Warped Rotors

[mustang87]

~6700 miles in. Car makes vibrating/grinding noise when brake pedal is depressed. Turns out all 4 rotors were warped and had to be machined. First step in warranty is to machine the rotors, Ford wouldn't replace my the them. I will probably be back after another 6-7k miles. Happened to anybody with the 15 or past mustangs?

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[kn7671]

A few things cause this:

- Hard braking from high speeds
- Repeated hard driving
- After hot and hard braking, park/stop car without a cool off drive
- splashing through deep water with hot brakes
- car wash spraying cold water on hot brakes
= most car washes directly spray water on the wheel/brake
- riding the brakes
- rear parking brake not completely disengaged
- sticking brake caliper or other brake component failure

All that aside, every car including every Mustang I've ever owned needed new rotors at least every 7,500 to 15,000 miles, as I just beat the crap of the brakes from repeated hard slow downs or stops from many various different speeds, and I always need new rotors before new pads.

I suspect since all 4-rotors needed to be machined, there is either a brake system issue, you were unknowingly riding the brakes, or the rotors were splashed with water.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

I drove my 2011 V6 for 44,000 miles and didn't need new rotors or pads.

 

[BOSS5L]

Torque...

Apparently not torquing the lug nuts to the correct (high) torque can also cause rotor warping. I have this problem on my F150 which also calls for 150 ft-lbs for the lug nuts like my Mustang.

 

[Trackaholic]

In most cases the rotors don't actually warp, but become uneven did to deposits from the pads.

The best way to combat this is to bed the pads by gradually beating them up and then by doing a few hard stops to evenly deposit pad material and then finally by cooling them down before parking. At no point when the brakes are hot should you stop with them applied, as that will cause an uneven deposit at that location.

Maybe that will help the rotors last longer.

Or maybe they really are warped and that won't help.

-T

 

[mustang87]

It's definitely not my driving habits. You guys would laugh at me but I really baby the car. Only some fun take off from red lights now and then. I went on a business trip and left the car sitting outside in virginia weather for 2 weeks. Came back and that's when I had brake issue...

 

[RobD]

Rotors warping is not all that common. What happens more often than not is brake pad deposits transfer to the rotor causing the pulsing that we think is warped rotors. turning rotors fixes the problem because it give you a clean surface again. Article explains it much better.
http://stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/-warped-brake-disc-and-other-myths

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