Brake pad replacement

A

Aparajith

Well-Known Member
63
17
Hi all,

My car has done 98000 Km and requires its first brake pad change. My service centre suggests changing both the rotors and pads. Is that the procedure or necessity? My pads only have 1 mm left in them and the rotors have a lot of life left apparently, but the service centre suggests changing them both at the same time. I checked the rotors and they do not have any scoring, bumps or a lip at the edge of the rotor and are pretty smooth. I am of the opinion to only change the pads. What is the suggested procedure?
 
Have the rotors turned and new pads put on. You don’t have to replace rotors just because your pads are low.
 
Thanks. That is what I found after reviewing the forums as well. By turning the rotors, what do you mean? Can you explain a bit?
 
Aparajith said:
Thanks. That is what I found after reviewing the forums as well. By turning the rotors, what do you mean? Can you explain a bit?
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"Turning the rotors, also known as resurfacing, uses a machine to return the rotor surface to a perfectly flat state."

https://www.buybrakes.com/help/rotor-turning-faqs/

You'd have a shop do the work for you. I'd get some prices from the repair shops and see how much they would charge to do the work.
 
@Aparajith If you have an Oreilys Parts store near you, they should be able to do it. Only bad part is you have to take the rotors to them.

I had the rear brake rotors turned/resurfaced for about $35 for both. Not sure what the fronts would cost but prob about the same.
 
Nomar06 said:
@Aparajith If you have an Oreilys Parts store near you, they should be able to do it. Only bad part is you have to take the rotors to them.

I had the rear brake rotors turned/resurfaced for about $35 for both. Not sure what the fronts would cost but prob about the same.
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I am from Ottawa, Canada.
 
Nomar06 said:
@Aparajith If you have an Oreilys Parts store near you, they should be able to do it. Only bad part is you have to take the rotors to them.

I had the rear brake rotors turned/resurfaced for about $35 for both. Not sure what the fronts would cost but prob about the same.
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Never realized they did this! It says pep boys and oreilys both turn rotors, but autozone doesn’t.
 
I called up atleast a dozen shops and none of them resurface rotors now. All of them suggest a replacement. the explanation given is - cost of rotors is cheap, in cold weathers its not recommended and so on. I am just going to get new brake pads, replace them. If I feel any vibrations, shakes etc, I will get new rotors.
 
its usually recommended to replace rotors in ontario because they use salt on the roads. a lot of times the rust on the rotor is on the back where you cant see it. normally when you're due for brakes the rotors are too rusty to machine so they are replaced. for this reason not many shops in ontario will have the tool to machine rotors at all. when i worked in edmonton we turned rotors all the time because they dont use salt on the roads.

take a look at the back of the rotor, take a picture and post it if you can. if you dont replace or turn the rotors and only replace the pads, chances are when your pads are half way worn your rotors will be rusty and you might need to replace both anyways, if you dont drive in the winter it probably wont be an issue.
 
Janz3n said:
its usually recommended to replace rotors in ontario because they use salt on the roads. a lot of times the rust on the rotor is on the back where you cant see it. normally when you're due for brakes the rotors are too rusty to machine so they are replaced. for this reason not many shops in ontario will have the tool to machine rotors at all. when i worked in edmonton we turned rotors all the time because they dont use salt on the roads.

take a look at the back of the rotor, take a picture and post it if you can. if you dont replace or turn the rotors and only replace the pads, chances are when your pads are half way worn your rotors will be rusty and you might need to replace both anyways, if you dont drive in the winter it probably wont be an issue.
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I see... Thanks for the info. Let me check the back of the rotors and then decide.
 
That’s funny. I’ve lived in snow/rust belts where there is a lot of road salting basically my entire life. I’ve never had issues having my rotors turned. I mean we had over 50 feet (over 15 meters) of snow this winter, so it’s not like it was an occasional snowfall. Maybe shops in Canada are just different. Oem rotors look to be around 70 ish dollars from Honda (a piece) for non-si. I know people like brembo blanks for rotors if you don’t want oem.
 
webby said:
That’s funny. I’ve lived in snow/rust belts where there is a lot of road salting basically my entire life. I’ve never had issues having my rotors turned. I mean we had over 50 feet (over 15 meters) of snow this winter, so it’s not like it was an occasional snowfall. Maybe shops in Canada are just different. Oem rotors look to be around 70 ish dollars from Honda (a piece) for non-si. I know people like brembo blanks for rotors if you don’t want oem.
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maybe we have different kind of salt here lol. when i first started my job where i am currently they did not turn rotors. i was the first one to do it in many years after dusting off the rotor attachment for the lathe.
 
I looked at the rotors and dont see any rust in them. Considering that there is no grooves, lips et al and I cant get it turned, I am just going to gamble and just get the pads replaced. Worst case - I feel vibrations. If I do, I can then go for rotor and pad replacement. Worst case scenario _ I spend an extra 100 bucks. Still worth a shot considering that new pads and rotors with labour cost over double that.
 
webby said:
That’s funny. I’ve lived in snow/rust belts where there is a lot of road salting basically my entire life. I’ve never had issues having my rotors turned. I mean we had over 50 feet (over 15 meters) of snow this winter, so it’s not like it was an occasional snowfall. Maybe shops in Canada are just different. Oem rotors look to be around 70 ish dollars from Honda (a piece) for non-si. I know people like brembo blanks for rotors if you don’t want oem.
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I was planning to get the Powerstop slotted rotors and pads which cost about 300 incl tax
 
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