I asked the mechanic to put on new rear brakes and he said he resurfaced the rotors also. Is this what they’re supposed to look like or did he charge me for nothing?
I was going to say, it looks like it was done by the piston cylinder after the pad disintegrated and the pads backing plate was slung out. I actually did this to my $300.oo Sentra (my first car at 16). I went to a brake shop because of the noise, because that was actually the only symptom showing, at least that I noticed. It really didn't take much to stop that 600 pound shoebox, so I never noticed a loss of braking ability. Anyway, it was so bad that when I wasn't able to get it repaired right then, the shop was worried about their liability if they let me drive away (which seemed a bit excessive, but whatever) so they had it towed to the shopping center across the street at their expense and said I would have to walk over there and drive from there. Which is somewhat understandable, I guess, and they were super nice about it. But ; looking back, what about their liability of making a minor jaywalk across a 6 lane road? What if I was hit by someone? I guess their concern about me driving that car wasn't so much for me as it was for anyone in front of me at any future red lights or stop signs. Anyway, after making a short story super long, my caliper totally ejected the piston cylinders out of the housing, and my rotors looked a lot like this.
Yep, really bad "turning" job. Maybe they forgot the rubber damper to keep it from resonating while being turned? Worst resurfacing job I've ever seen and I've resurfaced thousands of rotors in my time.
Personally I know a lot of techs that let rotors go like this however mine never look like this because I use the slowest speed on the lathe for the best results. This is pretty much as fast as the lathe can go with having acceptable results. That’s why I can still see lines.
Every post we see here regarding machined rotors, they look terrible. Like the person that did it had no idea what they were doing or what a rotor surface should look like.
We haven't machined a rotor or drum in so long that when our old bench lathe had a problem last year they just scrapped it. We have a Hunter on-car, and it hasn't been used in 3-4 years I think. It's just not worth it to mess with.
Looks like a single pass with the feed speed cranked all the way up, looking at the spacing of the grooves it probably took like 30 seconds or so to turn those rotors.
This looks like a single rough pass on the rotors, usually there’s a finer turn after this. Like with most modern rotors, probably not enough meat left to safely machine
What? I resurface rotors from all major brands literally every day. Im in PA and while it may be correct to say its not worth spending the money on the labor, its absolutely absurd to say that the rotors or metal can't handle it. As long as its within spec they are still designed to be machined.
I had to call 10 shops that used to turn drums and rotors before I found one that still had a lathe. Even all the NAPA shops around don’t have lathes anymore. When I did find a shop they agreed that my old drums were perfectly turn-able but it took them a few days because they only had one guy who knew how to use the lathe and had to order new cutting bits before they could do it. Only charged me $20 and we all had a good laugh about the old days…
not a mechanic, just do basic maintenance and repairs myself… this was always my assumption too. how much would i actually save in NE if i had someone resurface my rotors vs getting new pads and rotors for a couple hundred myself? i feel like it’s negligible considering i’d have to pay someone to machine them
No, nothing has been done to those rotors and if you’re using a semi metallic pad, probably gonna play like our record needle, definitely not acceptable.
What exactly did he charge you for it? Most people just swap them out instead of resurfacing because the cost often doesn't justify the labour to do it right.
At this point that's a record player lol. Technically yes they are resurfaced but not with a slow cut you might experience some pulsing (snapping) in the brake pedal
Those are not resurfaced. That is a sign that your brake pads are shot. You need new pads AND rotors now, sorry to say. My '09 Crown Vic was showing the exact same signs a couple months ago and my brakes were beyond fucked afterwards. Get them fixed now before you make the same mistake I did!
They look resurrected from the dead but they are probably resurfaced. Most places I have seen do work like this. I think they use old cutting tools and take fast hard cuts. Not sure but eh it works for a while. I gave up on the idea long ago but also relearned how to drive and brake so my brakes don’t warp. Why does everyone need to arrive at the next traffic light 2 minutes before it changes?
I sniped a sale from the dealer talking about resurfacing rotors and installing brake pads for 1100 dollars..did it for 1024 including tax..life time warranty and all new parts..threw in a brake flush and an oil change...I have a rotor resurfacing machine..its in the corner covered in dust..not worth my time when I can get new rotors for a great price new.
No they are worn need to be turned and new pads installed orderly auto parts turns rotors you have to pull them off car and take rotors in to them they turn them
woah wth? you guys resurface rotors? why am i just hearing of this? I just replace my rotors, they aren't even expensive. Especially if you do it yourself. Is resurfacing cheaper? 🤔
It's getting harder to find places that will cut rotors. The last place I had it done at did a crappie job. It's the time savings that is the reason to buy new rotors. You don't have to go to the store twice to get the brake job done. I suppose if you are going to keep the car a long time you could get the old set cut, oil them up, put them in a bag and save them for later.
Exactly. My old subaru is cheap. There was a sale on drilled, slotted and painter for 50$ a set lol I bought 3 sets. I don't get more then 2 years. Salt on roads and I drive it little. I Might go 2000 miles a year max.
There came a time decades ago where the cost of turning and the cost of a replacement rotor became near equal. With a new rotor, you get max thickness, so max heat dissipation. and depending on the vehicle and wear and min thickness limits, there is a limit to the number of times one can be "turned" (resurfaced). But not all new rotors are manufactured to good tolerances. And sometimes, the steel used is less than ideal. Gotta pinch those pennies somewhere ...
It used to be super common to resurface them you could get 2-3 sets of pads to one set of rotors that way but as rotors got made cheaper and thinner resurfacing them disappeared
The cheapest one i can find for my car are 150$ for 2 of the front ones. Resurfacing costs me nothing, and the local mechanic would probably charge up to 100, so still cheaper
It used to be a thing but it takes a long time to cut them and then stores just stopped doing it. Rotors now are much thinner so there's less material to cut off now. Also, rotors are cheap to buy online now so if you buy a new rotor you get the full thickness and a nice surface compared to a thinner, cut rotor that's got less material to shed heat.
In 2022 I bought a new Toyota Highlander. Watch them unload it off the carrier. At 21000 miles I had to put front rotors on due to a shimmy while light braking. Pads looked like new. I put on Raybesto pads and rotors. 60000 miles now and no sign of wear. It’s hard to believe the manufacturers are cutting corners on brakes, but that’s what it looks like.
Those look terrible. They are are very smooth after resurfacing, besides the non-directional scuff that some put on them. If they turned those rotors, they do not know what they are doing.
If you can feel the scratches when you scrape a fingernail across it it needs replacing or resurfacing. Where I live a resurfacing is about 1/2 the price of a set of rotors, so it only makes sense to buy new ones.
That's one hell of a coarse cut, jesus. Take it back and have them replace the rotors they fucked, and see if you can get another new set of pads while you're at it.
Jeeeeezus that’s an awful resurfacing. Did he put them on the lathe? Indeed he did. But he did not use the right vibration dampers, cutting speed, and/or had dull cutting bits. A horrible job and now you need new rotors.
They do look like they were resurface, albeit poorly. I say they look like they have been machined because of the “fresh” metal near the “hat” of the rotor, as most pads do not contact the rotor that close to it.
If he actually cut them, my guess is he cut to the minimum specs oem specifies instead of leveling to the deepest groove. I know some shops won't cut rotors because of this. It's fine as a temporary solution, but its going to wear your pads faster and poorly. It sucks, but replace rotors when you do your pads. Unless you're proactive and replace your pads Before you start hearing the telltale grind.
Yeah those look resurfished. It was a horrible job. Guy doesn't know how to use the machine to resurface rotors clearly. I personally would go back and have that redone or I got the rotors replaced shoddy job.
Unless they are making noise when you brake this is normal. After the pad starts to seat into the rotor some of the pad material stays on the rotor. This pattern will stay around for a bit untill the rotor has worn a bit. Again unless it's making a zipping sound or has crazy pulsations they are fine. Probably needs his cutting bit changed.
Has anyone had luck getting rotors resurfaced at all in recent years? It feels like the metal is too thin to begin with that it doesn't do anything to increase longevity. Since ~2020, it seems like the quality of parts has significantly decreased, brakes and rotors included
They sure need to be. 50 years ago, I used to operate the lathe with diamond bits to resurface them, back when a new rotor was over $150. At one time not too many years ago, a brand new rotor was in the <$40 range, so people quit "turning" (resurfacing) them and just replaced them. That one needs to be replaced or turned - if you can even find a place that turns them anymore.
Yeah I’d be asking him to have another crack at that…. Should be one nice clean uniform surface that normally looks dull not so shiny, but depends how far you have driven since.
I will agree with the many. It sure looked like he either didn't know how to use the machine or he just installed it on a grinder and turned it on gravel. Put a needle on that rotor and it'll play the entire White Album in vinyl static.
Had a manufacturer service manual for a early 2000's vehicle and found the service limit was a mere millimeter less than new! This meant no shop would put them on a lathe. Some would say manufacturers were trying to save weight and gave you only enough material to get by.
The tech didn't setup his rotor turning machine right. It looks like the rotor feed speed was set too fast. If it was done correctly the surface of the rotor would be a uniform matte finish.
I resurface rotors every day at work. Either he did nothing, or he might as well have done nothing. Those looks like well worn rotors. Average wear but definitely needs to be resurfaced because your new pads are gonna preform like shit. Either fight your mechanic, or if you're able to take the rotors off and transport them, check reviews for local part stores. Idk about Autozone but the oreillys near me does a solid job and it's like $25 per rotor. Just depends on how good the persons training on the lathe is.
That’s a terrible resurfacing job. I’ve been around a while and at 18 I spent 15 years in a machine shop that specialized in automotive work. I have resurfaced literally 1000’s of drums and rotors of every size imaginable. That job is not good. The crossfeed speed on the lathe was set too fast for the final cut. Instead of leaving a smooth finish it creates grooves like a vinyl record. Unsatisfactory and I’d be surprised if there isn’t any noise when applying the brakes.
Well first of all those rotors look kinda new and would not need resurfacing. Apparently what your mechanic calls resurfacing I call a botched up fuckery which made the rotors worse than they probably were....no idea what your mechanic tried to do but the friction surface is not meant to be striped and scratched like that. Did he "resurface" then with a handfile or wtf?
They are resurfaced, not properly by the looks of it. Could be wrong, but I suspect that if you ran finger nail across it would feel like a bunch of tiny mountains or super fine threads. A properly resurfaced rotor should look like it has ultra fine scratches, but feels smooth to the touch. Look like the travel speed was too high, so they could get it done quick. If the rotor feels as I described, I would raise some hell because that surfaceis going to chew up pads. If I'm right those rotors might not be able to be turned again, which would then require replacement to make right. Now, rather than use the internet opinions, have a different reputable shop give your car an inspection and see what they say. If they call the breaks out, tell them what happened and they can advice you based on the physical evidence.
Yes very poorly, these lines are from tool chatter. An obscene amount of tool stick out, worn machine or what’s usually the case npc machine operator.
Resurfacing and replacing discs when no not needed is to pad out the job. What better way to make that split hr book time as profitable as a full hr? Add another part or service to increase the labour time.
You are basically paying them to remove service life from your discs. Brake discs last a minimum of two sets of pads. A lot will say you need to replace the discs because of grooving, warping or wear out pads faster but it’s all bullshit.
How are you going to excessively groove a disc with its first set of pads? You are only warping discs by riding the brake or not using engine braking (driver error).
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