My E is approaching 60K miles and I guess I haven't been the best on unkeeping the brakes. It's been slightly vibrating everytime I use them and I remember reading somewhere that I can't just go and remove the disc and have them ground down to spec but I have to have this done while attached to the car for some reason. Anyone know anything about this and/or how to avoid paying the dealer to do this for me? They're just so expensive and I like to do things like this myself. Also, I should mention that I did try searching for this topic first but came up with nothing.

I have never in my entire life had rotors resurfaced/ground. I have always found that to be a scam by shops wanting to get more money out of you. I have had high mileage cars that I just changed the pads on. I changed the pads on my Element between 35,000 and 40,000; I don't recall the exact mileage. Nothing wrong with my rotors at all. I am almost at 48,000 and the rotors are still fine.

Only issues I have heard with the Element brakes are some people have had issues with the rear brakes wearing very early and often.

Change you pads and see how it drives. I would recommend changing out the brake fluid. Bed the pads in; or have it done and you should be good as new.

The logic of having a rotor ground flat makes sense to me. I can feel my brakes shudder when I use them. What do you suggest is doing this if not an uneven surface on the rotor? Not that I don't believe you or anything but I would be surprised if I only changed the pads and the shaking stopped.

Then again, I've never tried doing only that and I have nothing to lose because if I do change the pads and the shaking occurs I can always take it in to have the rotors serviced. I'll let you know.

Thanks

I have never in my entire life had rotors resurfaced/ground.
That's amazing, Larry. You will get more miles out of a rotor not turning it. I always had them turned just for heck. It's fun to watch the machine.

Still, don't remember a rotor being warped or scored enough to demand turning. Now drums, that's another story.

Vibration when braking is most likely due to rotor warpage. Turning the rotors, if there is sufficient thckness, or replacing the rotors if there is not, are the only fixes once they are warped.

If I have the slightest Groove or ridge on the rotor, I have it turned. The pads will last longer, Smooth pad on a smooth Rotor stops better than on an unsurfaced rotor. It has to do with the coefficient of friction.

If the rotor is in good condition then I don't bother.

I have never heard of having them done on the car. Is this something new? All the machine shops I have ever seen do them on the Bench. That requires you to remove them. I also like to do it because it gives me the opportunity to inspect and repack the bearings.

Dom

I have always thought it's better to just replace rotors once they become warped. Granted I've only ever had to do that once in all the vehicles I've owned (When I bought my '92 Tercel used from a private seller the rotors were badly warped)

When I used to work as a tech I saw many guys do awful things when resurfacing rotors. The less material you take off each pass, the better surface finish you'll have. These guys would try and get a rotor resurfaced in one pass, killing the diamond coated bits and putting a horrible finish on the rotors. The more material you take off a rotor, the less material there is to absorb and distribute heat, therefore possibly shortening the life of the rotors and pads themselves. Rotors are very simple to replace and the only thing needed (on some vehicles) that most DIY mechanics don't usually have is an impact driver to remove and reinstall the set screws which hold the rotors to the hub assembly.

Rotors may cost you $50 a piece plus another $30 for new pads (You should always replace the pads when you replace rotors regardless of how much meat is left on them) so for $130 you're getting a nice new brake setup. How much would it cost to bring it to a shop and have the rotors resurfaced??



Oh yeah, I find that rotor life is often dependant on the driver of the vehicle. I once had a woman come in the Jeep shop with warped rotors and worn break pads on a new Jeep Cherokee with ~3,000 miles. Took a road test with her and noticed that she was a two foot driver, using her left foot to apply the brakes. Well, her foot was actually resting on the brake pedal enough that it was causing the brakes to catch and heat up for long periods of time.

I've also taken rides with people who are late brakers. In city driving they speed up between red lights only to brake at the last second before the next red light. This can also put a lot of heat into your braking system so a lot of rapid heating and cooling is sure to warp brake rotors.

While we are on the subject of brakes,
Does anyone manufacture a replacment brake pad similar to the one on our chevy truck, I belive they are a ceramic pad and they have little to none brake dusting on the wheeels.

brake rotors can warp for many reasons, but mosty heat build up and will give you the vibration when you apply the brakes. Honda uses a set up that attaches where the caliper goes and they run the car in gear while 2 grinding disks resurface the rotors and does a pretty neat job too. depending on if your rotors have worn down this can be an option but sometimes you can purchase rotors cheaper than the labor to turn them. a bit of a toss up.
But if you have the vibration going on turn or replace them with new pads.