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

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ManUpOrShutUp

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It costs about $25-30/rotor here to have them resurfaced and your rotors have to stay at the shop for 1-2 days as they squeeze them in between jobs, so it doesn't make any sense to do so. Last time I bought rotors, I paid $80 for a pair of fronts and $50 for a pair of rears. Both were premium sets.
 

Black

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It costs about $25-30/rotor here to have them resurfaced and your rotors have to stay at the shop for 1-2 days as they squeeze them in between jobs, so it doesn't make any sense to do so. Last time I bought rotors, I paid $80 for a pair of fronts and $50 for a pair of rears. Both were premium sets.

If that was the case I would not bother either.
Around here it is $10 a rotor and never waited longer than an hour. I pull the brakes, drop them off, grab lunch, pick them up and slap everything back together.

I like starting as fresh as possible. $20 while I eat lunch to do that is well worth it to me.
Others may not but that is cool too.
 

07navi

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If that was the case I would not bother either.
Around here it is $10 a rotor and never waited longer than an hour. I pull the brakes, drop them off, grab lunch, pick them up and slap everything back together.

I like starting as fresh as possible. $20 while I eat lunch to do that is well worth it to me.
Others may not but that is cool too.
It's not any fresher though, plus you just took more metal off for nothing and now they are thinner and closer to being worthless.
 

mquick5

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@Black

Where do you have them turned? Years ago around here, any auto parts store would do it for like $5 each I think more for the drum. But it's been years since they've offered that service near me. I imagine you have to take them to a brake shop now?

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Black

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It's not any fresher though, plus you just took more metal off for nothing and now they are thinner and closer to being worthless.

Run your fingernail across an unturned rotor and run your fingernail across a freshly turned rotor.

On top of that brake pads bed with rotors junk gets between the two an contaminants and materials get embedded in the rotor so starting fresh is a good thing. You also loose your rust lip.

Is it necessary in some cases no. But for $20 it certainly is not hurting you. I have no desire to go 100k plus miles on a set of rotors. So loosing a bit of material but still being in spec does not bother me in the slightest.
20 years and no cracked rotors or failures so I’d say it works pretty well.

@Black

Where do you have them turned? Years ago around here, any auto parts store would do it for like $5 each I think more for the drum. But it's been years since they've offered that service near me. I imagine you have to take them to a brake shop now?

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

All the O’reilys auto parts around here still have machine shops.
 

07navi

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Run your fingernail across an unturned rotor and run your fingernail across a freshly turned rotor.

On top of that brake pads bed with rotors junk gets between the two an contaminants and materials get embedded in the rotor so starting fresh is a good thing. You also loose your rust lip.

Is it necessary in some cases no. But for $20 it certainly is not hurting you. I have no desire to go 100k plus miles on a set of rotors. So loosing a bit of material but still being in spec does not bother me in the slightest.
20 years and no cracked rotors or failures so I’d say it works pretty well.



All the O’reilys auto parts around here still have machine shops.
Total waste of time and money
 

TobyU

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Run your fingernail across an unturned rotor and run your fingernail across a freshly turned rotor.

On top of that brake pads bed with rotors junk gets between the two an contaminants and materials get embedded in the rotor so starting fresh is a good thing. You also loose your rust lip.

Is it necessary in some cases no. But for $20 it certainly is not hurting you. I have no desire to go 100k plus miles on a set of rotors. So loosing a bit of material but still being in spec does not bother me in the slightest.
20 years and no cracked rotors or failures so I’d say it works pretty well.



All the O’reilys auto parts around here still have machine shops.
I've never had a cracked rotor and I don't think it makes a difference whether you turn them or not as far as that goes. Rotors either rust away and they start to separate the layers of metal or they get warped, or a pad wears through and grinds into them and grooves them badly.

There is no doubt that a freshly turned or a new rotor is smoother but it's really insignificant. Once you put the new pads on and just a few stops the pads wear and seat into the wear on the rotor and you get plenty of breaking ability.
But like you said, either way works just fine. The O'Reilly's around here also turn rotors and drums and most of the Autozones do too. It is at least $10 a piece now if not 12 to 13.
For a larger vehicle rotors it might be worth it but for the cheap front wheel drive knock-off rotors it's been just about as cheap to buy a new one as it is to turn them for years. Of course, that's not if you let them up sell you to the better brands. But I have never had any problems with the standard house brand rotors in these parts stores.
In the early 2000s I was getting GM front wheel drive rotors for 13.99 a piece.
These were the WearEver brand from Advance Auto Parts.
 

Noitidepxe

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I've always done my own brakes though I'm NOT a professional mechanic.

I only replace rotors if it's necessary. I know when I see the rotor if I consider it necessary.

The more important step, than replacing the rotors unless they clearly need it, is to perform maintenance on the brake system. If you have sliding calipers, clean the pins, insure the pin boots are intact and properly lube the pins. Bleed the brakes until the brake fluid comes out of the calipers clean. If you really want to get crazy, if the calipers and supports are rusty, clean them up and paint them. Here in New Jersey, I've found my calipers and supports so rusty the pads couldn't slide properly due to rust jamming them.
 

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