Will my brake rotors need to be replaced at 60k?

[Samuel Street]

Hi All,

Looking for someone with past experience brake job with Gen 3 Expy? Should the rotors be able to be resurfaced less than 60k?

 

[JasonH]

It varies substantially based on your driving patterns. If the vehicle is driven heavily loaded, more city driving, salt on road, heavy deceleration, etc. All will wear out the brakes sooner. Resurfacing removes material and may cause the rotors to get out of round more quickly. I just keep slapping new pads on until the rotor runout feels excessive or I don't like the stopping power. New rotors don't cost much, especially since I DIY. New pads will conform to the existing rotor after awhile. If a shop is pitching it, they should have the runout numbers. There's a spec for maximum runout before resurfacing the rotor.

 

[LegalBrief]

Better question is can you find a shop with those tools any more. Second question is will the refinishing leave sufficient disk thickness.

 

[Gary Waugh]

At 130k my 08 rotors were all still within service specs and didn’t need anything doing to them. A lot depends on how you drive, but i would really doubt that they would need any work at only 60k miles..

 

[mr_dave]

Decent rotors are not very expensive, especially from a retailer like rockauto.com. To me, the time savings and slightly extra cost of just getting new rotors is well worth it when compared to resurfacing.

I recently replaced the pads, rotors, flex lines, and fluid on my Exp last year at about 70k miles, and it stops like new, probably better than new actually.

 

[Timo2824]

My 2017 has 60,000 miles and my pads aren't even halfway worn out yet, why are you needing to machine the rotors?

 

[Fastcar]

Mine were junk at 30K due to proximity of the ocean. Salt air is a *****.

 

[71Rcode]

Do you feel any pulsation in your pedal when stopping? Is that the first 60,000 miles of the vehicle with OEM rotors? Or is that an aftermarket second pair or set?

 

[GlennSullivan]

Ford Expy OEM rotors are known to warp and cause slight pulsing on soft braking and a vibration / shaking when hard braking (my 11, 14 and 17 all had this "undocumented feature" from early on (10K-15K) miles. I had the 2011 cut at 12,000 by Ford under warranty because it showed no pad wear. and it got new pads and rotors at 42,000mi. I had to cut the rotors at 60,000 because of the same issue reoccurring.

So, if you are experiencing this pulsing and shaking issue, the pads still have 50% or more life and the rotors have not been cut yet, I would get the rotors cut and it will resolve the issue. If you are having the issue and the pads are well worn, then replace both the pads and rotors. If you are not going to the dealer, then purchase premium pads and rotors and maybe they won't develop the shakes.

 

[Trainmaster]

I drive an 08 in suburban New York traffic and generally get about 60K miles from a set of Motorcraft brake pads. At that mileage, my rotors usually look pretty gouged up. Nobody around here cuts them anymore, so I usually look for a bargain on Motorcraft rotors. Two rotors, pads and hardware last summer cost me about $220 and a couple of hours work.