LR4 Brake Problems and LR support

[scottd132]

I have a 2010 LR4 and drive 70 miles a day by freeway. I have had brakes and rotors replaced at 20k miles due to warped rotors LR paid for the rotors and labor and I paid for new pads although mine were not worn. Now within 1500 miles the rotors are warped again. I took it real easy on the new brakes shifting down and breaking them in correctly. LR is CRAP and the corporate support is terrible. I owned two LR3's one 2003 Range Rover a Freelander and then this LR4. I will go back the MB as all of them I have owned were problem free with great corporate support.

Anyone else have this problem with brakes.

 

[CaptainSpalding]

Talking about an '04 Discovery now, my pads and rotors needed replacing every 12k miles on average. Discussing this with the service advisor, he offered that the reason for the frequent replacement is that it is a heavy vehicle. I have a Defender, which is also heavy, and gets wheeled, which goes 30k miles between pads. I haven't replaced the rotors yet. When I told him this, he just shrugged.

The case hardening on current LR rotors is very thin, and the pads are very aggressive. Once the hardened surface of the rotors is worn, they go downhill fast. Combine those factors with ABS-based traction control, and brake life is bound to be short. On other message boards that focus more on off roading one can usually find threads describing the magic combination of aftermarket pads and rotors that will deliver a balance of decent performance, life span, and not squeal. I haven't done that research yet, as I've only had the LR4 for about 2 months. I'm pretty sure that brakes on the '11 are different/unique, so it might be early for that information to be out there yet.

As your second set of rotors warped after only 1500 miles, I'd suspect an ABS issue causing premature wear.

ETA: before I had my Defender, I had two gray market G-Wagens. They are bar-none the best offroad vehicle out there. No carpet. No leather. No wood. Locking diff's from the factory. All business. Once MBUSA began importing the G500, they would no longer sell me parts for my G's. It was insane. I went into the dealership with the service booklet that came with the truck and showed the manager the list of places worldwide where one is supposed to be able to get their car serviced. That dealership was on the list. They wouldn't get parts for my gray-market G's. Period.

Enjoy your Mercedes. I'll never own another one.

 

[nolift911]

I have a 2010 LR4 and drive 70 miles a day by freeway. I have had brakes and rotors replaced at 20k miles due to warped rotors LR paid for the rotors and labor and I paid for new pads although mine were not worn. Now within 1500 miles the rotors are warped again. I took it real easy on the new brakes shifting down and breaking them in correctly. LR is CRAP and the corporate support is terrible. I owned two LR3's one 2003 Range Rover a Freelander and then this LR4. I will go back the MB as all of them I have owned were problem free with great corporate support.

Anyone else have this problem with brakes.

Your issue is with lug torque - there is nothing wrong with the rotors and they are big enough to handle heat dissapation. The monkey's at the dealership (due to laziness, ignorance or speed) put your new rotors on and then torque the lugs to whatever the las monkey had the impact gun set too.

Lugs should always be tightened with a torque wrench by hand...

You can test this theory by seeing how tight your lugs are...you may be able to loosen them all, jack up the wheel, and torque them properly - if your rotors are not too bad off it may take care of it but my guess is they are warped already. If that is the case get replacements and torque them propperly - your issue will go away.

 

[scottd132]

Your issue is with lug torque - there is nothing wrong with the rotors and they are big enough to handle heat dissapation. The monkey's at the dealership (due to laziness, ignorance or speed) put your new rotors on and then torque the lugs to whatever the las monkey had the impact gun set too.

Lugs should always be tightened with a torque wrench by hand...

You can test this theory by seeing how tight your lugs are...you may be able to loosen them all, jack up the wheel, and torque them properly - if your rotors are not too bad off it may take care of it but my guess is they are warped already. If that is the case get replacements and torque them propperly - your issue will go away.

If they replace the warped rotors again (1500 miles since the last ones) I will bring it home and retorque each wheel. I am a car guy and this is the first time I have heard of this as a pssible problem but it makes no sense that they warped. They were all four new OEM rotors and pads and they did a nice job installing them. I thought I was out of the woods.

I do have a shake in the front end due to tires and have thought that could possibly affect them but I think the rotors are tougher than that so

 

[nashvegas]

You've got a lug nut issue

I drive my LR3 HSE like it's a race car and 0.0 warped rotor issues. Rotors last me about 25K (not alot) before they were worn below minimums, BUT no warping.

I suspect whoever is putting your wheels on is not evenly torquing wheels. Big reason for warpring.

BTW Land Rover is not crap, nor is their customer service crap. They have bent over backwards for me at times (and like you, this is my 3rd rover purchased new at a dealer). Maybe you need to have a different attitiude with them - Ive had all sorts of cars, and LR treats me like a king, or at least a prince. And I can be a high maintenance pain in the rear too... but it's all business.

 

[DennisL]

How much are your dealers charging for the brake shoe/ rotor replacements?
Dennis

 

[suvowner]

http://forums.landroverworld.org/showthread.php?t=20116

 

[scottd132]

To address a previous comment. This is my 5th Landrover since 2003 and I owned 3 RR LWB's so I have a lot of history with the company and product. I have purchased all 5 from the same dealer. When I picked up the car you could not put a CD in th player, hmm guess what, they put the CD player in upside down at the factory and the dash had to be taken apart and the CD player had to be flipped, that was worth over. Then electronic problems and wheel and tire balance issues which they would not fix either. They said when the tires wear out and I get new ones that problem will go away. This is from the local service rep. I did call corporate and they said I had to go thru my dealer and local rep for issues. Then the brakes and again the brakes. So based on my personal experience I feel their product *** service does not proerly represent the brand that they try and sell to everyone. If I used the word "crap" and offended anyone well you tell me what experience I have had as I have had it in the shop at least 15 times over the last year. I bought it with the expectaion that I could drive it and not deal with these things. I have gotten to know the shuttle driver rather well. Even the service tech who is working on the car is amazed at what they will not do. Call it what you will.

 

[scottd132]

How much are your dealers charging for the brake shoe/ rotor replacements?
Dennis

I paid $200 for pads with no labor, they paid labor and disks, total job would have been $1200.

 

[Count Laszlo]

BTW Land Rover is not crap, nor is their customer service crap. They have bent over backwards for me at times (and like you, this is my 3rd rover purchased new at a dealer). Maybe you need to have a different attitiude with them - Ive had all sorts of cars, and LR treats me like a king, or at least a prince. And I can be a high maintenance pain in the rear too... but it's all business.

I agree with this comment obviously! LR is not crap and I'm surprised that this owner/OP, after owning so many LRs in the past, is suddenly calling them crap --- And... after owning so many, for so many years, is suddenly posting on this forum as a brand new member! For someone who went through 4-rovers in their current lifetime, one would expect that the owner would be pretty experienced with LR as a whole, and have set expectations of the brand, and customer service. No issues with all those other Land Rovers? Are you sure you’re not a marketing guy working for Mercedes-Benz? LOL! Got pics of your ride and the brake job? Somehow, the story doesn’t seem to add up.

Anyway... having rotors needing replacement at 20K is nothing out the ordinary (with just about any car) and it sounds like you complained enough to get them replaced for free which gives me a sense that you’re a very difficult customer. When I owned BMWs, the SAs at BMW would always complain that most of the customers they dealt with were downright unreasonable and abusive – expecting everything to be FREE and complaining how much money they dropped on their ride and how it should be bullet-proof and absolutely flawless from head to toe. They can afford the ride but cannot afford the ownership. Some SAs I know actually left BMW because of this very reason – and I know one SA very well who actually ended being my SA at Land Rover!