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Will brake lathes make a comeback?

🕑 Added 2024-09-26 14:52:30 +0000 UTC

Comments

Bryan Smith

Yes! My local 'corporate owned' NAPA store, had a machine shop attached to it. I've had all sorts of small things done there for an extremely reasonable price. They were always busy, so I knew most of the time, I would have to wait. Brought in a set of exhaust manifolds for them to remove broken studs and clean up the mating services. Press bearings on and off, ..AND.. turn brake rotors and drums. The old man that ran the place retired and no one wanted to step up and take over. So, they closed the shop. Currently, if I need any of that work done...I dunno where I'd go? Most the 'other' shops, it's just quicker and easier for them to load the parts cannon and give the bill to the customer.

Robert LaTorre Jr.

Remember getting them turned for $10 at Napa.

Kowyn Hibbert (Warrior of the Rusty Wrench)

So it's mostly the machining cost? Bigger parts bigger casting, lathe and such, I wouldn't have thought 🤔

Watch Wes Work

Labor wise, both jobs take about the same. But every time you make something bigger, you make it a little harder. Brake parts cost is roughly proportional to weight or size. My truck brakes are 3 times as big as my wife's car brakes. They also cost about 3 times as much.

Keith Mezzina

To be honest, I wish they never went out. Lots of wasted rotors that just needed a light cut to be good as new again.

cdoublejj

all of the new rotors we have been buying for years, premium or cheap are not TRUE, just end milled at factory, so we got a brake lathe years ago to correct new out of box rotors

Tor Sjøwall

My Tesla 3 had to get new front brake disks because the old ones were rusted at the 4 year compulsory technical control. With the regenerative braking, the mechanical brakes are not used enough to keep them clean. You have to remember to set the car in neutral on a long downhill drive, just to clean the disks. The cost of the regenerated kWh brings tears to your eyes.

Avery Woodward

Same here, my calipers seize before I run out of pad.

K H

Just the fact that many companies aren't guaranteeing parts for more than 10 years might make it more popular as vehicles age.

Anthony deFreitas

As long as you don't get your Rotors from Just Rolled In, you should be good to go.

Greg

I drive all manuals in the country,,, so my pads never wear out but my rotors get big divits from rust spalling, if the pads cost more I would probably resurface them and just swap the rotors

Adrian Gadd

Old rotors make a great base for jack stands if you're working outdoors.

Paul

when i was young and poor i changed my brake pads but ignored the rotor. It was probably past the limit thickness wise but I didn’t worry. Just a slight amt of vibration. Donated the car at 150k miles w the original rotors

J W

In my state , LA, its more of a liability issue here. We are sue happy, just look at every billboard. I finally got the answer after I started mic'ing mine and tried to have them turned. I get the excuse that by the time the shop turns them, they will be out of spec. I respond to the shop, they've been mic'd and they would be close or at minimum thickness with no run out. Then the real answer..... liability. No shop wants to get involved in a pricey litigation. A shop may touch it for a quick mill or 2 clean leaving with a lot of meat left. If I had the room and extra cash, I'd get my own lathe. The other reason, Chinesium. A majority of the public has light cars/truck. IMO, easier to slap on some no name ones (or up sell to name brand , if a dealer). Also, the 3/4tons and the such here are Denalis and the sort. They can spend some $100k on a truck, $300-400 for a pair of rotors is chump change.

Peter Facey

I'm afraid I'm always disappointed when I get a patreon email from www and find it's not a video!

Watch Wes Work

The really nasty part is the rotor haven't changed, they just change the "limit". I turn rotors past the limit all the time with no ill effect.

Watch Wes Work

I'm sure you are right. Though that likely won't happen in my lifetime.

Kowyn Hibbert (Warrior of the Rusty Wrench)

Some modern rotors for example current Ram pickup trucks give you about half a millimeter to work with on either side with the wear that typically occurs so any amount of gouging and it's trash because you don't have enough to resurface it, absolutely intentional on the manufacturers part.

Kowyn Hibbert (Warrior of the Rusty Wrench)

I don't understand the insane price difference between say a full brake job for a 2005 Toyota Echo versus front rotors and pads for a 2011 Ram 1500, for what it cost for just the rotors and pads for the ram if you can do all four corners on the Toyota and still have money left over for lunch. At least if you're buying them from the parts stores.

Marshall

Is it the case that the need for brake lathes will trend lower over the decades because of EV regenerative breaking? Rotors and brakes still required, just 80% less.

Jeff Chandler

I guess I am old school. I remember rotors being part of the hub on some cars and were expensive to replace. We always turned drums and rotors until they were used up. Seems crazy to throw away modern rotors that still have plenty of thickness left to turn.

Watch Wes Work

That's mostly a bunch of BS. You can, and I have, turn them way past the limits.

Watch Wes Work

In this case the brake hose failed and locked the caliper on. It was pretty warped. Factory rotors can usually be pad slapped once. Aftermarket I always turn or they will pulse.

Michele Crown

Creative solution to the problem. Your restoration of the Ammco Brake Lathe is one of my favorites I’ve watched a few times.

Terry Lawrence

What a guy needs is a lathe small enough to do valves and big enough to balance truck tires!

Cesar

Did they ever got away? Here in California the Honda stellarships insist to resurface the rotors every time you change the break pads, to me is because down the line they want you to get new ones so they can make more money out of it.

Jason Harner

That's a big rotor. In the cheap race car world I can't see it making sense, we buy $200 pads and $15 rotors. Even fancy stuff like Wilwood is $125 a rotor and you'd need a specific set of circumstances to make lathing (pedants: turning) those make sense.

Martin lewis

I sure hope they do. I can't see the trend of rising prices going away.

sean

I thought manufacturers were making rotors as this as possible so turning them would go below their minimum thickness I’m speaking about passenger cars I don’t know what they do for commercial vehicles

Ian McKay

If there is any sense out there, yes they will!

David Fuller

Probably not in my shop I got rotors for a bus from rock auto for 86 dollars apiece when local was 185 each for same brand

Drew

To me the real issue is not letting them get damaged by worn pads and jammed up calipers. In the world of machining turning rotors is relatively simple.

mrklean

I've been trying to find a brake lathe on FB marketplace for a while. They're definitely a hot commodity! Every time I see one in a reasonable, not even cheap, price range, it's gone in minutes. I don't even do that many vehicles a year, but I could have paid for it quickly. Thank God for parts people who don't care.... I warrantied plenty of cheap Chinese rotors that warp so easily in my day...