A buddy of mine owns a tire and brake shop and he told me he always mills the rotors when he performs a replacement of the brake pads. He said if you don't do that the grooves and other imperfections that develop in the rotors will cause different issues down the road, not the least of which is more rapid pad wear.

As with medical doctors, I always recommend people to get at least two or three estimates when major repairs are done to their vehicles. A great private mechanic is worth his weight in gold.

 

so my question is should i replace brake pads and rotors at the same time? or should I just replace the brake pads and have them machine the rotors rand then risk that the pads get worn before their time?

 

can anyone give me an estimate of how much it would cost approx. to replace all 4 brake pads and to resurface the rotors? or to replace the rotors?

 

I'm sorry I can't help with labor because I've always done them myself.

OEM pads are probably around 50~70 dollars per axle. Front OEM rotors probably 75~100 apiece. Rears probably 50~75. Most places that turn rotors charge about 15~20 per rotor to turn them. So, you're probably adding 300 bucks onto the job if you specify to replace the rotors and require OEM. Now, if you're willing to use aftermarket products I would cut those costs in half.

Your concern that machining the rotors will wear the pads faster isn't really valid. If you turn the OEM rotors and use OEM pads you should get the same amount of time on the next set. The real concern is that now that the rotors are thinner they are more likely to warp, but really I haven't seen many complaints about Highlander rotors warping so in this situation that should be fine. Some people just replace pads and leave the rotors unmachined if they don't have any grooves, and depending on your rotors condition this might be an option you can also discuss with the mechanic.

If I were you, I'd probably do what the mechanic recommends... new pads and machine the rotors and be happy for another 60,000 miles. With 2mm of life it's not urgent, but you'll want to get this done in the next few thousand miles.

 

Yep machined rotors will not damage or wear pads - quite the opposite in fact. The machining process is used to put a smooth surface back on the rotor so it matches perfectly with the new pad surfaces. The only reason to ever replace rotors is if they are too thin from being machined too many times or if they have warped to where they cannot be machined again. If your rotors are pretty smooth only a very very small amount of material will need to be removed to make them perfectly smooth - and they will be good as new. No need to buy new rotors.

 

^

What he said. :thumbsup:

 

fwiw

I'm just curious about this: It seems that everytime I have had warped rotors turned, they just warp again fairly soon. Is this unique to me (Maybe I'm doing something wrong?) or a fairly common thing? I just bought a set of after market roters for my 00 Avy since the turned roters warped after about 20K miles.

 

I'm just curious about this: It seems that everytime I have had warped rotors turned, they just warp again fairly soon. Is this unique to me (Maybe I'm doing something wrong?) or a fairly common thing? I just bought a set of after market roters for my 00 Avy since the turned roters warped after about 20K miles.

My buddy who owns the tire and brake shop said the most common reason rotors warp is due to sudden heating. Specifically, he said what often happens is people drive away from their home and hit a local road with speeds in excess of 50 MPH and then panic stop when a traffic light turns red or some similar reason to brake harshly. There are internal inconsistencies in any brake rotor that lead to uneven conduction of heat when the sudden braking incident occurs, which results in the rotors warping out of shape. He has always recommended to people to ride your brakes just a little bit when driving away from your home in order to heat them up, and that way prevent rotor warping. I started doing that over a decade ago when he first told me about it and haven't warped a rotor since.

 

anchors aweigh

I just replaced original pads, front & rear, on my 05 HL, with another set of Toyota pads. Car had 40k, and the rotors looked and felt very smooth, so I just did pads. Work great, no squeals and sure, hard-pedal stops. I kinda don't like to turn rotors (I might do it once) because by making the rotor thinner, no matter how slightly, you increase likelyhood of warpage and a pulsating brake pedal. I was kinda surprised, though, that front and rear wore out at same mileage. First car I've ever seen this on.

 

I was kinda surprised, though, that front and rear wore out at same mileage. First car I've ever seen this on.

My front and rear also both went at the same mileage, 88K miles.

 

Aggressive driving with constant breaking, hard repeated braking, dragging pads, partially stuck calipers, riding the brakes, driving with foot on brakes too often, all these types of issues can cause premature pad wear and rotors really heat up, - sometimes to almost red hot. High temps cause rotors to warp.

Aggressive drivers go thru pads and rotors at a pretty high rate. Calm, careful smooth drivers that avoid using brakes can get 50k+ out of a set of pads and have rotors last for the life of the car. I have never needed new rotors on any car.

 

I think I will just replace all pads and machine rotors and be done with it.