Truck is due for a state inspection end of this month. It's an '07 4.6 with about 97,000 mi. on it. I brought it into a local repair shop & while doing the inspection the service manager informed me that the tech. had found that one of the rear brake rotors had a chunk missing & needed to be replaced. They recommended that all the brake pads & rotors be replaced along with e-brake rehab. The tab? Over $800.00. I declined the work & left the shop. Now, if that rotor had a chunk missing wouldn't that wheel be making noise? The brakes seem fine with no symptoms. I have a bad back so I'm unable to pull the wheel to look at it & I didn't ask at the shop, just wanted to get out of there. What do u guys think? This is a 1st for me.

 

Best thing to do is take it to another shop.

 

That's the plan. But I'm wondering if anyone has ever heard of a chunk of metal coming off of a brake rotor. I've owned vehicles for 35 yrs. & I've never heard of it.

 

Yes I've seen rotors crack and split in half. It should be very oblivious if that were the case.

 

Back felt better today so I pulled the wheel to inspect the rotor. I'll be damned if I can find any chunks missing & it's not split or cracked. To my untrained eye, it's looks to be in decent shape. I won't be able to get it into another shop till Saturday so we'll see.

 

2 things
- are you sure you are checking the right rotor? Or did you check both sides?
- did you inspect the fins of the rotor?

It seems to me that if you don't feel it in the brakes (assuming it truly is broken) then it must not be the brake contact surface that is broken. So maybe its the inner fins that are broken out (but not enough weight is missing to be noticeable out of balance).
Or it could be in the parking brake section of the rotor.

Did you remove the rotor to inspect it?
If they wanted to work on the parking brake, then maybe that is the source of the damage, in which case it would not be visible without removing the rotor.

Either way, get a 2nd professional opinion before doing the work.

If there is confirmed damage to the hat section (parking brake area) then I would change it out as soon as is financially possible. You do not want the damage to propagate due to fatigue and fail in a dramatic fashion. The repair bill will only get bigger!

 

What state are you in? I did inspections in Texas for several years when I was MUCH younger, and there was not then, nor is there now any requirement for physical inspection of the actual brake components (wheels stay on). sounds like a ripoff to me...

 

I only pulled the wheel that they said had the bad rotor. And I didn't see any fins missing.

 

I'm in N.Y. I don't believe the state requires that a shop pull all the wheels to inspect the brakes. Which is what they did. They had the truck in the bay for over an hour. Most shops I believe only pull 1 wheel. My opinion is they were trying to rip me off. I'll find out this week when I take it to another shop. And I have since found out that this shop has a reputation for ripping people off. You live & learn.

 

Texas does a functional test, and observes assembled. No disassembly is permitted. Or at least it wasn't years ago when I was doing inspections... That was long enough ago that I am now considered the old guy in the career that followed spinning wrenches...

 

Update. Took the truck in yesterday to a different shop. It passed inspection with no mention of the supposedly bad rear rotor, though the shop did inform me that I would be needing front brakes soon. In the DIY section here there is mention of triangular clips which fasten to the caliper? I replaced the pads & rotors today & these clips were missing. I don't know if the mechanic at one of the shops pulled these & didn't replace them or if they were even on there before. I got everything back together & the brakes seem to be ok. Should I be concerned with these clips missing? I have the clips that came with the hardware kit but wasn't sure how to attach them. BTW, thnx to all for the help.

 

So many shops are unscrupulous and tell you things need replacing when they don't need it.
Then, Armstrong Ford in Homestead was straight up with me on my brakes. I was packing up to move back home when my last job ended and I heard the front left wheel bearing making a noise. I took it to the dealer because I had limited time to move out of my apt. They called me and told me I needed new brakes. I asked if they would last the 800 miles to get me home and I was told they might. After I got home I replaced my brake pads. The left front outside pad was paper thin!