Do I REALLY need to swap out my rotors?

[rwh963]

i've apparently got about 3mm left on my front pads and will need to change them soon. last done at 158k (have 229k now). in the past i have just purchased rotors when the pads needed changing. certainly makes it easier for the mechanic (though i don't ever see any labor savings!).

my experience is rotors should normally go 150-200k before changing them. should i just get a pad change if the rotors are decent, or ad another $120 and get new rotors as well.

btw, i have never done brakes myself (figured it was wiser to spend 2 hrs of labor $ for such an important safety repair).

 

[aemravan]

i've apparently got about 3mm left on my front pads and will need to change them soon. last done at 158k (have 229k now). in the past i have just purchased rotors when the pads needed changing. certainly makes it easier for the mechanic (though i don't ever see any labor savings!).

my experience is rotors should normally go 150-200k before changing them. should i just get a pad change if the rotors are decent, or ad another $120 and get new rotors as well.

btw, i have never done brakes myself (figured it was wiser to spend 2 hrs of labor $ for such an important safety repair).

a brake job is one of the quickest and easiest to do.. at least for me. There isn't much involved, but I agree, if you don't work on your rig frequently you're probably better off spending a few bucks on labor and staying clean and no worrying about having to break loose the rusty bolts on the caliper.

With that said, it's another thing of preference.. Would it work to keep the rotors? Absolutely. But sounds like you have over 70k miles on them already. Were these OEM replacements? If these were OEM, I COULD consider leaving them and just swapping pads. Can you feel deformation on the surface of the rotor? If so, you would at the very least need to have the re-surfaced. Although this seems to be a phasing-out process that is done less and less these days.. If they are OEM rotors and have a minimal thickness/max resurface spec it could very well be worth a resurface job. For non OEM rotors I would scrap them and get a decent replacement set.

Putting new pads on worn out rotors will start building heat unevenly as you go to bed the pads, which could very quickly lead to deformed rotors and shaking under braking.

I had a cheap set of non OEM rotors on mine and they went to shit pretty quick. Replaced with a nice new set of Brembo rotors and haven't looked back.



short answer NO, dont REALLY need to, but certainly Should.

 

[Seymore Butts]

Rotor quality depends on how thick they still are and whether or not they're warped. Total mileage on the rotors is irrelevant. There's absolutely no benefit to replacing rotors that are still within proper specifications.

 

[4r-4ever]

how rusty is it? replacing just the brake pads is fine but i'm telling you, by the time your second pads is gone, your rotor will be very rusty.

i've apparently got about 3mm left on my front pads and will need to change them soon. last done at 158k (have 229k now). in the past i have just purchased rotors when the pads needed changing. certainly makes it easier for the mechanic (though i don't ever see any labor savings!).

my experience is rotors should normally go 150-200k before changing them. should i just get a pad change if the rotors are decent, or ad another $120 and get new rotors as well.

btw, i have never done brakes myself (figured it was wiser to spend 2 hrs of labor $ for such an important safety repair).

 

[rwh963]

braking is firm and even, not pulsing, so i believe they are not warped. front brakes and calipers done in January 2016. not sure about rust or rotor thickness.
in the family, but didn't own the vehicle at the time. aftermarket rotors and toyota pads.

 

[Bluesky 07]

braking is firm and even, not pulsing, so i believe they are not warped. front brakes and calipers done in January 2016. not sure about rust or rotor thickness.
in the family, but didn't own the vehicle at the time. aftermarket rotors and toyota pads.

I have PowerStop pads and rotors and was in the same boat the last time my pads needed changing (39K miles ago). I called PowerStop and they said no need to change the rotors unless there was an issue. So I didn't and all was good until I recently began to get some intermittent pulsing.

While the pads still have some life, I can't really complain I suppose since it's been almost 2 years and nearly 40K miles.

 

[bob3dsf]

i've apparently got about 3mm left on my front pads and will need to change them soon. last done at 158k (have 229k now). in the past i have just purchased rotors when the pads needed changing. certainly makes it easier for the mechanic (though i don't ever see any labor savings!).

my experience is rotors should normally go 150-200k before changing them. should i just get a pad change if the rotors are decent, or ad another $120 and get new rotors as well.

btw, i have never done brakes myself (figured it was wiser to spend 2 hrs of labor $ for such an important safety repair).

Do you REALLY need to change rotors?? Well, to know for sure, you'll have to measure the thickness. Guessing by the mileage will tell you nothing. If you have 229K on the original rotors, then they probably need to be replaced, but it's really just a guess. Regardless of what powerstop, or anybody else, says, There's a minimum thickness for the rotors. Period. It's cast into the rotor. If you are within the +/- of that minimum, they need to be replaced whether there is pulsating or not.

 

[bob3dsf]

Rotor quality depends on how thick they still are and whether or not they're warped. Total mileage on the rotors is irrelevant. There's absolutely no benefit to replacing rotors that are still within proper specifications.

^ This. (my emphasis with bold)

Also. warping is usually not really the reason for pulsing. It's uneven deposition of pad material onto the rotor surface as a result of hard braking, overheated pads, and the pad material baking onto the rotor surface when the brakes are held after the hard stop. This can happen easier with rotor at the end of their service life since they have lost some (much?) of their heat sinking ability.

 

[patkelly4370]

A "pad slap" is not a correctly done brake job.
New pads. Turn or replace the rotors depending on specs/condition. Rebuild, rebuilt, or new calipers. New brake fluid. Assess condition of flex lines and replace if necessary. Every time.
This is the only way I ever did brakes for my family, myself, or my customers (when I was wrenching for a living).
Cost is higher, liability is lower. The vehicle, passengers, and public are safer.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[ThatRed4thGen]

You'll just ruin your new pads quicker. Shop near me will turn rotors for $15.

 

[Keros]

You'll just ruin your new pads quicker. Shop near me will turn rotors for $15.

There's a lot of very valid information posted so far, yet this is what makes the rotors worth turning/replacing.

A significant amount of braking power comes from the chemical bond that forms momentarily between the pad and rotor surface, and that bond being broken (as the rotor continues to spin on by). This design feature is provided by the rotor being pasted with pad material, and often predicates on the pads being properly bedded in. Every pad has a different bedding procedure, so make sure to select one that can be accomplished in your area (buying a pad that needs repeated stops from 60MPH, without stopping, isn't going to be easy in a busy city, for example).

Regardless, if the rotors are already coated with another pad type, they will not work as effectively as if they're freshly turned or new. Yeah, the new pad material will collect ontop of the old pad's material, so it'll work in a pinch. Just not... as good, ya know? Unless you know what pads it previously had and buy the same ones.

As others have mentioned, rotors are hard to warp. Brake pulsation is almost always high spots where pad material has built up due to uneven heating. Sometimes this is visible as "ghosting", outlines of the pad you can see on the rotor face. However, I've had rotors that had terrible ghosting that didn't pulsate at all. And others that pulsated horribly but had no visible ghosting as that the high spots aren't always visible.

If there's enough meat on the bone to turn the rotors, that'd be the prime way to go for cost. If the vanes aren't rusty, there's no point in replacing them if you can just turn them down a smidgen.

 

[rwh963]

There's a lot of very valid information posted so far, yet this is what makes the rotors worth turning/replacing.

A significant amount of braking power comes from the chemical bond that forms momentarily between the pad and rotor surface, and that bond being broken (as the rotor continues to spin on by). This design feature is provided by the rotor being pasted with pad material, and often predicates on the pads being properly bedded in. Every pad has a different bedding procedure, so make sure to select one that can be accomplished in your area (buying a pad that needs repeated stops from 60MPH, without stopping, isn't going to be easy in a busy city, for example).

Regardless, if the rotors are already coated with another pad type, they will not work as effectively as if they're freshly turned or new. Yeah, the new pad material will collect ontop of the old pad's material, so it'll work in a pinch. Just not... as good, ya know? Unless you know what pads it previously had and buy the same ones.

As others have mentioned, rotors are hard to warp. Brake pulsation is almost always high spots where pad material has built up due to uneven heating. Sometimes this is visible as "ghosting", outlines of the pad you can see on the rotor face. However, I've had rotors that had terrible ghosting that didn't pulsate at all. And others that pulsated horribly but had no visible ghosting as that the high spots aren't always visible.

If there's enough meat on the bone to turn the rotors, that'd be the prime way to go for cost. If the vanes aren't rusty, there's no point in replacing them if you can just turn them down a smidgen.

i used OE pads, will go with them again. did good going over 70k with some material left over. i find local shops don't turn rotors anymore; probably better margins on new and fewer come-backs.

 

[Ripper238]

I usually replace my rotors every other pad change if they aren't pulsating or vibrating on my cars.

I just recently took my 19 4R with 50k in and it was at 4mm according to the dealer. So I think I may actually replace the pads and rotors at 65k since this is a larger vehicle than my cars.

 

[Dropzone]

you may not need to replace rotors but don't replace the pads with out having the rotors turned at some place like Napa, just my opinion
[MENTION=77364]bob3dsf[/MENTION] noticed the jump wings. What unit were you in? a lifetime ago I was on a LRS team with the 6th ID in alaska

 

[Jakeepoo3]

Rotor quality depends on how thick they still are and whether or not they're warped. Total mileage on the rotors is irrelevant. There's absolutely no benefit to replacing rotors that are still within proper specifications.

Like this fellow said, they are probably fine. If they're grooved (not smooth as you drag you finger across) or have been overheated replace them. Most REPUTABLE brake places will have a resurfacer and do that free anyways if they want work, especially since this job can be done in twenty minutes with no effort involved. Hopefully that faulty abs module is safe...