My back brake rotors were replaced last week after 60k on aftermarket. I was somewhat surprised because the front ones have over a hundred K on them.

There was no obvious scratching and the shop didn't say anything about the pads too worn. Is this typical life for city driving?

I had the front axles replaced even at the shops trying to talk me out of it since the boots were fine. Boy what a difference; if you feel a lot of shake on slow acceleration or clunkiness going through the geers as I did, this change made my old'99 feel like a new car!

John

Well if the calpiers were stuck. Rotors can warp for something as simple as the wheels being on too tight.

 

Also if they are really hot when the parking brake is set (like from a dragging shoe).

 

And sometimes it just happens.

 

Were these aftermarket rotors?

thanks, yes they were completely after market. The shop has always tightened the wheels. 60k beats the heck out of some cars

I always figured 60k was about the limit for rotors. It depends on what kind of driving you do but I'd say for aftermarket parts that's doing pretty good.

I always tend to warp rotors in after about 20k miles.

why can't they turn the rotor rather than replace?

 

it's easier to replace the rotors than have them turned. it also verifies a good brake job, they have no way of knowing how you drive the car, how well the previous job was done..etc - so it's easier and they make more money and have fewer complaints if they replace the rotors. there's very little incentive for a shop "not" to replace rotors.

 

but it's often overkill.

 

the first time you had them replaced they probably didn't need it or they should have been turned instead of replaced.

 

i rarely replace rear rotors.

 

2002 OBW has 180k, got it with 125k and have never replaced rear rotors.

1996 LSi has 180k, got it with 120k and had the rears turned once.

ive put 125,000 on an XT6 before without ever turning the rear rotors.

that's normal, not rare.

 

the slides need cleaned and regreased - this step is often skipped and protects pads/rotors.

The shop that did the job 60k ago had a "Rebuild the car,"mentality.

They probably could have been resufaced at that point. This job last week I have no doubt did need to be done becuase this shop I have used for 20 years and they try talk me out of added work; they told me they were too thin to be safely resurfaced.

a new, never turned rotor, was too thin? did they mic it or look at it?

sounds like you trust them so probably doesn't matter. i'm not sure if rotors can be bought that are "unturnable", like too thin to ever turn, i wasn't aware of that if it's the case.

 

they shouldn't have thrown away the original rotors, the OEM were probably higher quality metal than the aftermarkets.

I would rather throw on old but resurfaced OEM rotors than new junk ones made in China from a aftermarktet brand.

 

I know from experience which ones will last longer, and it is not aftermartket.

You are right, but sometimes it just easier to go with the flow in terms of

the shop and the way they want to go with it.

yeah, and I will agree since you would be looking at Ramsey for dealer neutering.....so what you have is better than going to the DM Subaru dealer for how they neuter everything they touch,

I replaced mine from Autozone and have had tghem for three years, even with one stuck caliper they have not warped.