Just wondeirng if anyone knows who can turn my rotors somewhere around Chapel Hill or Pittsboro NC area

 

Don't waste your time and money, just buy new ones.
High quality Brembo rotors from www.tirerack.com would be a better choice.

 

Why do you want to turn them? Are they warped?

 

Yeah they're wqarped. I go through discs at leat once a year on the front. I don't really know why. If I had to slam them on or something I could see why they would warp. But just from everyday driving.

It's definitely not a waste of time. I just recently moved to Chapel HIll and haven't found any repair places that I like yet. I had my last set turned and the set before that. $25 for both brakes turned verses $360 for both discs new. That's a big difference. I may buy some good ones after this set, though just to see if I get anymore mileage out of them.

 

If your brake caliper slides aren't moving freely, the outside pads can always be under some pressure; heat: warped rotors. Just food for thought. Also, new rotors (installed by me) were $40 each. Takes about 30 minutes a side if your unit bearings aren't seized to the knuckles.

 

If you turn warped rotor the warp will be right back very soon.
What happens is turning warped rotors results in making the rotor have varying thicknesses which cool at different rates causing warp.

Easiest way to warp rotors is to sit at a traffic light with your foot on the brakes immediately after braking hard. The place where the pad contacts the rotor cools slower than the rest of the rotor. Uneven heat causes them to warp.

Last time I bought Brembo rotors from tirerack.com they were $52 each.

 

ebc rotors best bang for the buck with slotted rotors my last set ran 200.000 miles and 6 years with no prolbem but when i had done my brake job i changed everything!!!!!!!!

 

Very true about the varying thickness. Turning rotors really only "worked" on non vented rotors on older cars.

 

If you're having trouble with your rotors warping then there's obviously a problem with braking power being distributed to all four corners. Have you made sure that the rear drums are working properly and are adjusted properly? Do you have a proportioning valve for the rear brakes? If so, it may not be working. Any one of those potential issues would cause the front disc's to burden most of the braking which would over stress them. Also, you can upgrade the rear drum cylinder to a GM 1 ton cylinder. Its basically a swap with minor tweaking of the brake line and I understand that it drastically increases the rear drums braking power.

Also, I too agree that turning warped rotors is/can be worthless since it only temporarily fixes the problem, because a rotor with compromised integrity through heat stress will always return to the warped state.

 

I absolutely agree with Katoom.

Beavertail, a quick and easy way to verify if your rear brakes are doing anything is (with the truck cold) do some hard stops and put your hand on the rear wheels or the back of the drums. If the rear brakes are doing anything at all they should at least be warm to the touch. If working properly they'll be hot enough that it'll at least be uncomfortable to touch them for any length of time.

From what you mention, it sounds very much like your rear brakes aren't working at all.

 

Thanks guys. That is some great info. I never really realized about weakening the rotors by turning them. It makes perfect sense. I've suspected my drums in the back weren't working properly. Didn't really know how to check them. I do the back up/emergency brake adjustment 2-3 times a year, but don't really notice a difference. I'll try the touching the back of them method.

 

hi
had my rotors turned last brake job .

working great so far ? 10,000 miles

it may depend on the machienest as to the quality of the job !

 

Look at this:
http://dodgeram.info/tsb/1997/05-04-97.htm

Making sure the rear adjusters are not seized up is important, which means pulling the drum off. I do this 2x/year. Inbetween I do the back up method on gravel or dirt, get going fairly fast and stop hard enough to slide the tires. google adjusting drum brakes for info to help you out.

 

I think more than that is how much material gets removed. The mass of the rotor acts as a heat sink, and a turned rotor that's nearing minimum thickness can't absorb and dissipate as much heat.

If you're not working the brakes hard then it probably isn't as big an issue.

 

I have been told ceramic pads don't heat up as much and I recently put them on the wifes Sebring. I like the difference. Any opinions? If they don't heat up as much, could this help stop warpage?