Rep Power: 0

I recently purchased a used Honda Civic and don't know whether I need to get the brakes replaced or not. I took a ruler and estimated the rotor and pad thicknesses as follows:

Rotor: ~0.82"
Pads: ~0.21"

Should I get new pads and rotors?

 
Rep Power: 518

Save your cash for now.
You got a real problem with the brakes?

Front rotors, minimum thickness is 0.750".
You have plenty of meat left on there, you can have them machined if you want.

Pads could be a judgement call.

Measure only the friction material, not the steel plate.

At .210" --- Your pads should be around 5mm, so they are fine for quite a while. (UNLESS your measurement included the steel backer plate, then you only have maybe 1mm of friction material left.)

Most of Hondas brake pads start out somewhere around 8-10mm thick. Replacement range is anywhere under 2mm.


The wear indicator squeals at about 1.5mm IF that edge of the pad is the first to wear thin.

I see plenty that rust up and wear pads in odd ways so the squealer never makes noise while the opposite pad goes metal to metal.

HTH

 
Rep Power: 253

Just wait till the squealer kicks in.

Rule of thumb is you can resurface rotors once. The next time replace them.

 
Rep Power: 352

i have blank oem and i have already resurfaced them 3 times.

new oem rotor, ran the rest of the hawk hps with a few hard canyon runs. lasted 2k....

resurfaced rotor and i ran a new set of hawk hps for about 10k miles. got sick of the dust and decided to try hawk HP-ceramic...

resurfaced rotor and ran hawk hp-c for about 5k. wanted more bite so i...

resurfaced again and ran kenny's HP+ for about 2k now.



the last time, i had tire shop check the thickness of my rotor and he said i was fine. still had plenty of life left. (prob not after these HP+ since they are so aggressive on the rotor.

 
Rep Power: 253

Perhaps because you never really "wore" the brake pads all the way.

Just a rule of thumb is what I say, of course a digital caliper will not lie.

Am I the only one who doesnt resurface rotors anymore? Around here they want around $20 each rotor to resurface, it just doesnt pay.

 
Rep Power: 352

^ +1

yea, i only resurfaced my rotor cuz i didnt wear it down...and BECAUSE i installed new pads, you have to have a clean rotor surface for the NEWER brake material to bed in.

you cant achieve optimal braking potential with bedding new pads on old residue. eventually they will be all new pad, but i dont want to wait.

my friend's dad has a tire/rotor shop so i only get changed $15 dollars to get BOTH rotors resurfaced.

 
Rep Power: 253

$15 for both is reasonable. But $40 for both is just too much I usually just change them.

 
Rep Power: 0

Thanks for your replies, everyone.

The main reason I was thinking of replacing them is that when I brake over about 30 MPH the steering wheel shakes quite a bit.

Will autoparts stores, like AAP, resurface rotors? I take it from your comments that that would be cheaper than buying new rotors?

 
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OK, forget my last question. I called a bunch of AAP and AZ's in my area, and none of them resurface rotors. The one shop I called in town said they charged $60 bucks to resurface the rotors, and they are one of the shops known as being reasonable price-wise.

New rotors at AAP are only $40 bucks, so I think that may be a better deal. Assuming, of course, that it is the rotors that are causing the shaking..

Do these look OK?: http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web...RPDRUMAMS_____

 
Rep Power: 235

I've never re-surfaced unless the rotor was deeply grooved. I just let the new pads conform to the rotor. Never had a problem.

 
Rep Power: 518

You have warped rotors, or there were rust spots where the pads set while it was parked for an extended period (lot rot).

Many places machine them here, it is cheap if you carry them in.

The Zone and a few others do it here.... but......Parts store flunkies, I might not let do it.

Almost any automotive machine shop should be able to do it.
Call and ask first. Gas ain't cheap.

Rust buildup can make them effectively warped too. Grind all of the rust out from the mounting surfaces on the back of the rotor hat AND the hub before machining and before remounting.
Bolting a nice, flat, freshly resurfaced rotor onto a lumpy surface is not going to give you smooth braking action.



I have seen aftermarket rotors warped right out of the box. It happens.

AM may be even lighter duty than the originals.
Weigh the AM units and compare to originals. Mass is your friend.