BRAKE PARTS DISC BRAKE ROTOR Complaints

DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY, SOMETHING HAPPENED THAT REALLY BOTHERS ME. I WENT WITH A FRIEND OF MINE TO BUY PARTS TO REPAIR THE BRAKES ON HIS 1990 JEEP WRANGLER. HE NEEDED NEW BRAKE ROTORS, PADS, ETC.. WE WENT TO THE LOCAL KRAGEN'S STORE IN JACKSON, CALIFORNIA. THEY HAD ALL THE PARTS IN STOCK, BUT AFTER MY FRIEND LOOKED AT THE NEW BRAKE ROTORS TO MAKE SURE THEY WERE THE CORRECT ONES THAT HE NEEDED, HE SPOTTED A CHIPPED SPOT ON THE INSIDE OF THE MACHINED SURFACE. THERE WAS A CHIP OUT OF THE MACHINED SURFACE AND A SMALL CRACK RUNNING TOWARD THE CENTER OF THE ROTOR. HE CALLED IT TO THE SALESPERSON'S ATTENTION (JOSE), WHO SAID IT WASN'T REALLY A PROBLEM, AND THAT HE COULD JUST TURN THE ROTOR AND REMOVE THE DEFECT. HE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CRACK AT ALL, DISMISSING IT AS JUST A COSMETIC DEFECT. MY FRIEND ASKED FOR AND GOT ANOTHER UNIT, UPON WHICH JOSE SAID HE WOULD JUST TURN THE ROTOR IN QUESTION AND RETURN IT TO STOCK. THIS SATISFIED MY FRIEND, FOR HIS NEEDS, OF COURSE. BUT IT REALLY BOTHERED ME. THIS WAS CLEARLY A MANUFACTURING DEFECT, AND WITH POTENTIAL DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES IF THE ROTOR WERE TO DISINTEGRATE DUE TO THE CRACK. CRACKS LIKE THIS BRING DOWN AIRPLANES, E.G., THE UNITED AIRLINES PLANE THAT LOST ITS ENGINE OVER NEBRASKA BECAUSE OF A CRACK IN THE ROTOR OF A JET ENGINE. IT SEEMS TO BE THAT JOSE WAS PARTICULARLY CAVALIER IN HIS ATTITUDE TOWARD THE DEFECT. CLEARLY, THE PIECE SHOULD BE RETURNED TO THE MANUFACTURER (RAYBESTOS) AS A DEFECTIVE PRODUCT AND SHOULD NEVER BE PLACED IN USE. EVEN IF IT WERE PERFECTLY SAFE, AS JOSE CONTENDED, THE TURNING OF THE ROTOR WOULD HAVE DECREASED ITS USEFUL LIFE TO ITS NEW OWNER; I'M SURE KRAGEN'S ISN'T GOING TO TELL THE ULTIMATE PURCHASER THAT THE ROTOR WAS FOUND TO HAVE A DEFECT AND MATERIAL REMOVED TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. KRAGEN'S SHOULD NEVER QUESTION AN ITEM OF THIS NATURE THAT HAS A DEFECT IN IT. I THINK THEIR ATTITUDE TOWARD THIS IS ENTIRELY NEGLIGENT. *LA

WE PURCHASED OUR 2001 DODGE DURANGO IN DEC. 2000. IN MARCH 2001, MY HUSBAND RETURNED TO THE FULLERTON DEALERSHIP IN CA TO HAVE THE VEHICLE LOOKED AT DUE TO PROB. WITH THE STEERING WHEEL ON THE FREEWAY, WHEN HE HIT BUMPS. THEY COULD NOT FIND A PROBLEM WTIH THE VEHICLE, ADVISED HIM THAT IT WAS JUST DUE TO THE LOS ANGELES FREEWAYS. WE HAVE TAKEN THE CAR IN ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS DUE TO IT FEELING WOBLY AND UNSTABLE, WE HAVE BEEN TOLD TIME AND TIME THAT WE NEED WHEEL ALINGMENTS. ALSO, WE WERE EXPERIENCING A PROB. WITH THE BRAKES REVERBRATING, ONLY TO BE INFORMED THAT IT WAS PART OF THE ANTI-LOCK BRAKE SYSTEM. YESTERDAY, I WAS DRIVING HOME AND NEARLY HIT A PEDESTRIAN AND SEVERAL VEHICHLES BECAUSE I LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE, THE STEERING WHEEL WAS "OFF-CENTER" AND I WAS NOT ABLE TO CONTROL IT. WHEN I MADE A TURN, SPECIFICALLY, LEFT THE STEERING WHEEL FELT LIKE IT WAS SKIDDING OR HYDROPLANNING. I RECENTLY HAD TIRES PUT ONT HE VEHICLE AND A WHEEL ALIGNMENT. IT FEELS LIKE MY WHEEL ON THE LEFT (DRIVER'S) SIDE IS GOING TO FALL OFF. I AM HAVING THE VEHICLE TOWED TO THE DEALER TODAY. *AK

WHEN I BOUGHT THE CAR A MONTH LATER I CHANGED THE ROTOR, 2 MONTHS LATER AND EVERY 3 MONTHS I'M CHANGING BRAKE PADS. DRIVERS WINDOW WON'T GO DOWN CHANGED MOTOR TWICE. TURN SIGNALS WORK WHEN THEY WANT TO WORK. WHEN IT DOES WORK IT BLINKS VERY FAST. TOOK IT TO OLDSMOBILE MECHANIC COULDN'T FIGURE OUT WHY ITS DOING THAT.

2002 FORD FOCUS HAS FAILURE OF FRONT BRAKE CALIPERS, NEEDS REPLACING OF ROTORS, PADS AND CALIPERS UNDER WARRANTY BUT DEALER REFUSES TO AGREE TO THIS ESTIMATE BY MASTER BRAKE. DEALER SAYS I ONLY NEED PADS AND ROTORS MACHINED. CAR ONLY HAS 14,692 MILES ON IT.*AK

REPEATED REPLACEMENT OF FRONT BRAKE ROTORS DUE TO WARPING. DEALERS KEPT SAYING NEVER HEARD OF ANY PROBLEMS WITH DODGE DAKOTA BRAKE PROBLEMS.*AK

ON 8/30/01 AT 7,968 AT MILES FRONT BRAKE ROTORS AND PADS WERE REPLACED. SAME CONDITION OCCURRED AND ON 8/9/02 AT 14,133 MILES, CALIPER KITS AND FRONT ROTORS WERE REPLACED. AGAIN ON 7/16/03 AT 21,839 MILES FRONT ROTORS WERE REPLACED AND BRAKE PADS WERE CLEANED UP.*AK

I HAVE A 2000 DAKOTA -- ROTORS WARPED @11,000 DEALER REPLACED -- ROTORS WARPED AGAIN 8 MOUNTHS LATER @24,000 DEALER WOULDNT REPLACE, OVER 12K SINCE THEY INSTALLED THEM,SO I TURNED AND NEW PADS -- @38,000 WARPED AGAIN REPLACED ROTERS AND PADS --@53,000 WARPED AGAIN TURNED AND NEW PADS --WARRPED AGAIN @71,000 BUT HAVENT REPLCED ROTORS TILL THIS WEEKEND @76,000 . *AK

I HAVE HAD THE BRAKE ROTORS REPALCED OR RESURFACED 4 TIMES NOW. VEHICLE HAS RECURRING PROBLEM OF BRAKE PULSATION DUE TO WARPED ROTORS. ORIGINALLY I WAS TOLD THE ROTORS WERE DEFECTIVE AND KIA WAS REPLACING ALL ROTORS. NOW AFTER SEVERAL ATTEMPTS TO REPAIR I AM TOLD THIS IS NOT A DEFECT BUT "NORMAL WEAR". I BELIEVE THE FRONT BRAKING SYSTEM IS SUB-STANDARD AND IS PRONE TO OVERHEATING WHICH CAUSES WARPING.*AK

AT APPROXIMATELY 34000 MILES LEFT FRONT BRAKE CYLINDER LEAKED, AND CAUSED SEVER DAMAGE TO THE BRAKING SYSTEM IN MY CAR. THIS WAS COVERED BY THE DEALER, AND THEY REPLACED ALL OF THE BRAKE SHOES, REPLACED THE HYDRAULICSTO THE FRONT BRAKES, TURNED THE ROTORS ETC. NOW, 20000 MILES LATER, THE SAME TYPE OF LEAK IS OCCURING AGAIN. WHY THE SAME TYPE OF FAILURE? I CAN UNDERSTAND THAT THE BRAKE SHOES NEED REPLACEMENT PERIODICALLY, AND THAT THE SYSTEM NEEDS TO BE SERVICED, BUT TO HAVE THE COMPLETE HYDRAULIC SYSTEM FAIL (AGAIN) SEVEN MONTHS AFTER A FULL REPLACEMENT?*AK

ON JAN. 8,2003 I HAD A COMPLETE BRAKE INSPECTIO AND REPAIR DONE BY TUFFY'S AUTO SERVIVE AT 4164 N. MILWAUKEE IN CHICAGO. I NOTICES S SCRAPING SOUND COMING FROM MY LEFT FRONT WHEEL. I RETURNED TO TUFFY'S FIVE (5) TIMES, THE LAST BEING ON OR ABOUT JANUARY 20, 2003. AT THIS TIME, MR JIM JANICEK, THE DISTRICT MANAGER FOR TUFFY'S WAS PRESENT. AGAIN THEY INSPECTED MY BRAKES AND I WAS ASSURED BY MR. JANICEK THAT THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY BRAKES. AT THIS TIME, MR. JANICEK, THE DISTRICT MANAGER FOR TUFFY'S STRONGLY SUGGESTED THAT I WAS WASTING HIS TIME AND NOT TO RETURN. ON MAY 29, 2003, ON MY WAY HOME FROM WORK I DEVELOPED A LOUD GRINDING NOISE COMING FROM MY LEFT FRONT WHEEL WITH GREATLY REDUCED BRAKING POWER. ON MAY 30, 2003 I AGAIN WAS CHARGED , THIS TIME FOR TWO (2) CALIPERS TO REPAIR BRAKES. I BELIEVE THE CALIPER FAILURE WAS DUE TO THE THE WORK DONE BY TUFFY'S TO BEGIN WITH.ON JULY 8, ON MY WAY TO THE HOSPITAL, AS MY WIFE MUST GO WEEKLY; TRAVELING AT A RATE OF 30 MPH IN MEDIUM TRAFFIC I HAD COMPLETE BRAKE FAILURE. I PUMPED THE BRAKES AND WAS BARELY ABLE TO AVOID A MAJOR ACCIDENT. DRIVING AT A RATE OF 10 -15 MPH I WAS ABLE TO TAKE MY CAR TO LYNCH BUICK AT 5330 W. IRVING PARK RD. IN CHICAGO. THEY INSPECTED MY BRAKES AND FOUND THERE TO BE A SUBSTANCE THAT WAS NOT BRAKE FLUID IN THE SYSTEM. THE TOTAL COST OF REPAIR WILL BE OVER $1,000.00. TUFFY'S WAS NOTIFIED AND THEY TOOK A SAMPLE OF THE FLUID FROM THE BRAKE MASTER CYLINDER. TUFFY'S STATED THE THE BRAKE SYSTEM HAD ANTI-FREEZE IN IT. TUFFY'S AUTO SERVICE ON NORTH MILWAUKEE IN CHICAGO WAS THE ONLY ONE TO WORK ON MY BRAKES AND THE ONLY ONE UNDER THE HOOD FOR ANY REASON SINCE JANUARY 8, 2003., H DUE TO THE GREAT TRAUMA CAUSED BY TUFFY'SLYNCH BUICK WILL REPAIR MY CAR. WHEN TUFFY' BOTCHED THE FIRST JOB, I GAVE THEM ANOTHER CHANCE, THAT CHANCE ALMOST COST ME AND MY WIFE OUR LIVES. I FEEL THEY SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO DO ANY MORE BRAKE REPAIRS ON ANY VEHICLES. *AK