Hey all,
I need some advice. I know my brake pads in front are getting low... The dealer says I should have the rotors and pads replaced, not just the pads. I asked why the rotors too and he says usually there is some rust that develops and a ridge or something on the rotor. Do I really need both replaced or is this just advice to make them some more money? I just dropped the truck off today and they haven't seen them(the pads) yet but this is what he told me when I told him I knew the pads were getting low.

 

Impossible to honestly sell a brake job without checking brakes/rotor thickness first. If the rotors are grooved and can't be resurfaced (aka are too thin) they must be replaced. Bad thing is that a lot of F-150s have hub rotors, where the bearings are built in to the rotor, and the rotors are difficult to resurface without an on-the-car brake lathe. Dealers will often tell you you need things unless you ask the right questions.
Ask him this information:
What are my rotor specs (thicknesses)? - This will indicate what the thickness is and he will also have to tell you the discard thickness. If you are above the nominal (useable) thickness, you should be able to reuse them assuming they aren't grooved too bad.
Also, if shaking while braking is an issue, the rotors are warped. They should test for runout to determine if the warpage can be cut out.
Brake pad thickness is another thing. 3mm or more is ok for awhile, less than that you should replace the pads.
Rust is sometimes an issue with rotors, but only if they are rusting/flaking apart. I am sure he was referring to the fins inside the rotors, which are rusty on like 90% of rotors in the world.
Either way, knowing this info will help you determine his motives and the thoroughness of their brake check...I hope this helps and hope it's not too bad.

 

That does help. Thank you.

 

If you've ever been irritated with the amount of brake dust generated by the OEM pads, I'd consider installing a set of Wagner Thermo-Quiet pads over the factory Motorcraft units. I recently installed a set on my wife's '05 Escape and the diffrence in the amount of brake dust generated has been night-and-day!

If your dealer won't install non-OEM pads (certainly possible) take it to a reputable local shop instead -- doing a brake job is not rocket science, and it is one of the repairs I would be comfortable "farming out" to a non-dealer repair shop.

 

Thermo-Quiets are good pads, available at O'reilly's Auto parts - if you have that in Maine. I have found the least issues out of the blue pads from Carquest. They have a better Ceramic concentration which results in longer life, quieter, smoother feel, and almost no visible dust. Brake dust is always there, by the way, it's just a matter of what color it is and how it sticks to your wheels. Metallic pads give off a black dust which is much more visible than the gray/goldish ceramic brake dust. Good luck

 

My Centric ceramic pads do not dust at ALL.

 

I totally agree with slorider.

There is absolutely NO way he's able to tell you if your rotors need replacing without doing an inspection first! That's like going to the dentist for a filling and before you lay on the chair he says to get a root canal too.

As slorider also said, unless you have brake pedal PULSATION when you apply the breaks, then your rotors really don't need resurfacing, or cutting, as it's also referred.

Small amounts of rust & imperfections will be ground down with the new pads. Rust on the FINS of the rotor are present in 99.9% of rotors and is normal.

Rotor surfaces can only be cut or resurfaced a finite amount of times. Brand new rotors can almost always be cut 1x. Sometimes they could be cut 2x.

Unless you have brake pedal pulsation when you're applying the brakes, or the truck stops unevenly, meaning, it gives vibration under braking conditions, I personally would not have them resurfaced. It will probably DOUBLE the bill for you too.

Next time you take it to the dealership, he's going to say, OH...GUESS WHAT MR CUSTOMER...YOU NEED NEW ROTORS. IF U REMEMBER, LAST TIME WE RESURFACED THEM. WE CAN'T DO THAT AGAIN THIS TIME BECAUSE THEY'RE TOO THIN. WHAT'S UR VISA CARD #? lolol

Let us know how you make out. GOOD LUCK!

 

Well, I've decided regardless that I am not going to have the dealership do the job. A local brake specialty shop can do it for @$100 less. I do get some vibration when braking so I'm assuming there is some rotor damage. I'll let you know what I find.
Is rotor resurfacing cheaper than new rotors? Who can do a job like that?

 

You can't see the dust as it is lighter in color. I guarantee if you rub your finger against the inside of your wheel (if it wasn't cleaned recently) you will get brake dust on it. How you think pads get thinner? It's cuz every time you hit the brakes, the surface grinds down a little bit. I do not doubt you can't see it, as I described earlier, but it is there. Every pad does this, even my Axxis racing pads I have had on my Lexus for 90k miles. Despite still having 50% left on them, they dust a tiny bit. It's normal and not anything to be worried about.
On another note, advise for getting a brake job is DON'T go to the dealer. It will cost twice as much...just saying.

 

Before deciding on resurfacing or replacement, the brake shop has to check the rotors for warpage and thickness with instrumentation. A good brake shop will have their own lathe.

It's always a good idea to at least resurface the rotors when changing pads. Most reputable shops will not guarantee a brake job without resurfacing or replacement.