Rotor wear advice

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cperez

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I'm getting close to needing rear brake service on my 2013. No sensor warning yet but I had the pads measured before a long trip to VT recently and was told they were thin I could safely do the round trip.

My rear rotors have an almost imperceptible lip on them but otherwise have plenty of meat left. One of my shops said that any amount of lip will almost definitely cause squeaking if I only replace the pads. They said that braking performance and safety would not be compromised but that I would hear the new pads for as long as I had them.

I then asked why not try new pads only and if they squeaked, THEN replace rotors? I was told that if I wanted to resolve squeaks in that situation, I would have to get new rotors AND another set of new pads.

These guys have been good to me over the years so I'm not inclined to totally disregard their advice. Thee's a good level of trust in place. But does it sound right to you guys?
 

TheWidup

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It's possible that the new pads would be required if the rotors caused some deep scaring or wearing issues due to the lip on the rotor. If you're going to keep the rotors then you should like have them "turned" or machined down to a new surface. Odds are you don't have enough rotor depth to do that in spec anymore. My view on this … if you're going to tear it apart and do the pads you might as well do the rotors. New with new.

I'm pretty sure the prior owner of my '13 did the brakes with new pads and not new rotors which is why my ride squeals like a pig on the brakes often. At 36k miles now and I'm just waiting for summer to pull it apart and do all 4 points … pads and rotors.
 

TCM75

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New pads on your existing rotors (without resurfacing) is probably not the best idea as the rotor can develop an uneven surface even if it's not perceptible. Putting new pads on these rotors will cause the pads to only make contact with the high spots on the rotors. The result will be that your new pads are now wearing unevenly and will soon result in squealing. I agree with your shop that the only way to resolve it would be to then get the second set of new pads.

I'm not sure why but I find that many places don't want to resurface the rotors these days. I get it when rotors are cheap, but for our parts cost, I would think it makes sense to resurface if there is enough material. Maybe ask them if this is viable option?
 

cperez

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Thanks guys. I did ask about turning my rotors. They said that given the hardness of modern rotors, machining them would eat through the machinery. At that point I had heard enough to know that they had had this conversation many times before. In fact, I mentioned that half-jokingly and they said that virtually everyone complains after slapping new pads in w/o a fresh rotor change.
 

Quijote

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My brakes were squealing a little and the rear pads were due. This is ~12k miles and two years or so ago when the car has about 22k miles. I replaced the rear pads and the noise went away. Rear rotors still had plenty of life (well over half the the range of wear allowed left). Though I suspect I could wait until the 3rd set of pads to replace the rotors, I will replace them when the 2nd set of pads needs replacing.

See my thread here: https://www.landroverworld.org/threads/changing-rear-brakes-now-some-questions.28728/#post-171742
 

Azoo

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For peace of mind i would advice to install new pads and rotors at the same time. Order maxbrakes, they're cheap and good, been using them for about 4yrs. I currently have them on my LR with 0 issues.

https://maxbrakes.com/
you have to call and order, it takes about 2 weeks.
 

cperez

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You have me intrigued by your experience with these brakes. I may have missed the window for ordering these however. I think I will need the service done sooner than that.
 

TheWidup

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Not to be a skeptic but every time a brake conversation comes up out comes Azoo with the maxbrakes recommendation. I'm not sold on these at all...I think he's probably the only person using them. While I know $$ doesn't always mean quality you have to wonder why you'd go with an off brand that outside of Azoo doesn't seem to have any reports of positive results. I'd spend a few more $ for peace of mind.
 

jwest

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was told they were thin I could safely do the round trip.

FYI, your typo makes it hard to know what was actually said to you....

When you have a little left, and will just do new rotors too anyway, you can go a little longer if it's close and you're the type to be easy on the brakes. Mine last sooooo long because I do not speed ahead to red lights like most morons in town. They use more gas, buy brakes more often, we arrive same time but my pocket has $ and my time is not spent getting brakes as often ;)

However, if it IS very close, like 1-2mm, then I'd do new ones before a big family trip. MD-VT-MD isn't all that many miles though and if it's mostly interstates and town to town, 2-3mm will last for sure I bet.

As for brands, I put on EBC myself and have been very pleased about 20 months now.
 

Azoo

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Not to be a skeptic but every time a brake conversation comes up out comes Azoo with the maxbrakes recommendation. I'm not sold on these at all...I think he's probably the only person using them. While I know $$ doesn't always mean quality you have to wonder why you'd go with an off brand that outside of Azoo doesn't seem to have any reports of positive results. I'd spend a few more $ for peace of mind.

Maxbrakes was just a recommendation for cheap rear rotors as suppose to using the old ones that already has a lip on them. I swear by maxbrakes because i currently have them on my LR both front and rear with Zero issues, and i have them on my other cars and my experience using them has been 4 years and counting. I have always talked about proper installation/ break in proceedure. You could buy the most expensive brake kit in world but if not installed correctly you will have problems and longevity issues, on the other hand you could buy the cheapest brakes and if installed correctly they would last a long time.
 

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