Front brake rotors

[Dallam]

I recently took my 05 Ram and was told it was time for new pads only 45000 miles

and then was told that the rotors were rotten, has any one heard of this. Thanks:confused

 

[JBallou]

Rotors don't rot. They wear out. Sounds like you took it to the dealer. Ask them what the current thickness is and what the minimum is. If close numbers compared to OEM thickness don't bother with replacement.

45k is not very many miles to be replacing brakes, a lot of city driving or stop n go?

 

[04blackcherry]

Get a second opinion or look at them yourself. I have personally put 50,000 on my rotors (bought truck with 68,000 so can't say if they were changed before I bought it). No problems. Is there any sign of problems during braking, like shaking, pulsing, grabbing or grinding. If not, you might still need brakes but the rotors are probably fine, as long as they are still above the minimum thickness spec.

Don't know what rotten means. Might mean that they are very rusty with big chunks flaking off in the center vent area. I have seen this on Chinese rotors on my Ranger now that we use salt on our roads in the winter.

All that being said, brakes are a very important safety item and should be made right if they indeed need service.

 

[agkrueger]

Maybe he is talking about the general condition, but I would ask him to define what he is saying in specifics. I put new pads on my 2004 at 36,000 miles due to heavy towing in mountains but the rotors looked good. I will say this, do not use Wagner Quiet stop pads. They stop great but are not "Quiet".

 

[jhenderson]

Living in the NE, I have seen the fins in between the rotor halves rot through. When I was working at the local gas station after school, we had a Caddy pull in with a low brake pedal. The fins rotted, and the two rotor halves collapsed when the brakes were applied.

 

[TimothyLong]

Replaced my front pads the first time at 68K and again at about 130K. I still have the factory front rotors (never needed to be spun), though I will probably replace them next go around. My factory rear pads and rotors lasted 125K. I have just shy of 148K on my truck now.



Now these are the factory rear rotors I just took off of my wife's '04 last weekend. I guess you could call these "rotten". The guys at the tire shop told me that the Chevys have the same problem. They don't know what causes it, but they think it has something to do with the plate behind the rear rotors trapping moisture, especially if the truck isn't run every day like my wife's. The one on the right came off of the driver's side.

 

[agkrueger]

Man, pictures are worth a thousand words! I have never seen this problem before.

 

[Prairie Dog]

When I lived in Ks. my discs were rotting from the middle out and coming apart in huge flakes. The pic above is absolutely astounding but it's caused by the good quality of the metal. Very hard iron rusts easily. Ever notice they often have protection over bank vault doors so you can't touch the metal? It's because a finger print will corrode it.

 

[bsesby]

What am I doing right? One set of pads of front and original rear, at 125k and heavy pulling for 80k+ and booth at better then 40% with good rotors. I do need to Mic them. Dose anyone know what thickness they need to be?
04. 5 4x4 3500 short box 6spd.