Rotors: New vs resurfacing

[Harlaquin]

So I was thinking when i got my calipers replaced under warranty i took then a set of ceramic pads and said while you have it off... then they asked me if I wanted my rotors resurfaced ? I was no. they were its only 200.00... I was no but thank you. I got ot thinking about this. So I asked several shops what resurfacing cost. I got from 140.00 to 220.00. I looked on line and new oem brembo rotors with ceramics pad sets only cost 270.00 Im guessing with out the pads they could be found for 100 per rotor? and oem equivalent rotors can be found for 70 each if you look. so my question. why would you resurface a rotor at a higher cost (sometimes) then buying new? I mean if you have the caliper off anyway for the pads slapping a new rotor on is nothing. why do service places even offer this? hell for the few extra bucks ill just put new rotors on each time. I would think resurfacing would be to save money is it that hard to do? and is there any advantage?

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[jetydosa]

I didnt even think you could resurface the drilled rotors.

I see no reason to ever resurface.

 

[tinyman392]

I didnt even think you could resurface the drilled rotors.

I see no reason to ever resurface.

Theoretically you can, but in practice it's not done as it can end up damaging the rotors anyways. Most places will just have you replace them if they get warped.

 

[Harlaquin]

I didnt even think you could resurface the drilled rotors.

I see no reason to ever resurface.

This was a Honda dealer.

 

[23Red]

This was a Honda dealer.

The service advisor probably has no idea CTRs have drilled rotors and was trying to upsell you a service in the hopes you were dumb enough to agree with it.

 

[Robotaz]

Sand your rotors when you put the new pads on. When I was a kid I asked a shop to turn my rotors because they vibrated really bad. The owner was a former NASCAR builder in a town where several drivers lived. He laughed at me and said unless I was racing a car with crappy rotors, they weren’t warped. I took them off and sanded them. Smooth as butter. Now when I have a vehicle that develops the vibration I sand the rotors and they’re perfect again. Millions of good rotors are probably thrown away every year.

The reason standing is required is because when they moved away from asbestos, they moved to junk that burns and leaves deposits on the rotor. The vibration isn’t from varying rotor thickness.

Anyway, to get a good bed with new pads, just sand the rotors. I use 2-3 grits for just a couple of minutes maybe on each side. Takes 5 minutes per rotor at most.

I’m ready for the morons to jump on my back and say I’m wrong, but I’m not. I’m an engineer, gear head, and have 30 years experience doing this. It works. Never have I thrown a rotor out.

 

[charleswrivers]

In your case, putting new pads on calipers that are being replaced on otherwise good rotors as far as you know... I wouldn't be replacing rotors at all. You probably can't get them to sand them... as that's not something a Honda tech is going to do. I'd just have the new calipers put on with the new pads... bed them... and see how it goes. You could always pull a wheel off and clean the rotors attached to the car get the old bedding off.

$10-20 each is what I'm used to when paying to have a rotor turned... so it can be cost effective when comparing spending $30-50 on a new set of regular-car rotors. These are for standard solid/vented rotors though. There's an Autoport on base that does it. Napa used to do them. I know an old fella back home that does them in his garage (hes got a lathe). He's a former machinist that's been doing car work on the side since... well... before I was born. You just need to kiss the surface to clean it up really. A lot of places remove WAY too much. He does an outstanding job... I've watched him set up and run it.

If you have them pulled again down the road, I'd keep them to see if they could get them cleaned up... that's way you could swap back out later and have a extra set. Personally... unless you're running the car on a track and risking glazing pads through heat... for a street car, I don't see the benefit of slotted/drilled rotors and would replace any car such equipped with blanks if it was needed... but that's me and off topic.

Agreed on the rotor 'warping' cause. It's from slight uneven wear and deposits... not really from heat warping them. I bet most are from a mix of holding pads on a hot rotor and affecting the material bedded... uneven lug nut torque... new installs on a hub that's not cleaned so it's just a little off... etc. You should still measure them as they will get grooved from the stupid hard long life pads we use today. On a CTR though, I figure the pad is relatively soft to wear and give off heat through wear vice than not wearing at all and grinding away at the iron on the rotor and retaining heat. Some rotors wear nice and can be touched up by hand. Some not. It really depends on the vehicle and it's pad/rotor combination.

The last brake job I did was on the Odyssey at 70k. Deep groves in the rear (solid) rotors. A little in the fronts (vented) but not too bad. A little bit of pedal pulse. Pads only 1/2 worn though. Braking performance was never great on such a heavy vehicle but was getting worse. I kept them to see if I can recover them and will just swap them out the next time. Given the deep, threaded grooving though, I'd be putting them on a lathe vice trying to clean them by hand. Once you don't have a flat surface to work by hand, I think you might do more harm than good. Plus... the old pad surface would have worn with the rotor to conform with the groove and threads that make it up. You can see this when you look at the old lady's face. If you put a brand spanking new pad with a smooth face on a grooved/threaded rotor surface, your braking is going to be compromised until it beds and confirms to the defects in the rotors. Initially, the pad is just going to meet the highest threads in the material and ride in them. So... yeah... you sure don't want to slap pads on a rotor that hasn't had it's surface touched up and think your brakes are better... even as good as it was just by adding pads. Your contact surface is going to be a lot less until they're bedded.

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