Front rotors

What's wrong with the glaze? Measure the thickness of each rotor to see if it's still thick enough otherwise replace them too.. Thin rotors get hotter and warp more easily.

This is Turtle.

First when you use the word ceramic in the name of a break pad , it is hard if it has ceramic material in it.

Second NAPA has a medium grade brake pad that does fine on my Lexus 400 and I get about 60K out of them and have to change rotors every 180K. Don't use the cheap or the super long life pads but the middle of the bunch to get pads for it. The cheap don't last long at all and the high price pads eat the rotors up. Don't try to be the new kid on the block to try out something new.

Third have the NAPA to just turn them and if they are not warping change them. if they are just glazed. Leave them alone and put them back on there.

Forthly I use Medium grade pads and don't try out new improve forms of the invention of the Wheel.

TURTLE

turtle,

thanks for the message, i think you are saying to buy the middle of the road pads, which i did. i didnt get the hardest, because they tend to warp rotors, and i didnt get the cheapest.

could you clarify what you said about turning the rotors? you say if the rotors are just glazed, then get them turned and put them back on? but if they are warped then put new rotors on?

tia,

fish.

This is Turtle.

When a fellow puts the rotors on the machine to turn then. He will set the cutting tool to just take 1/1000 of a inch off the face of the rotor. If the tool does not make a smooth face all the way across the rotor face. it will show it is warped or he will have to take too much metal off the face for the rotor to not be good because of too much metal gone to be strong enough to be used. This should tell you if you should buy new rotors. Also he can mick the thickiness of the rotor and see if too much metal is gone to be strong.

Now if the rotors just has a glazed look to them and no grooves on them. I would just put them back on.

The NAPA store can just check the rotors out for you by just looking at them for you.

E-mail me here and discuss it if you like.

TURTLE

basicly all rotors have a weinium thickness, if after turning them domn properly weather its removing gouges or getting a warp out thier below the minium thickness you will need new rotors.

Mike

this is fish,

thanks for the messages, looks like i will get the rotors off tonight for an early morning trip to napa for a good turning. lets see what i find out.

i have slight ridges on the face, so i would like to try to get them turned while i am in there. i have noticed some strange 'surging' sounds wehn braking, so i wouldnt be surprised if they are warped already. and i notice that sound mostly in the passenger front area. if i am lucky maybe it is the rotor and not the hub that is twisted.

turtle,

i am having trouble getting the rotor off. after removing the brake calipers, i put two bolts into the threads on the rotor and with a socket wrench i began pushing it off, and the threads popped out of one of them. what can be the trick to get these rotors off?

help.

thanks.

fish.

This is Turtle

There is some time a flate nut that looks like a washer holding the rotor on. Remove these. Then when screwing in onr the release bolts tap the rotor with a hammer on the full face of the rotor or on the out side edge, but never hit the face of where the break pad hits the rotor.

TURTLE

i got them off. took my biggest hammer, and smacked it around a few times, and wala.

off to the neighborhood NAPA tomorrow...

thanks all...

Previously in alt.autos.lexus, fish proclaimed :

just a heads up...many places now cut the rotor on the wheel to prevent runout. Runout, besides many other things, can cause pedal pulsation and poor pad wear:

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good info, now i feel like not getting them turned. hmmmm...

i will talk to the guy as he is doing his measurement, we'll see, problem is if i need a new rotor they will need to order it, so it will delay the job.

thx again.

This is Turtle.

The NAPA here in town keeps Rotor for the Lexus car for the Toyota Cars and SUV's is the same rotor.

TURTLE

With the thinner rotors they're using these days, my strategy has been to not turn them when replacing pads and simply replace the rotors outright every third pad change. So far this has netted me no quiet brakes and no warping. YMMW.

- Mark

it was purely a knock off, so all went smooth after it finally broke loose.

Job finished. i had them turned for 26 bux at napa, and they seem fine so far. i do like to save money doing car repair, but i wont mind replacing the rotors if they are still causing problems in the future. i got a feeling they should give good smooth service for the next 50,000 miles. i still got a thickness of 1.0700, if i got that right, which is just over half of the minimum allowed thickness.

fish

cheers !!

This is Turtle.

Usely what gets you warped rotors is your driving a long ways in hot weather and use your breaks a lot and then run through high water or a flood of water on the road. Now you can get it from people who ride their brakes all the time.

TURTLE

This is Turtle.

If you change your brake shoes before they scare the face. You could just dress the rotors a little and half thickness left and you can just face them maybe 3 to 5 more times. Brake shoes are just too cheap to not change and not have to buy rotors. When you buy life time warranty on brake shoes you are sure to buy rotors very often.

TURTLE

I subscribe to the same theory. The theory being that if you replace your brake pads -BEFORE- they scar the face of the rotors, then the rotors

-shouldn't- need to be turned. The same theory works for brake "shoes" on vehicles with drum brakes.

Pads and shoes are -EASY- to change, but it will have to be a DIY (do it yourself) project because no shop I'm aware of will do only pads or shoes. They all insist on "turning" and of course will cite a litany of reasons, when in fact the main reason is to embellish their receivables and force you into having to replace the rotors at every other brake job.

Surely you've heard the ads for an outfit called "BRAKE CHECK" where "most jobs" are only $99.95. Someday I'd like to take a survey of their sucker customers and find out just how many of the "most customers" actually got out the door for the advertised $99.95. Precious few, I'd wager. Anyone who waits to have their brakes serviced until they "need" brakes will in all probablity be needing more than just pads and shoes. - And yes, BRAKE CHECK does "turn" your rotors/drums in that same $99.95 deal. I was once told (not by BRAKE CHECK) that my brake system hydraulics, which clearly showed no signs of leakage and which was not low on fluid, should have all the fluid replaced because there was "moisture in it and it was becoming weak and worn out". How does moisture get into a sealed, non-leaking hydraulic system? How does hydraulic fluid become "weak"?

The key here is >

This is Turtle

Here is the hole is the water theory of getting water in the brake fluid to screw thing up. The U.S. Army has the owners manual for all the light trucks and jeeps and it say that if you are in the field and the braking system is low on fluid. You can add potiable water to use as the brake fluid till you can come in and have it changed out. Aolso it says if you can't come in from the field and have it changed out. It will work fine for long durations and not hurt a thing.

Also on these trucks and jeeps there is no schualed fluid changes for the brake fluid and the trucks and jeeps are driven over 40 years time span. If the Army don't do it, you surely don't need to do it.

I guess you might have thought that i knew this but no i just called a friend of mine who retire from the army as a full Byrd Colonel in the maintaining the motor equipment from Tanks to Jeeps. He give me the scoop here.

TURTLE