Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
Fact is on modern vehicles (past 15-20 years or so) the thickness of OEM rotors is pretty slight, so any attempt to cut them is usually putting that rotor in the vicinity of less then the minimum thickness required for proper operation. The thinner the rotor the generally the more susceptible it is to warping. Best bet now is to simple replace (what most car markers suggest) than to resurface.
It depends on the vehicle. German cars tend to require rotor replacement with every pad replacement due to the combination of softer, damped iron and aggressive low-met pads. Some domestic cars are this way as well.
The position of replace vs refinishing depends on the OEM. I am not familiar with what every automakers suggests, but GM, Honda and Toyota all approve of on-the-vehicle refinishing to correct runout related concerns. I have found that most Honda, Toyota and Nissan vehicles have rotors that can be resurfaced at least once if a brake job is needed early on (before 75k).
For normal driving, I have yet to see field-proven evidence that a thinner rotor directly leads to pedal pulsation issues. All pedal pulsation issues that I've seen are either caused by runout (resulting from unevenly tightened lugnuts, poor rotor installation or poor rotor resurfacing) or from pad compounds that are too aggressive and wear the rotors unevenly.
Fact is on modern vehicles (past 15-20 years or so) the thickness of OEM rotors is pretty slight, so any attempt to cut them is usually putting that rotor in the vicinity of less then the minimum thickness required for proper operation. The thinner the rotor the generally the more susceptible it is to warping. Best bet now is to simple replace (what most car markers suggest) than to resurface.
It depends on the vehicle. German cars tend to require rotor replacement with every pad replacement due to the combination of softer, damped iron and aggressive low-met pads. Some domestic cars are this way as well.
The position of replace vs refinishing depends on the OEM. I am not familiar with what every automakers suggests, but GM, Honda and Toyota all approve of on-the-vehicle refinishing to correct runout related concerns. I have found that most Honda, Toyota and Nissan vehicles have rotors that can be resurfaced at least once if a brake job is needed early on (before 75k).
For normal driving, I have yet to see field-proven evidence that a thinner rotor directly leads to pedal pulsation issues. All pedal pulsation issues that I've seen are either caused by runout (resulting from unevenly tightened lugnuts, poor rotor installation or poor rotor resurfacing) or from pad compounds that are too aggressive and wear the rotors unevenly.
