RFZ

every now and then there is a thread about wether or not to turn rotors when replacing brake pads...i stated my opinion that if you want to do it right the rotors need to be resurfaced...[ street applications]

below are pics of one of my rear rotors showing why....notice in the pic of the side that didn't get fully cleaned up , at the very center of the brake surface, you can see that in the center of the surface it is CLEANED up...also notice the ridges or waves... this illustrates just how unevenly the surface wears.. my rear rotors were pristine compared to the fronts [ didn't think to take pics until last rotor]







my machine was just serviced today..arbor straightness checked, adapters trued, checked out great...the pics are of the first pass on the rotor...i tried to make both cuts as close as possible...one side cleaned up on the first pass, the other didn't...about 35k on the brakes...

for street driven cars wanting best performance and wear my recommendation is to turn your rotors when changing your pads

Carnac

For about $70 per OEM Z06 rotor (front or rear) shipped to my house in 3 days, I can't see turning rotors with the kind of wear you see above.

If the rotors have minimal grooving (as when I swap between street and track pads), I just change the pads. If there is any question or heavy grooving - I spend $140 per axel set for a fresh set of OEM rotors.

Jim

tran03

Is this from GM Direct? I'd like to know please.

RFZ

not everyone likes to throw away good parts....every rotor i have ever seen with any kind of miles on it is like that...one more pass and it was good...dont have that kind of money to burn myself....i am also talking about street cars...my pads wont be changed again for 35k miles...

66biskwik

That's fine if you have your own equipment. Around here none of the part stores turn them any more. Local NAPA store stopped over two years ago.

BLW BY

Once you turn the rotors, they're toast.
Try cryogenic-ally treated rotors and pad slap that thing far beyond your money is worth.

But who knows that stuff?

LS1LT1

Honestly, as others have stated, if you REALLY want to do it right then you'd likely replace the rotors when installing new pads, not just turn or resurface them.

Bill Dearborn

I wouldn't resurface the rotor that was shown. That rotor isn't scored bad enough to need resurfacing. Just a waste of time and effort. I have run them like that on all my cars for decades with no issues.

Bill

Carnac

I usually check around and find either GM Parts Direct, Parts Taxi, GM Parts House, or KNS Brakes.

Most on-line places show around $63 for OEM Z06 rotors, but you have to check on shipping - it can be high - current GM Parts Direct is about $15 for shipping/per rotor. The last set I bought (of OEM), I had a final delivery price of about $70 per. That has been over a year ago though.

I have moved to DBA 5000 two-peice for the front and DBA 4000 single-peice for the rear. KNS Brakes had a great sale last year - the DBA 5000 drilled and slotted for less than $500 a pair (yep, lots more then OEM, but about 50% of usual DBA 5000 drilled and slotted).

My opinion is still, if the rotors are bad enough to turn, then they are bad enough to replace. However, a rotor has to be pretty bad to need replaced. I went over 100k on original rotors on my 3/4 ton Avalanche.

Interesting note - all the German car dealers I've dealt with recently (VW, BMW, Audi) will only replace rotors when servicing brakes. The quote for my VW Touareg was over $1600 (front and rear). I used all OEM pads and sensor hardware (rotors were fine - unturned at 35K miles) for a DYI cost of less then $500.

Jim

Vette5.5

I road track my car, and gone through couple sets of pads already. The rotors still look pretty good, so leaving them alone. Biggest problem I find with resurfacing rotors, is having to get the whole car up, putting things out of comission for awhile, using another car to shuttle parts around. Advance Auto was having some pretty good online deals over the holidays, so just got all new brake pads/rotors for my daily Pontiac. Don't even need them now, but will be a quick change later on. When rotor time on the Vette, think I'll just get new ones. I drop the used rotors at a scrap metal yard.

cfl70

i always thought you couldnt resurface drilled rotors...guess not

RFZ

with 40 years of doing brake jobs [ thousands of them] one learns how to avoid come backs.. [ squeaking' pulsating,grabbing]...putting new pads on customer car without surfacing or replacing rotors is sure bet for a comeback...and a comeback is a waste of time/ loss of money...

dmuellenberg

Looks like GM increased the price for the front rotors about a month ago, they actually doubled the price ($138 on gmpartsdirect web site which does not include shipping), but the rears are still the same. Don't understand why they did that since there really isn't any difference between the front and rear rotors as far as I can tell.

1SLOF4

The last few times I've had rotors resurfaced they didn't last more then a couple of days before they were warped even more then they were to begin with. Talking with a mechanic and the auto parts guys this seems to be a growing trend. Not sure if the quality has dropped off or what but I've pretty much given up on getting rotors turned as it ends up just being a waste of time.

Brad

sabastian458

Yeah, I agree. Resurface the rotors is the correct thing to do when replacing pads. Well as long as the rotor after resurfacing is above the minimum thickness of course. It looks like that rotor had some warping going on. Did you mic the rotors before and after the cuts?

To get the best performance and longest life, always give the pad a good clean surface to bed into. In my opinion you are throwing away money if you dont.

50 4Ever

musicmankeb

Sound's like you need a better pad if your pad is wearing out before your rotor lol. My advice is get a better pad and replace the rotors when needed instead of resurfacing.... rotors are cheaper. Resurfacing is not recommended....especially on a car like this.

jimbob8915

I think turning them is OK if you get a non-directional turn. Personally I would just get new rotors.

glenB

Got dat chit right !!