Brake Job – New Rotors or Not?

My tow vehicle is a 2007 Honda Pilot. I’m planning to replace the front and rear brake pads. I’ll do the work myself. They’re not at the end of their life yet but I’d rather do it before they get there.

I’m seeing mixed message on the internet about the necessity of changing the rotors along with the brake pads. The rotors don’t have any noticeable grooves on either the outside or inside. The Pilot brakes smoothly without any vibration, shudder, or pulsing and stops just fine. I do have surge brakes on the boat trailer which obviously helps take some braking load off the Pilot.

The parking brake works well and prevents any roll back on even steep boat ramps.

Do you think it’s worth it to change the rotors or I’m I fine just changing the pads? I’m planning to use ceramic pad as an upgrade from semi-metallic pads.

Thanks

I’ve always done my own brakes. If rotors are ok, no need to change imho.

I’d take them to parts store…they can check the thickness and turn them for you.

Not a good idea to put new pads on rotors without at least turning them.

Gotta Ram 2500 Cummins.
It’s not even an option when I get a front brake job.
They say rotor replacement is mandatory.

If your going to do pads spend the extra money and do the rotors. I just changed pads and rotors on my car yesterday. The pads were just changed 10k miles ago and the inside of the rotors started to rust and killed the pads. At the time the rotors looked good so I didn’t change them but I will every time now.

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If your doing pads do the rotors.I would not even spend the money to have them turned,replace them.

If you replace them get the best quality you can . I’ve replaced factory ones just because, like you’re thinking and they warped right away. Personally if there in good shape and not warped I’d just slap new pads on and save a few bucks. Factory ones always seem to last longer then after market. IMO

As Gino said, get the best you can find. You get what you pay for with brake parts.I’ve used all different brand I’ve the years. The cheap stuff never runs right or last as long.

A good rotor will have a coating to prevent rust. Like the originals.

Matt Moen wrote:

I’d take them to parts store…they can check the thickness and turn them for you.

Not a good idea to put new pads on rotors without at least turning them.

Who still turns rotors? I haven’t been in a parts store that turned rotors in at least 10 years. I delivered parts for 2 of the biggest names in parts after I retired and neither of them did. Customers asked about it once in a while but usually came back for rotors because they couldn’t find anyone that would turn them.

I own 2 honda pilots currently. One has 200K, the other has 300K miles. For the cost of the rotors, change them. New rotors and pads should last 40-50K miles. New pads only and and you will be doing it again in about 20K miles. You can get the current rotors turned at a parts store but it will run about 75 bucks. New rotors sold as a pair with the pads are less than $200. I have never had any trouble with the less expensive options. I do not tow much with the pilot, however.

I would use the old ones if they look in spec. Obviously not if they look thin. I have had bad luck with replacements not being true. I have read many times that shops turn the new ones before putting them on the car. Because they can and they don’t want to do it over later. ymmv

I would be more worried about the pins moving smoothly and the piston itself not being too rusty to push back in.

Personally I push my pads till the end and then I replace rotors and pads.
I also don’t go with a expensive pad when I replace them.
My ram is a evening warrior. I drive a company truck so most miles on my ram are constant trailer towing. When I replace brakes I just do all rotors all pads, and I do not spend money on expensive pads. I find them to be a waste.
But now on my big kenworth it’s all top of the line breaks. But for a regular tow vehicle just do the pads and rotors at the same time and get the cheaper stuff.

Don’t buy cheap pads unless you like cleaning brake dust off everything. Spend a few dollars more and get ceramic pads and coated rotors

Coletrain27 wrote:

Don’t buy cheap pads unless you like cleaning brake dust off everything. Spend a few dollars more and get ceramic pads and coated rotors

I never buy ceramic, and I never deal with brake dust on anything.

Pat K wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Matt Moen wrote:</div>
I’d take them to parts store…they can check the thickness and turn them for you.

Not a good idea to put new pads on rotors without at least turning them.

Who still turns rotors? I haven’t been in a parts store that turned rotors in at least 10 years. I delivered parts for 2 of the biggest names in parts after I retired and neither of them did. Customers asked about it once in a while but usually came back for rotors because they couldn’t find anyone that would turn them.

Couple places by me in MPLS that did them as of a couple years ago.

Maybe it’s not a thing anymore but I’m in my early 40’s and have had dozens of sets of rotors turned in the last 20 years.

Regardless, it’s a bad idea to use new pads and old rotors for a host of reasons.

Matt Moen wrote:

Couple places by me in MPLS that did them as of a couple years ago.

Maybe it’s not a thing anymore but I’m in my early 40’s and have had dozens of sets of rotors turned in the last 20 years.

Regardless, it’s a bad idea to use new pads and old rotors for a host of reasons.

At the 2 chains I worked for the company line was that due to the higher heat from NM and ceramic pads compared to the old asbestos ones the rotors are engineered to dissipate heat faster. Because of that most of the faces were to thin to be turned, and if they were turned they would warp quickly.
One store still had the lathe for turning them in the back but it was just something to pile junk on.

So you were getting mixed messages on the internet and you thought IDO would give you the straight answer.

New rotors New pads

Check the blinker fluid while you’re at it……

Rotors are designed to last longer than brake pads. Unless warped, I don’t know why you couldn’t get 2-3 brake pads per one rotor.

It all depends on the shape of the current rotor in my opinion.
Smooth with no heat cracks, rust spots, grooves, or vibration you can reuse them. Any of the conditions stated above replace them. 99% of rear rotors will need replacing because they don’t do enough braking (heat) to stay dry. In turn they rust.
I like ceramic because they are low dust and quiet. I started using ceramic in my shop 20 or 25 years ago for those reasons to prevent comebacks.
My .02

Do not use the old rotors. Rotors are made as thin as possible now to save weight which means better mpg. The only rotors I use now are Bosch quiet ride or OEM, anything else seems to warp in 20-30k miles. The cost for brakes for how long the last is quiet low. Most vehicles now are getting about 100k on a set of brakes.

Ripjiggen wrote:

So you were getting mixed messages on the internet and you thought IDO would give you the straight answer.

I guess it depends on a multitude of factors. I use to think one couldn’t go wrong installing new rotors but if the new rotors are of poor quality and warp you would have been better reusing the old ones. Four new Honda Pilot OEM rotors from an online parts store cost over $300. OEM pads cost about $100 for all four, so it’s not like the cost of the rotors are insignificant. But I can get all four rotors and pads from after-market, on-line stores for about $200 so only half as much as OEM. I just don’t know how the quality compares between Honda OEM vs. After-Market. That’s my conundrum… stick with the existing rotors that are working just fine, go all new OEM, or go all new After-Market.

Never go cheap on rotors. 300 for OEM is cheap, I wouldn’t even consider trying anything else. The Bosch rotors I use are typically more than OEM, around 100 each. That was 300 for all 4? If it was 300 each go with the Bosch rotors.

I am in the camp of replacing rotors only if there is something wrong with them (e.g., excess wear, cracked, etc). Recently replace pads on my F150 and Explorer and kept the original rotors since there was very little wear on them (both at 90k miles). I spent a bit of time researching whether to replace the rotors “just because” or not. In general, those that make brake parts or sell brake service recommend replacing the rotors – possible that they have a vested interesting in that recommendation, or the lawyers recommend they say it or there is science behind it????. The articles I found that were from more independent sources generally recommended replacing only if needed. Many recommended replacing rotors if they are warped and attributed a pulsation when braking to a warped rotor. However, at least one article said that having a rotor actually warp is very rare and that what many think is warpage is actually variations in friction between the pad and the rotor. This can happen if you have to brake hard and come to a complete stop while maintaining brake pressure – this results in additional brake pad material being deposited on the rotor due to the high heat. Bedding the pads can get rid of the uneven deposits and the pulsation. New brake pads and bedding on my F150 “cured” my warped rotors.

Done a lot of brake jobs only doing pads if the rotors look fine. I would never tell you not to put new rotors on if you want to but if the old ones look good as some people have said before I typically dont worry too much about it. Unless its a special deal where you tow a lot of weight very often then for piece of mind i would probably swap them out.

onestout wrote:

That was 300 for all 4? If it was 300 each go with the Bosch rotors.

Yes, $315 for all four. List price is $466.

O’Reilly Auto has Bosch Quietcast front rotors for $87.99/ea and the rears for $64.99/ea so about the same as Honda OEM. Doing a quick search I couldn’t find any Bosch rotors that were more expensive for a 2007 Honda Pilot.

Interesting discussion.

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Get the best quality ceramic pads and better or best rotors.I can’t emphasize this enough,but make sure the the slides are clean and move freely.I would recomend you clean-sand the brake caliper mount where the shims and pads go.I see most of the time the pads sieze up or the slides and cause failure.

I usually have my rotors turned if they are in spec. But check the prices on new rotors, online too, sometimes new ones are close to the same price

Napa has a Brake package pads and rotors for like $160 a set. Get the Better or Best pads and rotors. I did the cheapest ones on my wife’s Toyota and had to spend twice as much because I went cheap pads that sounded like concrete rubbing on a 55 gallon drum when stopping. YouTube has lots of videos on your car on how to do the job.