turning rotors and pricing

[ZebRuaj]

It comes down to the convenience factor.

If in a pinch and no one carries your specific rotor or you have to go to the next town over, pay to have them turned.

If its a common vehicle and parts are easily accessible, get a new rotor if the damage has been done.

Like others have said, most places will give you a funny look if you ask to turn a rotor. My local oil dump, Orielly's, brake lathe is covered in a layer of dust and serves as a storage bench. I wouldn't trust them to turn a rotor if needed as I'm sure most of the kids behind the counter wouldn't know how to use the machine.

 

[The motor guy]

Depends on the material of the pad kira. Mercedes uses metallic pads which eat the rotors first. Probably to eliminate brake dust? Idk

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

Pay a little more and get quality rotors that are ground, not turned.

 

[Silk]

I have an on car brake lathe at work, but seldom use it, normaly rotors are worn below min spec. The exception is Mitsubishi Triton utes, probably the most common vehicle I work on - with these I use a spare set of exchange rotors. I clean them, paint them, then machine them off car...next brake job they get swapped. One day I will trip up and get one below spec I can't do an exchange on, but if so I'll just get new ones.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: HangFire
But whether new discs vs turned discs run better depends ALMOST ENTIRELY on the runout when mounted, you know, the part of the FSM everyone ignores because "that's set at the factory" and "I've done this for XX years and not had any problem" (except "cheap" rotors warp 10K miles later of course... but that's not MY FAULT... even though I have NO AS-BUILT RUNOUT MEASUREMENTS recorded.)

Bingo, and all the documentation from the disc companies warning about this ahead of time.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

Not sure about modern rotors being "softer" than old school stuff. Either they are an iron rotor (not particularly hard or soft) or they are stainless steel (definitely harder). Iron rotors work better than stainless, but in some installations (eg motorcycle) you aren't going to talk too many people into iron rotors which are heavier and have the potential to rust.