Brake pads, worn rotors, and other sources of irritation.

[dgibson]

I peeked at my front brake pads the other day and noticed they were getting a little thin. I intended to change them this weekend, but the wife has my schedule full

, and it's wet and nasty outside

, so I took my truck to a local reputable shop.

An hour or so later the shop called to tell me that my rotors were worn, too thin to turn, and had to be replaced at $100 each plus labor.

I insisted that this couldn't be right, because the truck is only 3-1/2 years old, I'm not hard on brakes

, and I hadn't let the brakes get worn enough that they were damaging the rotors. There HAD to be enough room on those things to turn them!

So they invited me down there to look at them.

After looking at their little gubmint book that says that my model of truck has to have "x" inches of rotor thickness, we then put the calipers on them and they were a few thousandths less than "x" inches.

He then explained that newer vehicles have very thin rotors as they come from the factory, and there's not much room for turning anymore.

So now I am $200 lighter and a little more informed on brake maintenance.

 

[pawclaws]

Man,rotors don't need to be turned or replaced unless you are experiencing a lot of vibration and that is just to balance them out. Were they rutted from the rivets in the pads? No! I'd bet good hard money on it. I did myself some study up on brakes and components when my Ex-Step-Brother took me for better than four hundred dollars on a brake job!

 

[JohnSWA]

The really sad thing is that brakes are one of the easiest things you can do your self. Rotors aren't really all that expensive and they are easy to replace. Brake pads are cheap too and you can by them only once at any auto parts store and replace them free for life!

These brake shops are taking everybody for a ride!

 

[Calif. Hunter]

Yeah, brakes are easy. I even taught my daughters how to do a brake job. (Along with re-roofing houses, rooting out sewer lines, gutting a hog and other skills.)

 

[dgibson]

Like I said, I was gonna.

I've done it before. But The Wife had other plans and let's face it, I'm a whipped man.

 

[Gunner46]

The brakes on my ol' POS Izuzu pickup are shot, (right turn signal is out, burns oil, ash tray full) so I just said " What the Hey " and went out and bought a Grand Cherokee.


Pick it up on Monday!!


<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 02-06-2004 20:47: Message edited by: Gunner46 ]</font>

 

[kiwi hunta]

nice vehicle "46" big v8 ??

 

[Gunner46]

4 liter. Finally, I'll have something to pull the .

 

[Elkhunter]

Nice going on the new ride 46.

 

[dgibson]

Gunner, does it come with the soccer sticker in the window or do you have to buy that as an option?

Just joshin'. Congratulations on the new ride!

A co-worker of mine has a Grand Cherokee that she bought to pull her horse trailer. Somewhere in the manual or on the visor or wherever there is a statement that "Four-wheel drive LOW provides the most pulling power," so she took that to mean that she should use that gear when pulling her horses around. One new transmission later she discovered that was the wrong interpretation. I can only imagine what must have gone through her head when she floored that thing trying to get up to 55 mph in 4WD low.

 

[Gunner46]

Hate to admit it, DG, but yeah, it's a Soccer Mom's ride.

But it's very clean, looks to be well maintained, and the price is right at wholesale.

The soccer ball decal will immediately be replaced by my traditional 'King Mac' and decals!

Now, if I could only get my hands on a Hunt Talk bumper sticker..............

And I promise to only use LOW when yanking the boat out of the water!!

 

[Elkhunter]

Just don't use LOW for the Most Pulling Power.

D, that was pretty funny.

 

[scottymack]

Darren I know what you mean about brakes, Mama had me workin' pretty hard so I took the truck into the local shop for brakes. went through 4 sets of their rotors while under warranty. the last time I took it in the told me to comeback Tuesday. this was on a Thursday and I was taking the family camping the next morning. The Manger refused to fix my truck so Itook it to the dealership had it fixed in 2 hours and was able to leave early the next morning. Prior to this truck I had taken another truck to Midas and they screwed up the brakes worst. Now I refuse to use them and a shop all over the West ( Les Schwab)

 

[GLW]

You do have to have "some" knowledge of brakes to do them yourselves, especially with the new anti-lock systems. You may need to only take your rotors or drums into a shop to get the light hazy burn spots turned out,maybe only .002-.005 of an inch(usually about $12.00 a piece) thus adding extra wear to your new pads or shoes and making your braking much safer in the long run. Or if you have a cheap car or truck the new rotors or drums may only cost $25.00 a side to replace them and not worry about turning. I've also seen brand new out of the box, warped! Also doing your own brakes may void insurance claims ( an accident)in the case it's decided your brakes weren't properly cared for by a so called "professional!" I usually do my own brakes on older vehicles. I won't on my new toyota! I spent the cash to have the brakes on my 88 chevy 4x4 done but they are 100% totally covered for life. Yes even pads and shoes! It's all where you want to put your money and safety I guess!

 

[scottymack]

Paul, be careful with those "lifetime brakes" generally they only cover the shoes or pads and not the rotors and drums. This is what Midas does, warranty pads and shoes only.

 

[GLW]

Thanks for the warning but I have it all in writing with a parts list included! Midas is horrible, I would never go there! I can't condemn every outlet but it seems to be the majority! These are home town boys I'm dealing with called "Cole Muffler" and get all the parts from NAPA.

 

[Delw]

Brakes are easy but are also a pain in the butt.

the new rotors are extreamly thin on most new vehicles..

I have a 1990 Chevy 1 ton that goes through brake pads in the front at about 3-6 sets a year. rotors after 200k looked like new except for one rivet mark)
I dont ride the brakes either. matter of fact I dont even use the brakes, ask my wife she has the Oh shit look on her face whenever we drive toogether.

I have found that the brakes on the 1990 k3500 was setup wrong from the factory(if I remember correctly its the proportunate valve and the antilocks).
I am just putting the trcuk back together after blowing the motor 1.5 years ago and the tranny. so I plan on fixing that as well....

 

[GLW]

Delw, are you using the highest metallic pad you can find? Maybe that will slow down the wear on the pads and put a little more on the rotors.

If the rotors are designed to stand up to metallic pads? Sounds like they are if you are changing them that frequently.

 

[dgibson]

Del, another co-worker with the same model truck as mine (his is a year older) had the same problem. It turned out to be something to do with the way the rotors & stuff were mounted; they were loose from the factory, and it allowed the entire assembly to rock back and forth just a little bit--enough to cause erratic wear on his brakes. After he discovered this and tightened it up his pad usage has gone down to what you'd consider normal.

 

[1_pointer]

DG- I had the same experience about 2 months ago, not fun. I feel your pain.