When I brake hard my car shakes a little bit so I figured my rotors are probably a little bit warped, I havn't taken a look at them but it's probably my rear ones. Now, I rarely brake hard... (except for yesterday when an SUV cut me off at an angle and nearly ruined my freshly installed 1 piece head lights) and I'll be driving up to LA and back next thursday.

I don't exactly have time/money coming out of my ears at the moment to get new rotors or get them resurfaced. How dangerous is it to be driving around? I have new brake pads which I plan on putting on before I go to LA for my job so hopefully that will help a bit, but I don't see myself being able to get new rotors or get them resurfaced until possibly June 8th.

Again, I havn't really taken a look at them and assessed how bad it is, but the shaking only really happens when I brake hard, which I don't do frequently because I slow down like a granny when coming to red lights by rev matching. But I also kind of value my life and stupid things like rotors could affect tie rods and other crap from what I've read and I live in SD and will be driving about 120 miles to LA.

 

Do not install new pads on warped rotors, unless you want those new pads to wear down very quickly. You'd be better off waiting until you can at least get the rotors resurfaced.

For me personally, whenever I do a rear brake job I always just buy new rotors, because they're only like $17 each from AutoZone. It's not worth it to me to have to remove my rear rotors, have to find some way to get to one of the few places in town that will resurface rotors (on a weekend), leave them for a few hours and then come back later and pick them up. To me it's way easier to just spend $35 for a brand new pair of rotors.

 

Awesome thanks. It sounds like you are the same as me... a work slave monday through friday and on the weekend struggling to get things done on your car

$35 it is. I should be fine though so long as I don't beat on my brakes? Which I never do.

 

if they are warped you cant them resurfaced

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by adamrich33 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if they are warped you cant them resurfaced</TD></TR></TABLE>

Huh? What gave you that idea? You get rotors resurfaced because they are warped. A brake rotor that has been used many thousands of miles is pretty much NEVER perfectly flat, and of course has grooves worn into the surface that match the surface of the pads. But as long as it's not warped REALLY bad, then you most certainly can resurface warped rotors.

I've had it done on some of my front rotors. Watched my buddy do it (who can't do it for me anymore because of shop rules ), and the machine would take some material off of part of the rotor and not even touch other parts of it. Then my friend would have to stop and adjust the machine so it would take off more material to account for the warping.

As long as the rotors aren't too thin after turning them (check w/ micrometer) then they're fine. But if you take off too much then they're much more likely to crack.

 

OP: you can drive on those for a loooong time without concern for your safety. They are still structurally intact, so it's only a matter of putting up with the shaking.

 

Rotors do not commonly warp. People often misinterpret rotor runout, which can stem from an improperly seated rotor, as a warped rotor. Make sure that the hub face is clean and that the rotor is seated properly.

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_i...shtml

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dogginator &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Rotors do not commonly warp. People often misinterpret rotor runout, which can stem from an improperly seated rotor, as a warped rotor. Make sure that the hub face is clean and that the rotor is seated properly.

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_i...shtml</TD></TR></TABLE>

Great info.

Bookmarked.

 

if there warped to the point of where he notices vibrations especially from the rear, they a done for, and any proffesional machinist wont machine them getting them turned is only for taking the groves out so there is more contact surface between the rotor a pads,
THATS WERE I GOT THAT FROM PATRICK