Gotta vent again. I take my truck to the dealer for the "works", tire rotations, etc. mostly just because the oil changes are reasonable, I don't have to fool w/ it, and hoping that they, being Ford technicians, would alert me to any trouble that was forthcoming. WRONG. I had my oil changed awhile ago, and came back about an hour later and see my truck still on the lift w/ the front wheels off of it. I walk in and they tell me I need new rotors and brakes to the tune of $350. Now, wouldn't common sense & logic (is there still such a thing?) tell you that when they do their inspection as part of the "works", they would alert you to the fact that the brake pads are starting to get worn, BEFORE the rotors are toast? Maybe i'm cranky over it, and perhaps the pads are hard enough that they wear the rotors down past their service limits before the pads are worn. I don't know for sure. They told me the rotors were wore past where they could be turned. I've never had them turned, and never had any brake service before. I told them "no thank, i'll do it myself." They didn't want to hear that. I finally got them to put the dangnabit wheels back on and got out of there for $38 dollars for "works" & rotation. Stopped at Advance Auto on the way out of town and got two new rotors and pads. It took me an hour, hour and a half to do it, and I saved $200. Obviously I shouldn't trust them to maintain my vehicle properly and am better off doing it myself. So, what's the deal?

Are the brake pads made of such hard material that they wear the rotors faster than they wear themselves?

BTW, they weren't nearly as bad as they claimed. I didn't see anything wrong w/ the rotors. They weren't grooved, the pads had 3/16" left on them (getting to where it did need new pads), and the truck has never exhibited any shaking/shimmy when braking, like if the rotors were warped. I stuck the new parts on since I had them.

Signed,

ANNOYED.

 

Quote:
Are the brake pads made of such hard material that they wear the rotors faster than they wear themselves?

Yes , some pads will wear the rotors faster than the pads themselves will wear.

How old is the truck and when / who did the last brake job on it ?

 

Like you said,I don't care if they have 400 years combined experience they work for a business that is out to make money. So yes they will strrrrrretch the truth to make a few more bucks off of you. The sad thing is that most people don't know enough about there vehicles and mechanics screw them big time.

 

The truck is a 2003 Ranger XLT 4x4 Supercab w/ 65000 miles. It's never had brake service, or needed it. Like i said, it's never exhibited any telltale signs to indicate it was in need of brake service. It never squealled, shimmied, or shook when applying the brakes, and it tracks straight when applying the brakes.

I guess the question should be: Are the OEM pads harder than the OEM rotors/Do the OEM rotors wear out faster than OEM pads.

K.Blakeley, I think you are right. I'm no mechanical genius, but when it comes to routine maintenance, I believe i'm going to take it upon myself. I used to work on vehicles all the time, but since I bought the Ranger, I haven't been turning a wrench much on vehicles. I still wrench on my bikes, and I have a fair amount of ability, but not nearly as much as some people.

 

My dad took his 350Z to the Nissan dealership for a service and they told hime that he needed his brakes done, little did they know that he had them done at another place a month before. Also, when he got the car back they put the back wheels on backwards (tires are directional).

I'm impressed you got that many miles out of your brakes, I only got 27,000 miles on my 03 XLT 4X4 Supercab, before I felt a nasty grinding in my pedal. I didn't hear any sqeaking or anything either, I was surprised because I thought your supposed to get closer to 50k out of them...although my commute does have some serious elevation change.

 

i only got like 15k outta my front brakes, you are very gentil my friend. but yes it is possible that the rotors wear down as fast as the pads. but all you had to do was measure them to find out. and i am an audi techincian, sometimes i will reccomend rotors when they "may" be able to be machiened, but if i cut them and then they are below min spec i have to charge the customer to cut them and to replace them. how would you feel if you paied to have them resurfaced and then the dealer calls you " well after we cut them your rotors are below min spec, and are unsafe to drive so they have to be replaced"


JOSH

 

I am pretty gentle on my truck I have to admit. It is even very hilly around here in West Virginia.

 

Dealerships are there to make money out of your truck/car.
Ford service should inculde a check list for brakes ,tires and so on.Lazy dealerships will just fill in the form saying all is ok.
I had a oil change at fords ($28) and the service guy came out with keys to a loaner car for me stating my truck was a death trap that all the ball joints upper and lower were about to fail.I told him he was full of **** and left.I went to a local car shop and got them checked and there was no problem with any of the ball joints.Ive put another 30,000 and my death trap ball joints so far.
I dont go to fords anymore.

 

brake rotors do have a minimum thickness. So they might look fine, but could still be past that minimum thickness. They have that so the rotors will cool properly.

20 years ago, rotors might have lasted the life of the car. Now adays they are made from softer metals to save costs. Pretty much if you have to replace pads, the rotors are usually gone also.

If you really cared if the dealer is screwing you or not mic the rotors. If you don't have a caliper take it to the parts store and have them mic it.

either way, good call on doing the work yourself. brakes are pretty simple to do.

 

I normally get 100,000 miles on the original brakes of my vehicles. It is not about being gentle it's about looking ahead and taking your foot off the gas and letting the vehicle slow down.
When I have that much mileage the vehicles get new rotors, pads and wheel cylinders if they have any moisture indication at all.
Also, less braking means better gas mileage. Each time you apply the brakes the forward motion energy is turned into heat on your brakes.

 

I put 70,000 miles on my first set of brakes on my 95 Ranger. Those miles were not only gentle but they were mostly freeway miles where I wasnt on the brakes much. My wife put 5000 miles on her Beetle and needed new brakes, because she was a 1-2 mile a day driver at the time.

When I had those brakes done on the 95 Ranger they told me they couldnt turn my rotors or they would be too thin. I argued that they hadnt been touched ever before and they told me that alot of new rotors are being made so they cant be turned, just replace them. They then told me that they can skip turning the rotors and I should be fine. Ive done multiple brake jobs myself since then (on several different vehicles Ive owned) and havent replaced or turned rotors yet. I did put new drums on the back of my current Ranger, only because I busted one up as I was removing it to do the rear brakes on it.

 

Thanks for the replies. I'm not an idiot, and i've done a fair amount of wrenching, it's just I bought the Ranger new, and more or less had it serviced there so the records would indicate it was well taken care of. Not only did I not have to deal w/ the basic, routine maintenance, the next owner would also have all the service records. I thought of it kind of as a favor. I was of a mind that since I bought it there & had it serviced there, they would be "fair". I think I may have been wrong. The dealership did recently change hands, so I can't say one way or the other whether they were previously full of s%#t, the new ownership is full of s&#t, or if the whole world is out to rip every one off they can.

 

As soon as the warranty ran out on my ranger, i havent been back since. I will NOT pay $85 an hour for some punk 17yr old kid, who doesnt give a crap about anything work on my vehicals. I have alot of time, effort and work into my truck and am not about to let just any kid work on it. Especially now that I am footing the bill for such.

 

I try do all my own work. I have had several discussions with shops over turning rotors. The thing I have found at last is if you take a rotor to s shop to have it turned they will tell you it can't be turned. Since I am a machinist I have already measured it and my measurement is like theirs and is still over the min. thickness cast into the rotor. He showed me his book and their min. thickness is bigger than the cast in min.. Sooo, that means that a new one may not even meet the spec. that the gov. says is the min.. I have even had trouble getting them to just take a light dusting cut to clean the high spots when it met their spec. If they do it some of them take to much off. I guess they don't understand what a light cut means. Unless the rotor/drum is grooved deeply or has runout causing brake pedal surge you really don't need to turn them or the drums.

In a labor swap I got a Star drum/rotor turner from a friend so my problem is solved. I may find other uses for it as well.