Hola.

Say, I have this 2001 SporTrac car/truck/SUV thing that keeps warping the front right rotor. It has required machining every 12 to 17k mi. Due to being under warranty, I have been taking it to a dealer, but all they do is treat the symptom and not the problem. The rotors (the dealer has been machining them both) are now too thin and will need replacing. This is getting expensive.

I have heard suggestions of the ABS, proportioning valve or bad caliper, but the dealer just insists that this is how it is and hasn't performed any tests.

The inside right pad was thinner than the others, so I figured the caliper was sticking a bit. The hardware was lubed, but alas, it's doing the time warp, again.

I initially thought that the rotor might be defective in its heat treatment and still think this may be the problem.

Any ideas (besides a cliff and a good push)?

Thanks.

i've run into bad combination valves causing those symptoms on chevys. caused by rookie techs forcing fluid back through the system when doing a brake job. your first "time warp" was probably just a warp. do you drive in the hills alot? if so cross drilled rotors might be the only long term solution for you. my .02

I don't know about the new ones, but the older Explorers had phenolic pistons in the cailpers that would stick all the time. The fact that the inside pad on the right had the most wear tells me that the caliper is sticking, but here is the problem. Any replacement calipers are probably the same ( so they are factory replacements). Also, when a rotor is machined, it becomes thinner and does not dissipate heat as well, causing it to get hot and warp. So , you machine it again and make it worse. Have them replace the calipers and rotors. There may be a service bulliten on them, check into that too. Cross drilled rotors can help, but keep in mind, if they do get warped, they can't be machined because of the holes.