Front Brakes

[MikeyboyNJ]

I have a 95 camry with 205K miles and the last time I changed my front brake pads and rotors were 60K miles ago. I think I will need to change them soon since my steering wheel is starting to shake again when coming to stop. When I spoke to the dealer about this, they said I would need to replace both pads and rotors and I asked why rotors if they were replaced the last time. I asked if the rotors can be just cut and they said no. Does that sound correct?

[wtftoy]

You been driving on the same brakes for 145k, that's awesome. If you can, replace them yourself. You WILL save a bunch of money. And yes, replace the rotors while they're at it, cutting rotors aren't really worth the price (unless they're the GOOD kind) when you can just buy new ones.


edit:
some reason I thought it said 145k lol. actually 60k.

[MikeyboyNJ]

Not 145K. I have been driving it for 60K pads. These pads and rotors are genuine toyota parts. Is this too soon? How long should pads and rotors last? Do I really have to change the rotors too?

[wtftoy]

If you see wear on the rotors (google pics to see how they look, basically deep grooves...etc) then yes you should change them. Brake pads and rotors can never have a 'definite' mileage that it should last because it depends A LOT on the driver and if they were broken in correctly. You can google the breaking in procedure because it is very crucial for pads to have a long life. I'm not sure if your dealership does it for you or not.

Also it could not be your brake components for the shaking you're feeling. Does it pulse, or pull to one side? If it feels like your brakes are pulsing then yes that's a sign of worned out rotors. Your tires could be out of balance = shaking steering wheel, you should have someone inspect your car before doing work on it.

[Mike Gerber]

60,000 miles is a lot of miles on a set of brake pads. Most people get 30,000 - 45,000 miles on a set of pads. Since you say the last time you had the brakes done, the dealer used genuine Toyota pads and rotors, there should be enough meat left on the rotors to turn (cut) them at least once.

If you don't feel comfortable doing this kind of work yourself, by all means take the car to a professional. Brake work is something that doesn't have to be done by a dealer IMHO. See if any of your friends can recommend a good independent mechanic to you to do the work. You can even tell them the dealer used new Toyota rotors last time and you would like to have them resurfaced, if at all possible. This should save you some money on the brake job. As Wtftoy pointed out, if you are doing the work yourself, new rotors can be purchased very cheaply today with the influx of rotors coming in form China. Many techs I have talked to have differing opinions on the quality of these cheap import rotors. Personally, I have used them on my Camrys and have had good luck with them. I know others here may post different experiences with them.

Mike

[wtftoy]

BTW I was REALLY broke at one time and bought like $17 bucks rotors (raybesto brand) from advance auto parts, used it to replaced my stock front ones at the time. Used the setup for over a year (daily driven) and it was good until I decided to throw them out for brembos blank. Those raybesto were VERY GOOD for what I paid for but this cannot be said for every cheap rotors out there. Your mileage may vary.

The oem toyota brake pads are very good for just daily driving though, and will outlast those duralast and other store brands. I noticed a very big increase when I switched from duralast pads to oem pads.

[MikeyboyNJ]

I only go to the dealer for issues that a local mechanic may have a harder problem solving but if the maintenance is something simple like brake pads, rotors, or shocks, I usually go to local mechanic where I buy the toyota parts and I only pay him for the labor.