Changing brake pads: Do you turn the rotors?

[katshot]

I do pads and rotors together. Cars like these tend to be driven hard and that taxes the brakes. Cutting rotors reduces mass which reduces the efficiency of the system in general so to me it's a no-brainer on a Mustang to do them together.

 

[Kraw]

I'm getting ready to change the front pads this week. 72k miles on the stockers :eek3: I have no warpage (don't feel anything) so I'm thinking I'll just change the pads, no turning. This should be fine right? The car isn't pushed hard. It's the wife's car and we just drive it to work and on trips.

I want to get that Bullit kit one day

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I'm getting ready to change the front pads this week. 72k miles on the stockers :eek3: I have no warpage (don't feel anything) so I'm thinking I'll just change the pads, no turning. This should be fine right? The car isn't pushed hard. It's the wife's car and we just drive it to work and on trips.

I want to get that Bullit kit one day

You should turn them. Part of the new brake pad bedding process is for the pads to deposit a braking surface onto the rotor. Also turning them removes glaze build up from the old pads. When I get my rotors turned they always look so nice afterwards. And it is really not all that expensive. Paint any surfaces on the rotor that are prone to rust while you are at it and have the rotor off.

 

[propellerhead]

I'm getting ready to change the front pads this week. 72k miles on the stockers :eek3: I have no warpage (don't feel anything) so I'm thinking I'll just change the pads, no turning. This should be fine right? The car isn't pushed hard. It's the wife's car and we just drive it to work and on trips.

I want to get that Bullit kit one day

After reading all the arguments (and myths), I decided to not resurface the rotors if they are not scored. There's no need to make the rotor thinner just so it looks pretty.

 

[tradde]

After reading all the arguments (and myths), I decided to not resurface the rotors if they are not scored. There's no need to make the rotor thinner just so it looks pretty.

There is no reason to turn a rotor unless it's scored or the runout is over the limit. I almost never turn a rotor when I change pads. If you run your finger
nail over the surface and it does not catch there is no bad scoring. Make sure
to clean the surfaces after doing so as you could leave some residue on the
rotor.

 

[BlackenedSVT]

Buy "turning" are you guys referring to having the rotors "cut"?? Never heard the terminology "turning rotors" before. And by the way, rotors are pretty cheap for our cars. I've only need brakes once on my GT in the 40k miles i've driven it and i just replaced the rotors completely with new stuff....its not expensive

 

[Kraw]

You should turn them. Part of the new brake pad bedding process is for the pads to deposit a braking surface onto the rotor. Also turning them removes glaze build up from the old pads. When I get my rotors turned they always look so nice afterwards. And it is really not all that expensive. Paint any surfaces on the rotor that are prone to rust while you are at it and have the rotor off.

why not just use the quote button?

 

[the98stang]

$10 a rotor, WHY NOT turn them? Last thing you want is to install new performance pads, hop in the car, and feel a nice vibration in the brake pedal. $40....c'mon you cheap a$$ tards!

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Well, a reason NOT to turn them is that the GT rotors are too thin already and turning them makes them even thinner and much more likely to warp.

When you turn them it cuts a new fresh surface on the rotor. This is not for looks or TO MAKE IT LOOK PRETTY. This is to allow the material from the new pads to embed in the rotor surface which is part of the pad bedding or break in process.

I am really having to repeat myself in this thread but I find that is often the case with GT and V-6 owners...

 

[Mustang5L5]

Well, a reason NOT to turn them is that the GT rotors are too thin already and turning them makes them even thinner and much more likely to warp.

When you turn them it cuts a new fresh surface on the rotor. This is not for looks or TO MAKE IT LOOK PRETTY. This is to allow the material from the new pads to embed in the rotor surface which is part of the pad bedding or break in process.

I am really having to repeat myself in this thread but I find that is often the case with GT and V-6 owners...

+1



The GT rear rotors are way too thin for such a heavy car. They are 1/2" thick and suck balls. Never get these cut, throw them out and buy new ones.


Cutting rotors has less to do with clearing away scores and scratches than it does giving the new pads a fresh surface to bed material to. Pads work the best when there is some compound basically melted into the surface of the rotor. You typically cut them to get fresh material to bed into.

But it's a catch 22 since cutting removed material which is needed for heat disappation. If you don't go below the min thickness however, you should be fine. Removing a few ounces of mass on a street car rotor isn't going to really matter for 95% of drivers.

 

[Rusty67]

If you turn your rotors and they warp soon after, most likely they were turned wrong (too much material removed) or they were too close to minimum thickness and warped because they were below spec. I turn my rotors every time I do a brake job and I have never had one warp on me. If they are too close to min thickness spec I toss them and put new ones on. I have well over 100,000 miles on my car and I am on my 4th set of pads (3 changes) and after this time I will be puting on new rotors (with Bullitt calipers) and pads.

 

[jivepepper]

I brembo 13" rotors in front. I have recently replaced the pads without turning them, it feels the same as before.