So I knew I needed to change my brake pads but I went way too long without changing them. Eventually I started hearing a grinding/rubbing sound coming from the brakes, I thought there was something caught in the caliper or something like that but when I pulled off the caliper what I found was MUCH worse..





The pads were completely worn down, like there was no pad material left; just the metal backing which was rubbing on (and clamping on) the rotor grinding it down!

How can I tell whether my rotors are still good enough just to be turned instead of replaced?

 

would not turn them put new ones on after you get them cleaned they will most likely be out of spec.

 

Replace, Replace,,,, they are worn to bad to turn down. No shop would turn them for you.

 

No offense.....but this is the reason we should have yearly vehicle inspections in this country.......how could you possibly go this long??? Thats a major safety hazard

 

No way in hell you are turning them rotors, you need new ones

 

I know its not funny, but ive seen worse. My brother had an old Dodge Colt, he said his brakes starting squealing (and my brother is one of those people that if its out of sight, its out of mind) so we pulled his brakes, He had NO pad left, i mean no pad or backing metal, he wore it down till the entire pad assembly was gone and he was relying on the caliper piston cup grinding on the rotor to stop him, i know thats a major major major saftey hazard, but it was sort of funny when we pulled it all apart and thats what we found.

 

WOW thats really bad!!!

 

That makes me want to go check my brakes right now!!!

 

i've seem way worse in a state that has yearly inspections, like rotors worn down to the point you can see the inside cooling fins though the pad contact area

 

Thats pretty impressive. I don't think you could get a shop to turn those, but if you have the "hook up" you could have someone turn them and see if they are still in spec when done. Although I really doubt they will be. But since you need new everything you might as well switch to ceramic pads, I did and it has eliminated a lot of the dust from the regular pads. Good Luck.

 

there is no way that those can be turned and still remain in spec....just replace em and keep your eye on them more in the future. BTW, how did they feel? Any noises/ pulsing? Just curious because I have never seen brakes that bad. Glad you are getting that issue taken care of tho.

~jstnromero

 

honestly, they felt pretty normal. The truck stopped just fine with only a little bit of fade which is why I knew it would need pads. Although the brakes still worked fine, I was able to make a very hard stop to avoid hitting a ******* chevy truck driver the same day I took those pics so I wouldnt say it was an enormous safety hazzard, although I havent driven my truck since I found this out!
The only thing I did notice was a soft grinding noise and a tiny bit of pulsing when almost stopped. Needless to say I was extremely surprised and a little spooked when I first saw the pads!

 

whether you think its a major safety hazard or not....it was....metal on metal doesn't stop for anything compared to brake pads on metal....plus.....you were a minor metal fracture away from not stopping at all......your probably really lucky that these trucks have a major rear brake bias and those were about all that stopped you...

 

I dont think yearly inspections are necessary, and I definitely dont think they would have helped me at all. Honestly I am always looking for a reason to be in my garage/work on my truck so I did not let these brakes go because I 'didnt feel like' or 'didnt know how' ... I just didnt notice anything catosrophically wrong untill I actually saw the brakes

So basically its hillarious but you dont want to get flamed for saying so?

I hope you wont find what I did!

I know someone who could do them for free but everyone whos seen them has said I need new rotors... ugh

 

yeah, I think its because the other pad still had some material left on it

By the way, are you still looking for an OEM cat-back? I have one that Ive been trying to get rid of. message me!