Quick question from a n00b driveway mechanic.
How difficult, with the right tools, would it be to turn my rotors.
They are starting to grind, and atm i am way, way to broke to afford the local automotive place's 136 per axel charge.
from what i know, i'd have to bleed the brake lines?
anyways, any help would be nice.
and if anyone has a link to that site where the guy has writeups on work done to these cars, that'd be nice also..

Thanks guys. I apreciate it

 

ugh, it shouldn't cost you that much to turn the rotors. Pads will run you $30-$70. Basically jack the car up, put it on jack stands. pull the wheels off. Unbolt the caliper from the caliper bracket (2 bolts). Hold up the caliper with a piece of wire (wire clothes hanger). unbolt the caliper bracket fron the spindle. The rotors will slide off. Take them to where ever you bought the pads. Most places charge $5-10 per rotor for turning.

push the piston back in with a caliper compressor or large C clamp. clean everything up. put the rotors back on. Bolt up the bracket. lube the guide pins and install teh pads & caliper.

No need to bleed the brakes unless you take them loose (disconnect the brake lines), and no need to do taht at all.

 

http://www.installuniversity.com/ins...ds_mwarren.htm
Go to autozone and get the cheapest rotor they have, thats what I run on my car and its working just fine. I dont turn rotors, but thats just me. You might be fine with it, but ill just get new ones.

 

As stang killer mentioned, I tend to get a set rotors too. I tend to change them at every brake pad change, not necessary, but since I have been doing that, I noticed that I get longer life. I then (once I have two sets) get the other set turned before I tear everything down to eliminate downtime.

I know you are trying to do this as cheap as possible right now as cash is tight, so check around. A lot f places around here will even turn your rotors for free if you buy the pads there.

 

I just replace the brake pads. No need to turn the rotors unless they are really bad.

I bought a set of ceramics for the front. They stop GREAT, no noise, and very little dust. $66.

 

Incorrect. When you bed your brakes, you're transferring a small amount of pad material to the rotor surface. This is what actually provides the grip. While you CAN replace only the brake pads, it's much better to start with a clean rotor surface. Also you cannot only replace the brake pads when installing new pads of a different compound than the old pads.

 

"General Motors technical bulletin #00-05-22-002 to its dealers, GM says, "Brake rotors should only be turned when one of the following rotor surface conditions exist: severe scoring with depth in excess of 1.5 mm or 0.060 inch, pulsation from excessive lateral runout of more than .080 mm or .003 inch, thickness variation in excess of 0.025 mm or 0.001 inch, or excessive corrosion on rotor braking surfaces."

GM also says "Rotors are not to be resurfaced in an attempt to correct the following conditions: noise/squeal, cosmetic corrosion, routine pad replacement or discoloration/hard spots."

In other words, GM frowns on rotor resurfacing during what it calls "normal" pad replacement. ""
AA1Car Automotive Diagnostic & Repair Help

Ford Motor Co. Bulletin No. 99-19-04 that rotors should only be "resurfaced if diagnosis has revealed vibration in steering wheel, seat or pedal while braking. Heavily scored rotors, similar to that caused by linings worn down to the backing plate, should also be turned."

 

Mr. Incredible, the article you pulled that GM tech bulletin from uses it as a point of contention. GM's major concerns are rotor thickness and wear. They have warping problems to begin with and turning them and reducing the thickness will exacerbate the problem. HOWEVER, a "normal" pad replacement by GM will most likely involve stock replacement pads of the exact same compound as before, which is acceptable. (remember, gm prefers acceptable instead of preferable in attempts to save money) When you change the pad compound, you need to turn the rotors to remove the previous film transfer and start with a fresh rotor surface for the new pad compound to bed properly. That was my main point.

 

The film transfer problem is mainly with race type pads. You don't want to bed a Ferrocarbon pad over a ceremic pad, etc. Meaning, don't bed Hawks (Carbotic) over your Carbotechs (Ceremic). With stock or stock replacement (parts store pads), it's not as critical and I only would turn them when/if they are severely grooved.

 

IMHO

Two people can argue over anything, at any time. I didn't read that page to mean it was using the cited tech bulletin in a contentious way as much as it read that it was giving two opinions and using it to cite that side of the argument. And, that no less than GM itself was of the opinion that turning the rotors was not recommended for simple pad changes. And the FoMoCo shares that opinion. Take the bulletin alone, and there's no contention at all.

Film transfer on Ma and Pa Kettle's car? I contend that, using semi-mettalic as an example, the compound is so much softer than steel as to be irrelevant. We see that every time we wash our wheels. The compound erodes from the pad and yet the rotor remains unchanged. Could it possibly be that much of a problem if you changed pad compounds? And, if the replacement pads were of the same compound...?

And what about changing compounds. Wouldn't the new pads bed in and wear away any prior deposition in short order? Even if they didn't, what difference in performance could it possibly make?

If your premise is correct then we are all standing at a precipice of disaster every time we change pads or pad compounds without turning or replacing rotors. And yet, the two largest car companies say that is not the case...on every car they build.

Granted, specific applications designed to work together at a high performance level may be degraded to one degree or another as variables are changed, but at the performance level of a street car I would say that is not the case.

I'm not saying that you should NEVER turn the rotors, only that it isn't indicated in simple pad replacements. For those who road race or hang their *** out on public roads, they may wish to increase their performance level to what's comfortable to them. If they have enough $$$ to change rotors every pad change, good for them. But for regular folks I believe it is a lot like changing your synthetic oil every 1500 miles.

 

Generally, if brakes are grinding, the rotor has groves worn in it. They normally cannot be turned out of the rotor with out going below the minimum thickness of the rotor. If the rotor is has groves worn in it and you put new pads on, you are going to chew up the new pad. You are also reducing the contact area of the brakes until they get worn down.
I would think about replacing the rotor or rotors with the pads.

 

I think the subject has gotten a bit far, and I never intended it to be such a heated subject. I for one prefer not to turn rotors and I'd much rather install new rotors, especially with the pads going on my car. My main reasoning was that from a performance standpoint, you are not going to achieve the most benefit from your brake system if you don't turn away the film transfer when switching to a pad of different compound. If you install the same pads, it probably won't matter a bit unless the film transfer surface is uneven. At the same time, if you're not in a racing situation or needing the most out of your brakes, they'll probably work just fine... and stock style pads probably won't have any issues at all. I guess I was simply extending the context of this topic a little far in discussing race pads. Lets carry on!

 

I try to at every possible opportunity!

I certainly didn't mean anything in my responses. I am simply thinking out loud in a calm, cool fashion. No offense meant.

And it's simply my thoughts that the bedding in of new brake pads will remove any transfer film and replace it with its own. I don't drive to extreme levels so I don't need to perform what I consider extreme maintenance procedures. Some pads and rotors are designed to work together or in specific combinations. Sounds like more than I need to worry about, and many others, too.


Cheers, mate!