New rotors after 55K?

I just put my '99 awd Mountaineer in the shop for its first brake job (pads were down to 3/32"), and was told that the front rotors had worn down to the point where resurfacing wasn't going to leave me much left.

What do you think - does this sound reasonable after just 55K miles?

Reply to
Doug
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Depends alot on what type of driving you do and your driving style.

Reply to
rakster

It's been my experience that resurfacing the rotors always takes enough material off so that the rotors end up warping after a few miles and have to be replaced anyway. If the rotors are not scored or otherwise damaged, just replace the pads. Most garages will object to this, I think because of a carryover from the days of drum brakes where the drums were always "turned" when doing a brake job. What seems to satisfy them is saying that you will pay for the whole brake job -- just don't resurface the rotors.

Doing it this way requires a little break-in time for the new pads to contour themselves to the rotors.

Reply to
Sy Cohen

Food does recommended sanding the rotors though. I forget what grit sandpaper - 600 maybe? It too recommends against turning unless there is heavy scoring or warping. I guess you can avoid that by not driving at warp speeds :o)

Reply to
Anthony Giorgianni

"Just 55K miles"? Jeez, here in hilly Pittsburgh anything over 30K for rotors (front) is doing well.

Reply to
B.D. Newman

"Anthony Giorgianni" wrote in news:_ZyWa.83529 $ snipped-for-privacy@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net:

Is this a salad approach to a brake job? Surely a steak approach would be to turn the rotors and a chicken would say replace everything.

:-)

Reply to
Clark

I think he meant FORD

news:_ZyWa.83529

Reply to
Sy Cohen

"Sy Cohen" wrote in news:_pHWa.32373$Wd5.7390755 @news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net:

Did you miss the smiley?

Reply to
Clark

The psychological reason behind why I typed "food" instead of ford is certainly "ford" for thought : Perhaps it has something to do with lemons :o)

Reply to
Anthony Giorgianni

I just replaced the pads on all four wheels, and while I was at it, had all rotors turned. As long as you're above the minimum thickness, you shouldn't worry about them being too thin causing them to get too hot.

I have 125k miles, and I believe they are original rotors. I got the car with 69k on it, a '96 XLT 4x4 5spd. The pads still had life on them, but still needed to be services in terms of greasing the caliper slides (one of which I sheared the bolt off, sucker was stuck on there good and the weak bolt gave way) Local Ford dealer had the caliper slide in stock and was only $17.

My only problem was a parking brake assembly issue which I will start a new thread for.

But depending on your driving, especially if you have an automatic tranny, a lot of people ride the brakes when they drive, and I've seen rotors down to the point when I put them on the lathe and start shaving, the inner portion of the rotor will not even be touched by the bit because they are concaved, you have to make several passes at the rotor and most likely have to replace it because min. thickness will have been reached.

Even after I turned my rotors, the machine shop mechanic said I still had a lot of life on them. He is a local, well-respected machine shop owner/mechanic and I trust his work, and his opinion.

r/

-IanCT

Reply to
IanCT

I had a '99 XLT that I used mainly for stop-and-go driving. It was the first vehicle I owned that got *more* than 30,000 miles from the front rotors. After $18 for each front rotor, $25 for four pads, and about 30 minutes of easy work, I had new, vibration-free brakes. The rear rotors lasted for the life of the lease I had (for three years).

I tried resurfacing the rotors once on my '88 Accord when I had it, but after two attempts, they still vibrated (which is not unusual for that car, since it ate front brakes every 10,000 miles).

I'm not at all tough on brakes, but stop-and-go driving combined with road salt usually doesn't guarantee much brake life, especially with Honda.

Reply to
JonnyCab®

Most brake shops want to resurface/turn the rotors to protect them selves. Pads and rotors wear unevenly and leave the rotor with circular 'grooves' that match the old pad. When new pads are installed there is not 100% contact until the new pads wear in to match the pattern on the rotors.

To ensure maximum braking and limit their liability the shop wants to resurface/turn the rotors so that when you drive away the braking is already at its greatest potential.

Removing material from the rotors by resurfacing/turning reduces the effective life of the rotor, when they get below the minimun thickness they should be replaced.

My personal approach is to clean the braking surface of the rotor with a brake cleaner, install new pads and drive carefully for a few hundred miles until the pads 'seat' in. I also use premium pads.

Another aspect of this is premium pads versus standard pads. The premium pads offer better braking at the expense of more rotor wear. Standard pads will not last as long, are not quiet as aggresive in their braking and do not cause the rotors to wear as fast.

Ultimately the rotors will have to be replaced. They either wear as a result of the friction characteristics of the pads or they are resurfaced/turned to the point that they are below the minimum thickness.

Choose your posion.

Tim

Reply to
Tim Tompkins

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