O'Reilly's Disc surfacing

[D60]

My local O'Reilly does it but I wouldn't dream of trying given the brain trusts there. Seriously, it's like asking the new hire at McDonald's to perform your lower back surgery.

My local NAPA makes a concerted effort to have a machinist-esque guy who actually instills confidence because he speaks the lingo of "thou" etc. I've used NAPA several times with good results, mostly for flywheels.

Either store is 30+ minutes from me one way. NAPA charges $25 per rotor. If it's a smaller rotor where I can get replacements for $35-40 it just doesn't make sense to take it in (hour drive time round trip), leave it, and return the next day (hour round trip) to save $10-15 per rotor. Sometimes they can do it within a couple hours so I better have errands to run or I'm just sitting around waiting which feels like a poor use of time to save a few bucks.

Cast pays about triple bailing tin so I throw all my rotors in a pile and scrap them at once. It's not big $ but it'll buy lunch (shrug).

 

[RaymondP]

With only 6K miles on the rotors you have a problem that won't go away with new or resurfaced rotors.

Cost to resurface is about $30 per rotor. I have had good results with every resource I have used to resurface rotors, including O'Rielly's. Usually leave them for a day or two so they can take their time doing a quality job with no time pressures. It has been my experience that to resurface the original quality rotors from the OEM (if they remain in spec.) is better than replacing them with cheap replacement rotors. Quality rotors on a quality vehicle are NOT cheap.

Maintaining a good braking system should get you many more miles on your rotors. I would say maybe two or three sets of regular pads worth (NOT track/racing pads). This includes replacing the pads before they wear out, and keeping the calipers lubricated. Also being sensitive to noise from the wheel area as well as braking anomalies when applying the brakes.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Last time I checked they wanted $25-$30 each. Got brand new ones from Amazon for less.

 

[Dave9]

I did it over 20 years ago. Seems less beneficial with the internet allowing to find more competitive, good rotor prices and multiple brands and quality tiers to choose from. Plus the price of turning has gone up, back in the day I was paying $10-$15 per at NAPA or KOI.

Plus rotors seem to last longer. Maybe it's their larger diameter than decades ago. Maybe my driving has mellowed. Maybe everything has incrementally gotten better despite still being a similarly hydraulic design. I get the upper tier rotor SKU from one of the major brands. I'm not too picky which brand. I don't run extra-special pads either. First pad swap gets Autozone Gold Ceramic, lifetime warranty including wear, so never pay for pads again over the ownership of the vehicle.

In my region the main thing is control rust, be sure to (at least check if not...) lube the slider pins, and de-rust and always lube the caliper rails, and derust (and sometimes lube/anti-seize/etc) the rotor-hub mating surfaces, and the rotor-rim mating surfaces.

I agree with others that you need to find the cause for only 6K mi service interval. First thing I'd do is pull all wheels and inspect the brakes, then rotate the tires while they're off to see if the shudder follows the wheels' new positions.

 

[brages]

Seemed like O Reilly used to be $15 about ten years ago, but it's $25 now. Did it a year ago on my Odyssey and they were good for a long time but just "warped" again recently. Wonder if I can turn them twice.

 

[D60]

Last time I checked they wanted $25-$30 each. Got brand new ones from Amazon for less.

If you have time to prepare for an upcoming job you can save big $

I just did rear brakes on the wife's '08 F150. Via Amazon Warehouse Deals I got:
-Power Stop AR8598EVC Rear Evolution Geomet Coated Brake Rotor $25.85
-Raybestos 680182FZN Rust Prevention Technology Coated Rotor Brake Rotor $42.49

These are two "upper tier" rotors for not a lot of coin. Obviously, I wasn't concerned with mis-matched rotors. It's working great.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

If you have time to prepare for an upcoming job you can save big $

I just did rear brakes on the wife's '08 F150. Via Amazon Warehouse Deals I got:
-Power Stop AR8598EVC Rear Evolution Geomet Coated Brake Rotor $25.85
-Raybestos 680182FZN Rust Prevention Technology Coated Rotor Brake Rotor $42.49

These are two "upper tier" rotors for not a lot of coin. Obviously, I wasn't concerned with mis-matched rotors. It's working great.

I do the same and watch for warehouse deals. Never any issue with mismatched brands. I have gotten them for as low as $6. Not lately though

 

[Puhdantic]

I got it done at one. They ended up turning them down too low.

They didn't charge me for it at the time. Kinda makes sense now....

 

[twouvakind]

Thanks all, looks like O'Reilly's will continue to be my go to tool rental shop.

 

[Donald]

I brought rotors there once or twice and they looked and said by the time they cleaned up the rotors they would be below spec.

I decided it was not worth the hassle and never went back with future brake jobs.

 

[c502cid]

If you've done it successfully on a lathe without a dedicated jig that doesn't ever get removed from the chuck I'd love to know how.

The key to a brake lathe is that it can do both sides without flipping the rotor around, ensuring the surfaces are dead nuts parallel while clamping against the WMS. Furthermore the conical mounting setup quickly and easily centers and holds just about any rotor so you don't spend 20 minutes jacking around with workholding.

I've thrown around various designs in my head, but it all starts with a jig I would first face every time I've put it in the chuck so I know the WMS is dead nuts square to the travel of my cross slide. I suppose a fixture for a face plate might prevent this, so then I'm loading up my face plate which I never use.

Then, lacking the cones, the jig would likely be drilled and tapped for the bolt pattern of the rotor in question and I'd bolt it up. Studs are out because I have to face that entire surface.

This way I'd feel comfortable facing one side, unbolting and flipping it around and doing the other side.

Some claim they've gotten the compound and tool post to reach around to the back of the rotor without flipping it, but what a PITA and a huge YMMV depending upon lathe and rotor -- I tried years ago with no success.

If I follow you correctly, I should have specified that I was talking about putting new aftermarket rotors on a brake lathe to be cleaned up. I've never run a new rotor without checking to see if it was true. It doesn't hurt that I go to my friends shop. No cost to do it. Well maybe the beer we drink....

 

[clinebarger]

If I follow you correctly, I should have specified that I was talking about putting new aftermarket rotors on a brake lathe to be cleaned up. I've never run a new rotor without checking to see if it was true. It doesn't hurt that I go to my friends shop. No cost to do it. Well maybe the beer we drink....

Probably thought you were talking about a traditional bed type lathe? I have a NICE low hour FMC Brake lathe that sits in storage, Floating Rotors almost make these machines obsolete. On vehicle lathes are the correct way to surface/resurface floating rotors.

I've thought about this issue in the past, Best way in my opinion would to have specific Hubs made & machined to accept tapered bearing cones that are the same size as say a 2wd SRW Super Duty. Have specific wheel simulators that you torque down to sandwich the rotor against the hub.....Thus simulating on vehicle mounting while using tooling (bearing cone Adapters) these lathes were originally designed around.

Of coarse the adapters would end up costing a small fortune, More than a nice on vehicle lathe set-up would cost.

 

[billt460]

When you get down to it. It's not the resurfacing procedure itself most are against. (Unless it's been done before to the point the rotor in question lacks sufficient material).

Like most machinery, it comes down to who operates it, and does the job. Is it worth it to take the chance some kid at Autozone or wherever, has the necessary skills to do it properly? Or save the money and forego the risk, and simply buy new rotors.

And has it's been shown here, new rotors are extremely affordable if you do a little shopping. And are not much more than the whole resurfacing procedure costs.... Minus the risk.

 

[VWRand]

I had some done a month ago at a European Specialist shop I am familiar with. They were vented rotors for my 1970's Capri (OE was solid) that were originally sourced from Europe and while new ones are easy to find over there, shipping can get very expensive. I bought them used from a friend along with the matching calipers etc. and thought I would get them cleaned up.

Thought about taking them to O'Reilly's and taking my chances, but stumbled across a video from the European shop showing how meticulous their process was, so since I know the owner, I took them there. They blasted them first to ensure mounting faces were clean, indexed them in the brake lathe precisely, took what they called scratch cuts on both sides to verify parallelism, and then removed the minimum amount of material. Even sprayed them with cold zinc afterwards.

Cost me more than I expected at $50 each, but couldn't be more pleased with the quality of their work. I drive the car very little, so will never have to replace or resurface them again. I have zero doubt they are perfect.

They are an interesting shop. I used to get work done there occasionally, but moved out of the area, so have not been there in 20 + years. Started out as an aircooled VW shop 50 years ago and still in business with the original owner. Now they do a lot of Porsche, VW, Audi, and BMW work and of course, still aircooled. They charge actual time, not flat rate, allow customers to watch or even help, let enthusiasts use the lifts & tools on occasional weekends, and sponsor a few cars at a local road racing track. Good people!

 

[nthach]

I had the local machine shop turn a pair for me, they did a OK job. The rotors were OE Toyota, else I would have ordered a set of rotors off Rock. New Chinese rotors are $60-70 from all the parts stores here.

 

[Donald]

I had some done a month ago at a European Specialist shop I am familiar with. They were vented rotors for my 1970's Capri (OE was solid) that were originally sourced from Europe and while new ones are easy to find over there, shipping can get very expensive. I bought them used from a friend along with the matching calipers etc. and thought I would get them cleaned up.

Thought about taking them to O'Reilly's and taking my chances, but stumbled across a video from the European shop showing how meticulous their process was, so since I know the owner, I took them there. They blasted them first to ensure mounting faces were clean, indexed them in the brake lathe precisely, took what they called scratch cuts on both sides to verify parallelism, and then removed the minimum amount of material. Even sprayed them with cold zinc afterwards.

Cost me more than I expected at $50 each, but couldn't be more pleased with the quality of their work. I drive the car very little, so will never have to replace or resurface them again. I have zero doubt they are perfect.

They are an interesting shop. I used to get work done there occasionally, but moved out of the area, so have not been there in 20 + years. Started out as an aircooled VW shop 50 years ago and still in business with the original owner. Now they do a lot of Porsche, VW, Audi, and BMW work and of course, still aircooled. They charge actual time, not flat rate, allow customers to watch or even help, let enthusiasts use the lifts & tools on occasional weekends, and sponsor a few cars at a local road racing track. Good people!

But even if the place does a super job the rotors will end up thinner. More susceptible to heat issues.

And given the current hourly rate that shops charge vs how much rotors cost new I would think new is almost always better. And I would almost guarantee the machinery involved to make new rotors is higher quality and in better tolerance than the brake lathe at any shop.

My Dad bought a used South Bend metal lathe that was worn and no longer in tolerance that was converted into a wood lathe. Great wood lathe. Until he had to move it to new house. The bed was 1000 lbs. And legs were heavy also. So lathes do go out of tolerance and either need to be adjusted or replaced. I doubt too many shops will do much when their brake lathe goes out of tolerance besides let it sit unused in the corner collecting dust.

 

[Opelman]

I needed a pair of front rotors turned for a 90s 1 ton Chevy van. These are decent sized and are cast with the hub. The ladies working at our Orielleys could not do them as none of the token males were working. The girls couldn't lift them on to the lathe.

 

[VWRand]

But even if the place does a super job the rotors will end up thinner. More susceptible to heat issues.

And given the current hourly rate that shops charge vs how much rotors cost new I would think new is almost always better. And I would almost guarantee the machinery involved to make new rotors is higher quality and in better tolerance than the brake lathe at any shop.

My Dad bought a used South Bend metal lathe that was worn and no longer in tolerance that was converted into a wood lathe. Great wood lathe. Until he had to move it to new house. The bed was 1000 lbs. And legs were heavy also. So lathes do go out of tolerance and either need to be adjusted or replaced. I doubt too many shops will do much when their brake lathe goes out of tolerance besides let it sit unused in the corner collecting dust.

As I stated, new rotors are quite expensive as they have to be shipped from either England or Germany and shipping something of that weight is $$

It is for a collector car that only gets driven less than 2,000 miles per year. I'm replacing the original solid rotors that have been on there 25 years with vented. They are still easily within the wear limits as they were lightly used and little was removed, so not concerned that they are now thinner by a few thousands of an inch.

 

[DannyM]

CPO, I have already had two rims straightened and am going to have the others checked, it shudders pretty bad when braking. I was just weighing options if the remaining wheels are straight.

You might want to read this article below.. I thought the typical about my brake shuttering and figured I should get new rotors but I tried this method of just doing the usual break in routine as if you just had new pads put on.. My brakes were almost unbearable with the shuttering and so I started hard braking more frequently and also doing a few emergency brakings as well, It was a gradual improvement but after about a month my brakes are way better and easily acceptable.

I will quote the more important parts : " The fact is: The discs were never warped at all. Every warped brake disc that we’ve investigated with the assistance of our suppliers shows uneven patches of friction material from the brake pads on the surface of the disc. These patches cause variation in thickness (run-out) and the vibration under braking."

and this next part was exactly me for so many years trying to go so easy on braking : " if you drive gently over a period of time with little heavy braking, you can actually strip off the necessary thin layer of friction material on the surface of the disc. This makes your brakes vulnerable to problems again. You can restore it by repeating the bedding-in procedure."

Nothing to Lose by just repeating the break in routine .... and here is the article: https://alconkits.com/support/brake-pad-info/110-the-real-truth-about-warped-brake-rotors

 

[twouvakind]

The above almost sounds like manufacturers will have to rewrite the book on EV braking systems utilizing regenerative braking. That aside, good guide though a bit more detailed than what VW prescribes....ten 35 to zero moderate brake applications without stopping and wha la! You now have completed the bedding in process.