How often do you swap out your brake rotors when doing pads?

[07navi]

If my rotors are performing just fine at the time of brake pad change, the only way I would still replace the rotors is if they were rusty looking and you could see them with the wheels on. They would be replaced with coated rotors. I can't stand looking at a nice vehicle with rusty (non-pad contact) areas on rotors.

Yea those slightly rusted rotors ruin that whole car, I have to hide my eyes sometimes.

 

[Trainmaster]

I use ceramic pads, which are easier on the rotors than metallic. I usually get two or three change of pads before I have to change rotors, perhaps 100,000 miles or so. Sometimes they rust so bad they have to be changed also. That's not uncommon with the rears, again at perhaps 100,00 miles along with the parking brake shoes and hardware.

 

[Black]

I always at least have the rotors turned. $20 a pair is a no brainer to start fresh. If they aren’t thick enough to be turned they get replaced.
Make sure to sand the rust off the hub face and torque lug nuts properly.

 

[TobyU]

I always at least have the rotors turned. $20 a pair is a no brainer to start fresh. If they aren’t thick enough to be turned they get replaced.
Make sure to sand the rust off the hub face and torque lug nuts properly.

The prob is they will rarely be thick enough to turn
They design it this way to sell rotors.
It really is all a scam from the ground up.
If they aren't pulsing then knock the outer edge off with a file, grinding disc, sanding pad etc and get all the life out of them.

 

[07navi]

I always at least have the rotors turned. $20 a pair is a no brainer to start fresh. If they aren’t thick enough to be turned they get replaced.
Make sure to sand the rust off the hub face and torque lug nuts properly.

More of a yes brainer, why needlessly remove more and more metal? That's why my Excursion has the original rotors at 200k miles and they have worked great in the 12 years I owned it.

 

[Black]

The prob is they will rarely be thick enough to turn
They design it this way to sell rotors.
It really is all a scam from the ground up.
If they aren't pulsing then knock the outer edge off with a file, grinding disc, sanding pad etc and get all the life out of them.

Never had an issue getting 2 turns out of them.
Over the years have used PBR, Brembo, Bosch, MotorCraft, and NAPA Premium.

More of a yes brainer, why needlessly remove more and more metal? That's why my Excursion has the original rotors at 200k miles and they have worked great in the 12 years I owned it.

Because you know for sure you are smooth as can be and free of contaminants.
Considering you can generally get 2 turns out of a good rotor. That’ll take one at least 100k miles. I have only driven 2 cars more than 100k.

I have had lots of cars and can only think of once did I buy a second set of rotors (per axle). That was my wife’s Highlander I put Brembo pads on with Bosch rotors.
Those pads started screaming and grinding after about 3 months. I pulled them and the pads had pretty much disintegrated and scored the rotors all to hell.
I am presuming I got a set of counterfeit pads. No way was I going to risk those rotors even after a turn.

Brakes are one of the most important safety features I want good life out of them but me driving a vehicle 200k miles likely will never happen.

I generally buy used vehicles so if I can’t figure out what brand brakes are on it they get replaced pretty quick.

 

[coupe11]

Yeah, I only change them due to damage or if the caliper fails (locks up/drags and heats the rotor up.)

05 Silverado has about 125,000 miles on it. Had to put new rotors, calipers, pads and hoses up front last year when the left side caliper locked up.

86 IROC has the original calipers and rotors on it but by now I'm sure the rotors need to be replaced. I seldom drive it these days but at it's last inspection I was told the rotors were getting close to the minimum thickness.

I'll be replacing the rear rotors/pads/parking brake pads on the 14 Expedition before long. I didn't notice (when I bought it) that the right rear caliper was gouged up pretty badly. If I'm going to replace one rotor I'm replacing both. Replacing the rotors means I'm replacing the pads. I really have to stand on the parking brake pedal to get it to hold the Expedition in place so I figure those are on the thin side, too.

Looks like someone put new pads on the rear of it, they just didn't replace that rotor.

 

[07navi]

Never had an issue getting 2 turns out of them.
Over the years have used PBR, Brembo, Bosch, MotorCraft, and NAPA Premium.




Because you know for sure you are smooth as can be and free of contaminants.
Considering you can generally get 2 turns out of a good rotor. That’ll take one at least 100k miles. I have only driven 2 cars more than 100k.

I have had lots of cars and can only think of once did I buy a second set of rotors (per axle). That was my wife’s Highlander I put Brembo pads on with Bosch rotors.
Those pads started screaming and grinding after about 3 months. I pulled them and the pads had pretty much disintegrated and scored the rotors all to hell.
I am presuming I got a set of counterfeit pads. No way was I going to risk those rotors even after a turn.

Brakes are one of the most important safety features I want good life out of them but me driving a vehicle 200k miles likely will never happen.

I generally buy used vehicles so if I can’t figure out what brand brakes are on it they get replaced pretty quick.

 

[07navi]

Plenty smooth and no contaminants but to each their own

 

[TobyU]

Never had an issue getting 2 turns out of them..

Most of the ones I deal with are Factory original rotors and many have never been turned but they are often on their second or third set of pads.
You might be able to turn them the first time you replace pads but rarely can you do it the second time. Now maybe you replace your pads you're right pads before they are fully used.
I never replace a brake pad until it hits the chirper or until it's down to those same similar end of life thicknesses.
That would make a world of difference. If you believe these garages and stuff and what they tell you when they rotate your tires they will tell you you're down to 20 or 30% and need new brake pads when you're actually at 70.
If you replace your brake pads after 35 to 50,000 miles and they were capable of going 75 to 85 or more then the rotor erosion is going to be so little that you probably can turn them.
But when you use the entire life of the pad and get 65 to 80 thousand miles out of the set it's highly unlikely they will be enough rotor thickness to turn them. Definitely not on the second set of pads.

I rarely purchase a vehicle with under a hundred thousand miles.
I did just buy two vehicles in the past year, one with 49k and the other with 84k but that is a real rarity for me and I just happened to find some really low mileage old ones.

The vehicles I buy are usually at least on their first replacement set of brake pads and sometimes rotors.
There's really little reason to worry about them. When the pads wear thin you will hit a wear indicator and hear them chirping or you will feel them grinding or often if you pay attention you can feel a difference when the pad material starts to get thin and know you better inspect them, or you can look in through the wheel and around back with a bright flashlight and usually tell without having to remove the wheel or if the rotors get warped you'll feel a pulsation or surging in the pedal.... so really it makes little difference. The car is going to stop just fine. When there is a problem and needs attention, it will let you know.
As I said earlier, these types of issues even warp rotors and such don't really reduce your braking ability or make the car less safe. But what does, and what most people overlook and fail to even inspect, are the brake lines and the things that over the years will get rusty and dangerous and right on the verge of popping a pinhole and squirting brake fluid everywhere and losing pedal pressure and a great deal of your stopping ability.
Even with high quality, high performance rotors calipers brake pads and the slider pins and everything in perfect working order make little difference when you happen to have to stop very hard one day and you popping crusty spot on a brake line and your pedal sinks down to the floor and gets mushy.