I had my rear brakes done at the dealer about 2 weeks ago. At the time, they said my front pads were still good (about 50%), but that the rotors were glazed and should be machined, so I went ahead and did that.

Now I'm thinking I'll just go ahead and do the front pads myself now. (Believe it or not, they are the original front pads after 65K miles.).

My question - can I just replace the pads or do I need to machine the rotors again? I've put about 500 miles on the car since the front rotors were machined. How many miles max can I get away with before needing to machine them again (in case I don't get around to replacing the pads right away)?

TIA

 

I'm pretty sure they'll shatter in a million pieces if you try this....

Just kidding. You can get away with it fine (I don't believe the police or even the DMV check these things...) but you might find more problems with dust, squealing, etc. If you do, you know the source -- not getting a fresh rotor surface to bed the fresh pad surface to.

The better question is, are you still on the original rotors at 65k? You might just swap them out at the same time (really aren't too expensive for the blanks, grab some NAPA ones even) since you're popping off the caliper and all. They can't have too much life left regardless, especially if you had them turned recently. The rotor swap just takes removing the bracket, remove the rotor, new one on, bracket back on, done.
You'd probably be good another 65k!

 

Yep - original rotors. Mostly highway miles. Hard to believe I still have 50% on the front pads. I just figured if I just paid to have the rotors cut, I may as well do the pads. But i don't want any squealing. I thought maybe since it's only been two weeks I could get away with just a pad swap. I guess i'll just run the front pads 'till they're cooked and do them then, along with the rotors. Thanks for the reply.

 

Just try to bed them in real well with the new pads, shouldn't be a problem:

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_bedinstock.shtml

 

I believe you on the pads. I'm looking at my factory tires and pads on the 07 (just under 11k miles) and they look almost brand new. I've had tires on other cars totally worn out at 12k-15k miles, the same with some brake pads.

Though, the first thing I plan to do when I install new pads is to remove the dust shields from the rotors for better cooling. They're way too close to the rotors. Some of my other vehicles don't have the dust shields and came like that from the factory.

 

Just throw the new pads in, and you'll be fine. Front brakes are one of the easiest, most basic jobs you can do yourself. The only time you even need to turn the rotors, is when there's either a bad lip on the outer edge, or they're warped. You can actually scuff up a glazed surface with some 80 grit sandpaper, clean 'em with solvent (like lacquer or shellac thinner), then install your new pads. I use a BIG pair of channel-loc pliers to push the caliper piston back in, some people use a C-clamp. Put your new pads in.