Is it a good idea to turn rotors and....

[badtlc]

reuse the pads? I got a friend who has a noticeable vibration when applying the brakes. He had everything checked out and the pads, fluid, etc. all came back good. I know turning the rotors would alleviate the problem but I didn't know if that would be a waste if not replacing the pads.

 

[d00df00d]

No, it would not be a waste.

 

[tomcat27]

its possible. certainly not the best since you now will be mating flat, smoother rotors with pads that are not flat - so you wont have full contact. but certainly in times of economic duress it is possible. likely the rotors will warp much faster now that their mass has been reduced.

 

[bepperb]

Could be warped rotors, or runout, or deposits. Turning them will fix all three, and you can do it with the old pads. Then again, that's a lot of work not to replace the pads, and you could get a new set of Monroe pads for about free after rebate...

 

[Johnny248]

If the pads are good then there is no reason not to use them. I usally just sand them down a little bit to bed them into the newly cut rotors.

 

[rsp]

Don't forget to "bed" the new pads.

 

[SteveSRT8]

a couple of nice links...

bedding brakes- http://www.zeckhausen.com/bedding_in_brakes.htm

rotor tech- http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml

Might help change the way you think

 

[benjamming]

careful with bedding as different mfg have different philosphies on this
see Tire Rack Article

 

[Mr_Incredible]

If money is a sticking point, the first thing I'd do is to just take off the current rotors and clean off all the rust & dirt from the contact areas. It's a good bet it would help.

If the pads are good it would be no problem to put it all back together. If they are suspect, then it would be a good time to replace them. If the rotors are not bad it would be okay to reuse them without getting them turned.