38 Cigarette

Need brakes all the way around on my 2004.5 4WD 3500 dually and I already bought OEM pads and rotors all around. The independent shop that I use for stuff is quoting me labor that I think might be high based on quick research that doing a brake job on these trucks is somewhat or fairly easy..?

How much labor to do replace pads / rotors / bleed / etc all around is reasonable and realistic ?

Thanks in advance.

tryNto

What did they quote you?
Most shops go by book time, not actual time to complete...

Dr.Dizzle

Perhaps this link will help.

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...y-t246354.html

thenrie

It's a pretty simple job unless you have to change or turn the rotors as well. If that is the case, it's a pretty hefty job. If you're just changing pads, I would guess each wheel would take me about 30 minutes. I did my own rears, but I replaced the rotors and calipers as well. Took me several hours.

BIGDAN65

i think i paid 220 to have all four rotors and pads installed also had it aligned.

38 Cigarette

Thanks for the replies thus far.

I was quoted 5 hours labor by this shop.

thenrie

They must be including turning the rotors. If your brakes are not pulsing or chattering, you really don't need to turn the rotors. Most brake places insist on doing it because it makes them a ton of money. I just changed out my rotors because they were under spec already. It looked like they had never been turned and had 215K miles on them. They still didn't pulse, but since they were under spec, and since I plan on having the truck a loooooong time, I decided to change out the rotors.

Tacomaman87

[QUOTE=thenrie;2828395] If your brakes are not pulsing or chattering, you really don't need to turn the rotors. Most brake places insist on doing it because it makes them a ton of money.
Most places wont just slap pads on because customers will come back complaining about squeaks and suck and the end up eating the labor on a brake job. some type of resurfacing is needed to break the glaze on the rotor and give the new pads good material to seat to. i am not saying you cant just put pads on but the proper procedure is to turn or replace rotors. 5 hours for 4 wheel brakes seems a bit high but if they are replacing calipers and bleeding its about right

SpeedyWS6

Book time is ~5 hours for all four. Most places here usually charge 2 hours per axle to turn the rotors and replace the pads on 3/4 and 1 ton trucks if they have an on car lathe. If they don't it's easily a 5+ hour job to turn rotors on a one ton.

It's always a good idea to turn the rotors when replacing the pads. It will seat the pads in faster and give them longer life and better performance.

thenrie

Longer life, maybe a little, but better performance? I haven't seen any research to support that and my experience says otherwise. The grooves and ridges in the rotor actually provide more braking surface for the pads. It takes a couple days for the new pads to settle-in, but thereafter you would never know the difference. I would be interested to see any research done by an independent consumer organization that indicates brakes work better with new or resurfaced rotors or drums. There is some truth about breaking the glaze, but the new pads/shoes themselves do that after a few stops anyway, then they begin to re-glaze the rotors/drums. Doesn't that make sense if you have glaze on the used rotors?

I won't argue the point that it is a good idea to have the rotors turned, but the claim that some make that it is necessary is unsubstantiated. If they are true and cause no pulsing (pulsing is evidence of heat damage or warping) and are still above spec thickness (which is a VERY conservative measurement), there is no safety or functional reason to replace or resurface them. Chattering is caused by the pads vibrating against surfaces on the calipers, not the rotors. Use good anti-chatter grease on the backs and ends of the pads' metal parts and you're good.

There are pluses and minuses to resurfacing the rotors/drums. By resurfacing the rotors every time you change pads, you end up replacing the rotors more often, you reduce the thickness, which reduces the heat-sinking properties and make them more susceptible to overheating, warping, and checking. On the other hand, by resurfacing or replacing rotors or drums, you may reduce the chance of ending up with pulsing, due to heat checking, before your pads are worn out, necessitating a premature brake job, because of pre-existing damage that just wasn't quite bad enough to cause pulsing at the time you changed the pads. Incidentally, I have had to replace at least two rotors due to improperly done resurfacing (not on this truck). So, I resurface or replace rotors when they need it, not at every brake pad change. And again, just changing the pads takes me about 30 min per wheel from start to end. $110/hour is a pretty good return in my book.

Just my 2 cents. Not for argument.

SpeedyWS6

Fact is most shops you go to are going to insist you turn the rotors because it covers their butt and your average customer that doesn't think they know everything will be happier in the end when they don't have problems with their brakes 2 days later. It eliminates so many possible problems later down the road.

For the sake of this discussion I will say that if I have a customer with a one ton, I explain the situation and the different costs involved, and I let them make that choice. That way they understand that there is a chance that the rotors may develop enough run out to have a noticeable vibration or shimmy at any point in time without turning them. I will say that most of my customers will spend a little up front rather than the chance of spending even more later.

Yes it is best to turn the rotors in the first place. Can you get away with not turning the rotors? Sometimes. On your average car or 1/2 ton truck the cost to turn the rotors while replacing the pads is so minimal it is money well spent to have them turned.

38 Cigarette

As I mentioned in my opening post, I'm not having any of the rotors turned, I'm REPLACING all of them with new OEM's. So the labor in question is to remove the old and install the new (pads and rotors).

Is 5 hours realistic or a little high...?

BigIron70

5 hours is too high unless they are doing brake fluid flush, we charge 2 hours per axle.