Otherwise, most industry experts suggest that you should replace them every K miles. In any case, if the rotors are beyond resurfacing, replacement is your only option. Then againOf course, it may be your best option anyways. If your vehicle is in need of disc brake service, have a qualified technician at a trusted repair shop evaluate the brake system and measure the rotors.
If they show no signs of cracking or severe damage, and if they have sufficient material for resurfacing and if the manufacturer allows it , your technician may recommend resurfacing. View Quotes View my tire cart. Menu Call Us Find Us. Mobil 1 FAQs. Contact Us. What is a brake rotor? What is rotor resurfacing? Replacing vs.
Resurfacing When is resurfacing an option? Send ». Stay Connected Contact Us. It will weaken a rotor over time. It will eat away your brake pads in short order. It decreases your ability to stop. And rust will develop without you doing a thing, when your car is parked for a long period of time. Therefore, it is important to keep maintaining your car even when it is sitting still. If you live on a dirt road especially one that is treated with calcium chloride or you live in an area of the country where salt on the roads is common in the snow or near the ocean, or both , the likelihood of corrosion developing on and eating up your rotors is higher.
Heat While heat is essential to the braking process, excessive heat will cause your rotors to wear faster and unevenly. And if you rotors are unable to deal with excessive amounts of heat, they will transfer it to other brake system components.
Excessive heat can even cause the brake fluid to boil and add unwanted vapor to the system, causing your brakes to become less effective. When you brake, friction builds up between the brake pads and rotors.
The heat is absorbed by the rotor and dissipated by slotted vents, or cooling fins, between the faces of the disc. Some rotors have holes in them to vent the heat, whereas others have no vents at all. Excessive heat can be caused by your driving style. If you ride your brakes or brake aggressively, not only will you wear your rotors faster, but you will also cause them to overheat.
Pulling a trailer or hauling a heavy load is also harder on your brakes and causes more heat to develop, as does driving in stop-and-go traffic or through hill country.
Overheating leads to hot spots and glazing, the former causing your pedal to pulsate, the latter making it difficult to stop quickly. Inspecting Your Rotors Any time your brake pads are replaced, your rotors should be inspected for overall condition, minimum thickness, runout, and signs of glazing or cracking. An inspection will reveal whether your rotors are in need of resurfacing or replacement - or in some cases nothing at all. Some repair shops offer a courtesy inspection when you schedule an oil change service.
Unfortunately, with the emergence of extended oil changes on late model vehicles, inspection of other systems may be delayed, including the brake system. And things can go wrong with your brakes between oil changes. When you are having your brakes inspected or repaired, make sure to enlist a qualified technician at a trusted repair shop. A complete brake job should consist of more than simply slapping on a set of pads, but a lot of cheap brake services do exactly that. Most likely, your brake rotors will require resurfacing or replacing roughly every other brake job.
Most rotors are thick enough to allow about. Some cars have beefier rotors my Lincoln is one and one can peel off about. Unless horribly deformed, most rotors will not require this much cutting to get them straight. The main thing is that you must make sure that whoever cuts the rotors does not go under the minimum thickness. Just my opinion and hope it helps. Because of this, some consumers as well as some vehicle manufacturers say rotors should not be resurfaced every time the pads are replaced unless the rotors are badly grooved or uneven.
Okay, some people are cheap and are trying to save a buck. But do they really want to cut corners on their brakes? Resurfacing restores a flat, smooth surface that provides the proper friction characteristics, minimizes noise-producing vibrations and allows for maximum pad contact. Installing new pads on a grooved rotor causes the pads to ride on the high spots of the rotor. Eventually, the pads will wear down and make full contact with the rotors as they seat in. But this increases pad wear and decreases overall pad life.
So it could also be argued that not resurfacing the rotors is counterproductive to maximizing brake life. Advertisement The surface finish on the rotors also is important because it affects the friction characteristics of the brakes, pad seating, break-in, wear and noise.
Most new OEM rotors today have a surface finish between 30 and 60 inches RA roughness average , with many falling in the 40 to 50 RA range. If rotors are resurfaced, they should be cut to meet these specifications using sharp lathe bits and proper rotation and feed speeds not too fast! Composite rotors those with a stamped steel center hat and cast iron disc that are being resurfaced must be supported with bell caps or adapters to prevent them from flexing while they are being cut.
A vibration dampener should also be used on all types of rotors to reduce noise and tool chatter. Just Replace Them? Advertisement New rotors should be ready to install right out of the box. It will also reduce the thickness of the rotors, shortening their useful service life. For customers who are more concerned about braking performance and safety than saving a few bucks, recommend premium-grade replacement rotors. Premium rotors typically use the same casting configuration as the original same number of cooling ribs between the faces and same pattern.
Premium rotors also have better metallurgy, and are manufactured with tighter quality controls. These rotors may not cool as efficiently as the original equipment or premium aftermarket rotors.
If a vehicle was originally equipped with composite rotors, the original rotors can be replaced with similar composite rotors or cast rotors. Cast rotors are less expensive and more rigid than composite rotors. But the center hat section of a solid cast rotor is thicker and changes the steering geometry scrub radius and toe alignment slightly. This may or many not affect steering and handling on some vehicles.
For now, some OEMs GM still recommend replacing same with same while others Ford say its okay to replace composite with cast. Service: Servicing Custom Wheels. Magazine Current Issue Past Issues.
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