mousecatcher

how come i never hear of anyone turning their rotors when they get scored?

wallyman424

because theyre 23 dollars a piece.

and people dont have problems with scoring. we just get cracks. cant fix cracks!

mousecatcher

then why all the talk about race pads being harsh on rotors?

John Shiels

crappy pads, Wilwood H or J does not score rotors they crack from heat. Turning them makes them thinner also. My truck has 110,000 with the original rotors and 6 or 7 sets of pads in the front.

AU N EGL

Rotors are consumable items. They only last 3-5 events if that. and as Wallyman said, cheap to replace.

and NO expensive rotors dont last any longer

John Shiels

What would they charge to turn a rotor anyway?

94ZR1#444

I used to turn my 13" C4 rotors all the time. NAPA did them for $8 ea. I could get another two events out of them. New C4 rotors were $56. I could get them for $20 thru CT but the price of the pads would go up. Everytime I called them, the price changed so I no longer use CT for pads or anything. I never cracked a rotor like the C5 people do.

Fill out your profile so we know what car you drive.

c4cruiser

Most stock Corvette rotors don't really have enough "meat" on them to remove scoring or grooves by turning them and still meet the minimum thickness value stamped on them. The FSM does not even recommend turning rotors because of that.

Prices can vary widely for C4 rotors so it isn't always worth turning them. Even for my 87 with stock rotors, I only pay $18 each for Brembo stock replacement rotors. Still stamped "Made in Canada" too. I do have them put on the lathe at the show where I work and have them check for run-out but so far they have never needed truing.

94ZR1#444

You're not going to find 13" HD C4 rotors for $18, maybe for 12" but not 13". The 13" HD rotors are ~1.1" new with the 12" regular rotor much thinner. I only take off enough to get the grooves out. They WILL last another two weekends and will NOT crack.

UstaB-GS549

IMHO turning rotors has always been a waste of money. Annular rings don't mean much other than a little less surface area for direct heat transfer. Sooner or later either the pad will conform to the rotor surface or the rotor surface will conform to the pads (think Hawk Blue).

sothpaw2

Now is that 3-5 2 day events (6-10 days total, say 75 minutes on track per day) for C5 rotors? Just wondering when I should check the rotors and when I should inspect more thoroughly.

Also, how long do wheel bearings last for a C5 Z with stock tires?

Thanks

wallyman424

rotors: you'll know when theyre getting toasted. Look for lots of little spider cracks. Its still fine to run like that. When you can catch your fingernail in them is when you need to pay closer attention. If theyre like that and they havent propagated from edge to edge, you only have a few sessions left before they do.

bearings: on streets youll last a long time. Dont fuss with them till you can hear them complaining.

sothpaw2

Thanks, Wally. I was trying to put together a regular inspection program for my car during next season. This year it has only seen 3 days (9 sessions total) time; next year more.

For a stock C5 Z right down to the tires, run only 4-6 days per year, are there any other hardware items I should budget time/money/know-how to replace?