I need new front brakes on my '01 SCrew (41K miles). I'm thinking of saving some dough by doing it myself (with the help of a friend who knows what he's doing).
Checking out past posts, it looks like Bendix is the way to go. But, do I have to turn the rotors? Also, any special tools needed to do the install?

Thanks all!

 

Just did mine yesterday and no special tools at all. Just the normal wrenches and c-clamp/caliper retractor tool and that's about that.

Be prepared to tap the rotors with a hammer to get them to break free of their hubs..

 

Thanks ReelWork. I just placed my order for new tires (Michelin LTX M/S) and I'll be buying the new pads soon. Did you go with anything different? Or just use new stock pads?

 

Great stuff, Mike. Thanks so much!

 

Sorry for the late reply - been outta town. I used performance friction pads.. Ran about $50 for the fronts and $40 for the rears.. Remember, you get what you pay for!

 

Always replace or resurface the rotors when installing new pads.

You want the metal that pads run on the be fresh and smooth so the new pads burnish in properly.

 

If you want to do it right, then buy new rotors when you do your brakes. The non-directional finish on a new rotor is specifically designed to help bed the pad quicker and "groove" the new pad to the rotor. You can save a couplea bucks by resurfacing, but your best braking performance will come with a set of new rotors. Resurfacing is an "accepted" way of doing brakes, but it's not the best way or the way any manufacturer reccomends it be done.

Hell, at my work, we dont even have a rotor cutting machine! If you want brakes done, you get pads and rotors... no exceptions!

 

Not trying to **** anybody off here, but, if the rotors are mounted on the lathe correctly, machined properly and a non-directional finish is applied, why not re-use them? I hate to burst anyone's bubble, but buying new rotors doesn't necessarily mean they are ready to install out of the box. In theory they are, but trust me my friends, that's not always the case. I know. I sell and install them, but I prefer to turn the originals if they're thick enough and runout is minimal. I've had the pleasure (on numerous occasions) of pulling brand new rotors off cars after a short test drive due to pulsation from warped rotors. I've never once had a brake job comeback when I turned the rotors myself. This topic, like any other is subject to opinion, so there's mine.

SL

 

I don't suppose that would be one of those $99 brake jobs I hear advertised on the radio all the time. It seems kind of silly to replace calipers just because they've compressed an inch or a rotor everytime you change the brakes. I suppose in that theory it would be best to change the master cylinder & proportioning valve too since it's been contaminated when you broke the brake lines free to replace the calipers. Than again that's how these company's rip you off by telling you that unless you replace everything than you won't get a warranty. What company was this again?... just for future reference.

 

Are we talking a bench lathe or an on-the-car lathe? Big differnce. I'll almost guarantee that 97% of the shops out there hardly ever, if ever, perform regular maintanence on their shop equipment. That includes their brake lathe. Your basic bench lathe is going to cut about .005-.007" of runout right into the rotor. That's before you mount it to the hub! How much runout is the hub going to have?...

That's where the on-car lathe comes in. If I were to turn a rotor, it would only be with an on-car lathe due to the fact that the on-car takes into account both the runout of the rotor and the runout of the hub. You normally want to see about .002" of runout as measured on the edge of the rotor facing when you set up the on-car lathe. .002" runout is well below most manufactures spec and shouldn't cause any issues since that's the total amount of runout you will have after you finsih cutting. That's the only way a rotor should be turned IMHO...

But, I am still 100% behind replacement. I can almost always get .002-.003" runout with a new rotor (quality rotor) with a near perfect finish that will bed the pads much better than a cut rotor. Unless you are using some high-cost tooling that will give you a near factory quality finish after cutting the rotor, than it's not as good as a quality replacement.

Rotors are designed with a certain thickness to dissapate heat. They are meant to be effective at that thickness or slightly below that. Now you have a pulsation, which is a low spot on the rotor either caused by excessive heat or excessive runout (usually runout). Now your going to take that rotor and cut both sides down until they are "flat". You've just removed a percentage of material from the rotor while at the same time diminishing the rotors ability to absorb and shed heat. Granted, the amount of material you cut off is somewhat small, but that small amount of material has just reduced that rotors ability to bring your car to a stop due to heating.

Ask the engineers who design the brake systems for any automaker and see what they have to say about the issue. Cutting rotors is an accepted practice when doing your brakes, but it's certainly not the best practice...

Just my opinion...

 

" Your basic bench lathe is going to cut about .005-.007" of runout right into the rotor."

??I would never use a lathe that worn out. Mine has less than .001 according to the dial indicator.

"That's before you mount it to the hub! How much runout is the hub going to have?..."

Who cares? If the hub is wobbling that badly, it doesn't make a bit of difference whether it's a brand new or re-machined rotor, you'll have pulsation problems. Fix the problem and you could use either.

"But, I am still 100% behind replacement. I can almost always get .002-.003" runout with a new rotor (quality rotor) with a near perfect finish that will bed the pads much better than a cut rotor. Unless you are using some high-cost tooling that will give you a near factory quality finish after cutting the rotor, than it's not as good as a quality replacement."

Well, I can an identical finish with on every single rotor I turn, not just "almost always". As far as you thinking that a production rotor automatically does a better job of seating the pads better just because it's new, clearly you don't know how or know anybody else who knows how to properly machine a rotor. I guess I'll file that under just another opinion.

"Rotors are designed with a certain thickness to dissapate heat. They are meant to be effective at that thickness or slightly below that. Ask the engineers who design the brake systems for any automaker and see what they have to say about the issue."

OK, yes, they are designed to dissipate heat and resist warping at a certain thickness. Hello engineer Fred, it's called the minimum thickness. That spec is where the engineers feel that the rotor can be no thinner and still do it's job AS ENGINEERED. The reason they're made thicker is longevity. You can't supply a product with a 90 day life span and stay in business for very long.

"Just my opinion..."

I feel comfortable knowing that.
SL

 

One thing I would like to bring up to the few guys here that are doing a break job on thier F150 for the first time, or for those who have been lucky enough NOT to find this out the hard way. When you re-install your caliper mounting bracket (if you took it off) Be absolutly sure to use lock-tite on the bolt. I have experienced it myself and so have many others, this bolt works itself free very easily. I had to replace a $200 rim, the caliper, new pads, rotor, and brake line when mine came off at 50 mph.
I used lock-tite when I did the brake job but I didnt use a high strength cause I knew that eventually I would have to do another brake job. About 6 mos. after I did the brake job is when this happened.

 

Snappy... let's not get all bent on the issue. This is just a nice discussion about repairing brakes....

Now, YOU personally may not use a bench lathe with that much runout, but the MAJORITY of shops out there have very poor standards when it comes to keeping their equipment serviced. On that issue, you have to agree with me on. You certainly sound as though you are very intelligent and have a good idea of what makes a good brake job. Most repair shops are going to cut MORE than the maximum allowed runout right into the rotor on their lathe before they even mount it on the vehicle!

As far as hub runout, yeah you could use either a cut rotor or new one on a hub that has specified runout. That's where the on-car lathe comes in. The on-car takes into account that runout in the hub. A bench lathe, like the ones I mentioned above that have not been serviced, just make the situation that much more worse! That's the point I'm getting at. Cutting a rotor on a bench lathe that has been serviced and is true is a valid way of servicing a rotor. No argument here.

Getting to the rotor finish argument, yes, a production rotor turned on a multi-hundred thousand dollar machine at Raybestos is going to be much, much better than a rotor finished with your hands on your bench lathe. And for the sake of argument, I KNOW how to cut a rotor on a lathe and on-car and I've also been to the Raybestos production line to see how it's done in production. There's no comparison! I don't doubt your abilities, but you can't physically repeat the same rotor finish EVERY time by hand. You can't.

Minimum thickness is the ABSOLUTE minimum point at which the rotor can do it's job, you're absolutely right. It WILL do it's job at that point, but it won't do it's BEST job at that point. Rotors will dissipate heat at their standard thickness BETTER than the same rotor at it's minimum thickness. There's no argument there. That's the way it is. For the sake of argument here, would you rather have your tires at 2/32nds thickness (which puts them pretty damn well worn out and just at the wear bar but STILL engineered to do their job) or your tires at 9/32nds when you encounter an emergency situation, at night, in the rain, with your family in the truck and an 18 wheeler dead-stopped right in front of you? I'd be willing to bet you'd opt for the better odds with those tires at 9/32nds..... just as you would opt for the better braking performance from those thicker rotors.

We both have vaild arguments here and we're pretty much both right from a technician's point of view. Both ways are VALID ways of doing brakes and the difference in stopping distance may only be a few feet...

But a few feet is a mile when you're life is on the line in a panic stop situation.