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Last year I had a brake job done on my 2007 F150. The shop recommended all new rotors and pads, and calipers and they replaced the brake fluid. This was last May 5, 2014. I have since put 23,180 miles on it. Several weeks ago the brakes started pulsing and the vibration gets worse the harder I press the brakes. I do feel it in the steering wheel and I also did the parking brake test. While I do feel some vibration in the rear it is very slight, thus leading me to believe the majority of the problem is in the front rotors. Over the past year I have started doing more and more of my own car repairs to save money and I’m confident I can do this one too thanks to everyone’s help here and Eric’s great videos. Having said that, before I take on this job, I feel like I should go back to the shop that I paid $1,600 (Washington, DC is outrageous for car service costs) for a brake job and press them for warranty on the rotors. BTW – the pads look like they still have quite a bit of material left. Am I out of line to expect my brakes to last more than 23,000 miles, more than 11 months? I do realize that I’ve put a *lot* of mileage on my truck, essentially driving 2x the annual national average. Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts.
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I would think you should have gotten a minimum of 50000 miles. With that said, the life of the rotor can be prematurely shortened if you drive through water with hot brakes, inch through traffic congestion, drive a lot of start-and-stop, and make short stops instead of slow stops. You can try the warranty thing, but for reasons like I just mentioned the shop will probably decline it as warranty issue. Brake rotors are made thinner these days, and many cannot be turned down requiring replacement instead of reconditioning. My advice, forget the warranty and the shop, get some good quality rotors (and pads!) and change them yourself. It isn’t a very difficult job, you will learn a lot, and you will know what you are putting on, and will have your own warranty with the parts store.
Thanks much Cap269, really appreciate the advice. To that point, I guess it’s best to also replace the pads and the rotors? I’m presuming that poorly designed pads, or pads w/inferior material composition can affect the life of the rotor just as much as the other way around? Anyone have any recommendations on rotor manufacturers, i.e. is Duralast better than Napa, etc.?
I haven’t found any real difference in rotor quality among the store brands. If you are getting a lot of heat in the pads you should be using ceramic pads. I think your truck came factory with them anyway. Never get a lower grade pad than OE.
Rotors warp by getting heated and then rapidly cooled. So if you tend to brake hard, and I imagine with DC traffic a lot of stop and go, then hit water you will wreck any rotor no matter what brand.
If your local parts store can turn the rotor it could save a few bucks. I get mine turned at my local O-Reilly for $11 or $12 each. You should always be changing pads anytime you change rotors. You should be getting more mileage out of those rotors than you did.
Yes, pads and rotors tend to go together. Replacing pads only without turning/replacing the rotor will shorten the life of the pads. Replacing/turning the rotor without replacing the pads will shorten the life of the rotor surface.
I agree with nick’s post, you should always use OE quality or better. However, I cannot find where ceramic pads were OE. The literature I have handy calls for semi-metallic as OE. Regardless, that isn’t important. Ceramic pads will help with heat control, but are more expensive than semi-metallic. More expensive is not always better.
I have used both Duralast, Napa, and name-brand parts such as Wagner and Raybestos. I have not found any particular differences between them as far as service life goes. Federal-Mogul makes the pads for Wagner and also O’Reilly and Advance. They used to make AutoZone’s pads, but AZ uses someone else now, perhaps Morse.
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