Brake job

[xoxoxoBruce]

What makes you think you need rotors?

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

What makes you think you need rotors?

Well, it seems SWMBO has been driving several hundred miles with the metal on metal sound and when I took a look at the rotors today there were a few 1/8" deep grooves running around.

[tw]

Originally Posted by footfootfoot

Well, it seems SWMBO has been driving several hundred miles with the metal on metal sound and when I took a look at the rotors today there were a few 1/8" deep grooves running around.

Unfortunately that easily doubles the price. Gouges that deep means (most likely) rotors must be replaced. Rotors cost more than brake pads.

Details on the car are also important. Some wheels cannot be removed from the hub without special equipment.

If the rotors are not gouged excessively, then rotors must be 'turned down' by a lathe. Some rotors are not to be removed and taken to a shop. Instead, a special tool is attached to the wheel to resurface a spinning rotor.

There really is no replacement for a shop manual or something equivalent. Disc brake designs are no longer standard. For example, if you improperly remove a Honda rotor, then bearing failure (and alignment problems) can result.

And finally, many brakes ride on two shafts. Some are inside sealed assemblies. Grease in those assemblies must be molybdenum type - high temperature type grease. Not expensive. But do not use standard wheel bearing grease on those moving brake parts.

Things would have been so much simpler ($hundreds simpler) if a driver had paid attention to a sound that was screaming "Fix Me!". Ditto for those who foolishly ignore the Check Engine light. Or that girl who never did an oil change in over five years. Ahh but that is how we learn - if we do not dump our mistakes on someone else.