ive had several full sized half ton trucks that performed fine under load
with 15" wheels. although i agree you can get larger brakes under a 16 or 17
wheel i still see little added benefit other than the larger brake
capability with the larger wheel.

That can happen but I still think that Mopar rotors are junk.  Most
dealers and independent shops I've been too have signs posted all over
saying lug nuts are hand torqued.

Why did this become such a problem lately?  Or was it that sometime in
the late 80's or 90's shops failed to hand torque?  I never ever had
rotor issues back then like I do now.

Right...  a beam-style wrench will warp 'em sure as hell!  :)

Not me.  Like I said I've never had brake troubles until my two Dodges.
 My 2 1993 Nissans both had over 140,000 and I only replaced the pads
once.  Rotors were fine.  I'm pretty light on brakes, coasting to stops
rather than going straight from gas to brake as some do...or ride the
brakes and alot of snowbirds do here!

No, they don't have "fine" brakes! The 94-2001 Rams were known for
having poor brakes. And that has nothing to do with rotor quality, they
needed bigger rotors and better calipers even more. When they decided to
put 20" wheels as an option, better brakes were a necessity.

I've been driving, and buying new cars and trucks since 73. I never had
a warped rotor, period, until my 1988 S10 Blazer got them at about 12K.
The dealer turned them, and they were ok, until about 30K, when it came
back, right after I had to replace both front tires after running over a
huge pile of screws in the street. This time, I had to have rotors and
the dealer replaced them under warranty. No more problems.

My next vehicle, a 93 Grand Cherokee, warped the fronts by 6K, and had
to have new rotors at 15K. They were so bad turning wasn't an option.
Mopar gave me those, but refused to go for another pair about a year
later when they were even worse than the first ones. I bought some
hugely expensive aftermarket ones, and they were fine until I got rid of
it in 99, when I bought a new GC, and it warped them by 7K, and needed
new ones, that DC did do under warranty, at 14K. They were as bad as the
first ones, but aftermarkets weren't so $$, so I went with them, and
solved the problem.

The seats in the 99 killed my back, so I traded it on a 2000 GMC Sierra,
and warped both front and rears within 6 months. The rears never warped
again, but the fronts were turned twice and replaced under warranty.
They warped really suddenly and really severely one morning during a
rainstorm. I went and bought some cheap aftermarkets, and the problem
was solved. Not to say the brakes, the ABS on the rears ever worked
right, a small bump made the whole system freak out, and it's amazing
that the govt hasn't made them recall them and fix it.

When the Sierra was wrecked, I got my present 2003 Ram QC 4X$, and at
about 7K, the shakes and pulling started again. The dealer turned the
rotors, and they were ok until 24 K, when they warped again. They turned
them again, and they just were legal(I saw the reading). I will need
front pads next spring, and rotors too. I will try powerslots or some
other decent aftermarket rotors before wasting my money on
factory junk ones. When the rotors are straight, my truck stops
amazingly fast, and straight..

Side by side, the difference in rotors, even some of the crappiest
aftermarket ones are noticeably heavier than the stock ones, and appear
to be machined a lot better too. The difference between the stock Sierra
rotors and the cheap aftermarkets was so obvious, just by looking at
them side by side, it was clear the 25 buck each aftermarkets blew away
the factory ones. They were much heavier too.

BDK

My 1500 still has its original drum brakes at 145,000 miles.
The first three years of the trucks' life it towed a boat
too!

Not certain how other trucks stack up as I've only owned a
Ford F-150 before the Dodge, but I'd say that's a pretty
decent lifespan for drum brakes on a light duty truck.

The front disks are a different matter.  Replaced pads twice
and rotors twice; once prematurely when the caliper jammed
on its slide causing premature wear of the disk at 28,000
miles.

My local mechanics say *all* the vehicle disks are probably
more cheaply made these days, and have greater tendency to
warp, and of course the kids at the tire/muffler shops with
their air wrenches don't help.

I've had new tires with the wheels so tightly torqued I've
had to stand on a long extension to get them loose, and I
have a feeling they weren't torqued up very symmetrically
either.

When buying new tires, I always retorque with a torquewrench
when I get home and haven't had rotor warping problems since.

SMH