Brake Discs Help - Suspected Warpped Discs

[Anees]

Hi guys,

I need some help. I suspect that the brake discs I have (3G Brembo) are warped due to vibrations I get at 40mph+ through the steering wheel and brake pedal.

I emailed 3G the following:

Hi,

Hope you are well.

In April 2008 I bought a full set of 3G 20GR brake discs for my Toyota Aristo V300. These were fitted a few months later due to a lack of time and being busy with other projects at the time. The discs have done no more then 2000 miles because the car is my weekend car and they appear to be warped! I have not driven the car hard at all, usually just pottering about. I am getting vibrations through the brake pedal and steering wheel every time I brake at speeds over 40 - 50 mph. I use the 3G discs (which are basically Brembo disks), with Hawk Brembo Spec Brake Pads which are designed to work with Brembo discs. I am a member of the MKIV Supra club and the combination of Hawk Brembo pads along with 3G Brembo Discs is a tried and trusted method.

I have been to two respected independent garages (both well known to members of Lexus Owners Club) and both come to the same conclusion that the discs are warped! They have checked for worn balljoints and any play in the suspension and have found no issues. I bought 3G discs because of your great reputation amongst car enthusiasts for a quality product.

Your website does state:

We offer a full refund or replacement discs if any major failure i.e. cracking, occurs within one year or 10,000 miles of purchase date. We will also offer a full refund or replacement discs if a problem is apparent immediately after or during fitting.

I would like replacement discs sent since the fault is easily within your terms and conditions. How does the procedure work? I can send you a copy of the original receipt, I also have the current and last years MOT where you will see the car does no more then about 4000 miles in a year. Will you be able to send the discs on an exchange basis so that the car is not off the road while the discs are being changed. I

Thanks for your assistance.

They have given me two options.

1. I buy a new set of discs, swap over the old discs and then send them back to be checked. If they are found to be warped I will be given a refund on the purchase price of the new discs. If my old discs are not warped however then they will be cleaned up and sent back to me and the new discs that I have I can't return and have to keep.

OR

2. Take the discs off the car, send them back for checking and they will replace the discs that are found to be warped. I would much prefer this because if the discs are not found to be warped then I'm not out of pocket having bought another set of expensive discs.

Trouble with option two is that don't have anywhere I can leave the car jacked up with no wheels for about a week. I asked my mates with a garage if I could leave it with him and they just don't have the space at the moment but said I can keep the car at some point but will probably be after Christmas/January - I don't want to wait that long! I considered trying to find some Axle stands and maybe leaving the car on the drive, but my drive is on a slight slope and I am uneasy doing that myself.

This is probably a long shot, but I am on the beg/borrow to see if anyone has a set of old discs I could borrow just to get me from the garage and back home.

I need ideally Supra TT front discs and rear Lexus GS300 discs. Car will be drive probably 20 miles max on them and the plan would be to go to the garage, change discs over, send off 3G discs to be checked, drive home on temporary discs and park up until the replacments arrive and then drive back to the garage to have them fitted.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks,

Anees :)

[aido]

Mate can't help with these I'm afraid but IS200 & GS430 disks should fit the back too if anyone has any?

[Anees]

Cheers Aido - I might post on the Supra forum too; more chance of getting a spare set of front discs from their I think.

[GoldfingerLS]

Hi Anees,

This is quite a common complaint people have after fitting new discs. The actual discs themselves are not easy to warp and you wouldnt call brembo a cheap brand.

Before the discs were fitted was the mounting hub properly cleaned with wire wool or very fine grit paper and wiped ? Even a small particle of rust can be enough to cause vibration. While the discs are off, the hub should be tested with a dial tested indicator and the runout should not be more than 0.05mm at the very most.(not 100% sure if that is the excact tolerance figure for the GS). If that is fine then the disc sould be mounted and held againt the hub with the lug nuts and then the runout tested again and the tolerance should be under 0.1mm. If it comming very close to 0.1mm, the discs need to be rotated one position and the runout checked until is it below tolerance. The idea is to match the highest point on the disc with the lowest point in the hub.

After installation the pads and discs need to bedded in carefully and properly for the first few hundred miles of driving until the surface of disc has an even coat of pad matrial deposited on it.

It all sounds very awkard and long winded to go though that just to change pads and disc but its not always a quick job to get good results. I replaced the discs and pads all round on my 99 LS400 and recently on my friends E46 BMW and I pretty much followed the above to ensure best results.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

[DJ Wozza]

Sorry to hear this bud, hope you get it sorted soon :)

[Anees]

Thanks guys.

Hi Anees,

This is quite a common complaint people have after fitting new discs. The actual discs themselves are not easy to warp and you wouldnt call brembo a cheap brand.

Before the discs were fitted was the mounting hub properly cleaned with wire wool or very fine grit paper and wiped ? Even a small particle of rust can be enough to cause vibration. While the discs are off, the hub should be tested with a dial tested indicator and the runout should not be more than 0.05mm at the very most.(not 100% sure if that is the excact tolerance figure for the GS). If that is fine then the disc sould be mounted and held againt the hub with the lug nuts and then the runout tested again and the tolerance should be under 0.1mm. If it comming very close to 0.1mm, the discs need to be rotated one position and the runout checked until is it below tolerance. The idea is to match the highest point on the disc with the lowest point in the hub.

After installation the pads and discs need to bedded in carefully and properly for the first few hundred miles of driving until the surface of disc has an even coat of pad matrial deposited on it.

It all sounds very awkard and long winded to go though that just to change pads and disc but its not always a quick job to get good results. I replaced the discs and pads all round on my 99 LS400 and recently on my friends E46 BMW and I pretty much followed the above to ensure best results.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

To be honest, I too have my doubts the discs can be warped after 4000 miles of light driving which I why I don't want to risk buying another set. Your suggestions are exactly what the guys at 3G said. The discs were fitted by a garage and not myself so don't know if they cleaned the hubs properly, but the same garage has fitted pads and discs to my BMW e46 and I remember then cleaning the hubs so I would think they did it when fitting the Aristo brakes. It a bit insulting to go back to them and ask if they cleaned the hubs properly before mounting the discs I think at this stage but will try and have a nice polite word :)

[Bazza]

i have used 3g discs on the starlet this year coupled with mintex 1144 pads

bedded them in, then totally abused them throughout the sprint series

still as true as a die

reckon you should have stop pottering and just abused them

[ihpj]

I think thats great customer services from the company concerned and a very fair set of options.

It might be worth you going back to the garage that did the fitting to ask them to perhaps remove, clean and refit the discs? I don't think they'd take offence, just worth being open with them and the fact you want to avoid any additional costs - it may be that they'll be more than happy to do this FOC as you seem to have a very good relationship with them.

[TigerFish]

I have a pair of warped Mk1 front discs (I think they fit a Mk2, although not sure with the brake upgrade you have) if you get desperate.