Resurfaced my rotors ONLY and did not replaced the pads and mine is working fine so far. I do alot of heavy braking with constant load pushing forward, so mine should heat up pretty well. My vehicle runs six days a week from 7AM - 8PM constant stop and go traffic.

[rocafella]

Well i just got my truck back and this is what the service tech told me. They have put in an order for new pads and will machine the rotors. I think this is what everyone else is getting done also. The only bad part is that the new pads wont be in for a few weeks. I also asked if the wobble could damage other parts in the truck or if it was unsafe to drive it in this condition. He said no and that i was safe and no other parts would be damaged. Well i guess im just gonna have to wait for the pads to come in.

[kmonto]

I stopped by my dealer on Monday and stated that I need to get my brakes looked at and that they will need to resolve it later this week. The dealership called and said the solution to the brake issue for having vibration and moshy brake pedal over time is that the pads are not the right ones. Apparently, they stated that there is a TSB that states for them to replace the pads with new and improved ones and turn the rotors. I told them I wanted knew rotors since the Armada only has 11,920 miles on it. We are still discussing that. I'll try to get more information from the dealer when I stop by there tomorrow and get the Armada brakes resolved.

[nj1266]

Originally Posted by ****yn

Since this is your first post, let me say that I don't know much about this subject, but Nissan Resurfaced my rotors ONLY and did not replaced the pads and mine is working fine so far. I do alot of heavy braking with constant load pushing forward, so mine should heat up pretty well. My vehicle runs six days a week from 7AM - 8PM constant stop and go traffic.

The operative word is "so far." I really hope that Nissan's fix works for you. But machining rotors is not the answer. Changing the pad with new ones with different compounds might be the answer. Nissan might have used a pad compound that heats quickly to stop such a large truck. This might have created uneven pad mateirla transfer to the rotor causing the wobble when the brakes are used.

BTW, are the Titan front calipers 4 piston or two piston?

[cgoulette]

I had the same problem as well. Pressing on the brakes causes a vibration. I do think this is a problem with the calipers. When I first got the truck I noticed that it would pull to one side (occasionally), so the calipers were probably not adjusted correctly.

I took the truck to the dealership, and they replaced the pads and replaced the rotors. The vibration is completely gone and the mushy break feeling is also gone.

[NHTitan]

My dealer just replaced my front rotors and pads. They warped at about 4,600 miles. It's nice to drive without a shaking steering wheel in your hands again. I just hope that it doesn't happen again.

[kcrisp]

I took mine in 2 weeks ago for the brake shudder, I think I became aware of the problem at around 6500 on the odom. I had other issues that needed to be taken care of and I had a new seat cover on backorder so I wanted to just make one trip to take care of these issues. The squeeks got taken care of, the seat cover replaced, oil changed but they had to order the pads. On Sunday I started her up to make a trip to the local store and the Service Engine light came on and stayed on. I checked the gas cap to make sure it was on tight and not cross threaded and everyhting was good. I called the service dept. yesterday to make an appt to take it in to get looked at and they told me the brake pads are in so here we go again back to the service dept. but it's going to feel nice to not feel and hear the cab & steering wheel vibrating. I love driving this truck but I dont get to often, in the past 2 weeks I drove it to the service dept. about a 20 mile drive, wife drove it home & I drove it just once to the store and back on Sunday a total of 10 miles.