Car Brake Rotor Replacement / Resurfacing

[coffeeman]

Our local NAPA store turns them for $5 each, for my Toyota Sequoia they want $130 per 'premium' rotor Guess which way I went

A key point; "premium rotor". Sometime I think cutting old good rotors is better than buying new crap that is in the stores today. Brake pads, same thing. I seem to have better luck with the better quality.

I am getting tired of the cheap junk sold. Just replaced a ballast in a fluorescent fixture. Only about year or two old. Seems every new fixture I buy burns the ballast after a couple years. Geeze, I have some fluorescent fixtures in a building that has scads of lights at least 20 years old. I can remember two out of 30 failing in 10 years. So, in the long run, do we save anything by buying the cheap junk?? It might even cost us more in the end?? In this case , replacing ballast cost me a trip to big box, 15 miles round to box, an hour walking around buying more junk I don't need and back at shop and hour to replace. And...don't forget... the cheap stuff takes North American jobs that turned out quality goods.


Just thoughts from the Coffeeman.

 

[ultrarunner]

A key point; "premium rotor". Sometime I think cutting old good rotors is better than buying new crap that is in the stores today. Brake pads, same thing. I seem to have better luck with the better quality.

I am getting tired of the cheap junk sold. Just replaced a ballast in a fluorescent fixture. Only about year or two old. Seems every new fixture I buy burns the ballast after a couple years. Geeze, I have some fluorescent fixtures in a building that has scads of lights at least 20 years old. I can remember two out of 30 failing in 10 years. So, in the long run, do we save anything by buying the cheap junk?? It might even cost us more in the end?? In this case , replacing ballast cost me a trip to big box, 15 miles round to box, an hour walking around buying more junk I don't need and back at shop and hour to replace. And...don't forget... the cheap stuff takes North American jobs that turned out quality goods.


Just thoughts from the Coffeeman.

Very true on some of the Energy Saving fixtures we see being sold today... when you add the cost of a short life span plus the labor if you can't do it yourself...

I change 2 ballasts a week here... so far none of the replacements have gone bad... I buy them through Grainger.

 

[jimmyj]

I'm with a couple of the others, I just replace the pads and go. Got 205,000km on my last set of rotors on the Dodge pickup. The rotors were really toasted by then though.

I also use softer pads as someone told me once it makes more sense to wear out the pads than ruin the rotors. I have no idea if that is true but it's worked so far.

Note: The rotors were HORRIBLE to remove after all that mileage. It was very very hard to remove them.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I'm about to put my 3rd set of rotors on my dodge truck. this truck eats brakes, and before I realize it, the rotors are toast.
And when I went to move the truck the other day, no brakes. Got a leak in the back line.

Oh, and the shop light ballasts are all junk.

 

[tallyho8]

I just got a recall notice in the mail yesterday for my 1995 F250 saying to come in and get a new speed control deactivation switch installed for free.

 

[ScottAR]

Get the rotor thickness checked before installing new pads. So long as
they are not warped (vehicle shakes) or glazed over put on new pads and go.

If they are warped, replace... They will warp again...
If they are glazed and above tolerence a light turn is in order.
If they are below tolerence, replace...
An eyeball is not a sufficent measuring device. There is a fine for turning
out of tolerence rotors so don't ask! (pet peeve sorry)

In the last twenty years or so the amount of extra metal or tolerence
has been lessened greatly so some rotors get only one turn or maybe none
at all. Composite rotors are difficult to turn and best replaced with full cast
versions.

If one side is worn more than the other side, you have a caliper issue.
Out board side is the caliper pins on a sliding caliper, inboard is a stuck
piston or collapsed hose generally.

Major difference on regular replacement rotor vs. premium rotor is the
premium is made in USA.

HTH...

 

[Willl]

Do NOT take a hand grinder to a brake disk.

You'll do more harm than good.

 

[ultrarunner]

I'm about to put my 3rd set of rotors on my dodge truck. this truck eats brakes, and before I realize it, the rotors are toast.
And when I went to move the truck the other day, no brakes. Got a leak in the back line.

Oh, and the shop light ballasts are all junk.

A weekend racer at work had the same trouble with his Jeep Grand Cherokee going through rotors...

He had a pair treated be some super-freeze process like they do on race cars and the problem went away...

 

[RickB]

No more than rotors cost for the two vehicles in our 'fleet', I replace them when the pads are shot. I don't get surprised by needing more parts when the vehicle is up on jack stands, and I don't have to worry about whether the pedal will pulse due to a warped rotor. If my replacement rotors cost a lot more (as some do), I might think differently.

 

[anojones]

I just got a recall notice in the mail yesterday for my 1995 F250 saying to come in and get a new speed control deactivation switch installed for free.

This is a quick fix- but one you should get done esp. if you park the truck in a garage. It took 10 minutes including paperwork for my 1995 F250. The truck can burn to the ground even when parked and off. The brake fluid can leak at the switch and for some reason the switch is still live even with the ignition off. I actually unhooked mine before I got the fix done- couldn't use the cruise, but I don't use it anyway.