taze

im not an auto mechanic and neither is anyone i know personally.

my '06 is350 has 37,000mi. i had the TSIB pad change at about 19,000.
my question now is: i want to have a brake service. Do I need:

1) just new pads.
2) new pads and rotor resurfacing.
3) new pads and new rotors.

And what’s a fair price for these services?

the braking feels good but there's new squeaking i feel indicates i need a change. ive gotten all the above answers from different people so what do you guys recommend?

thank you

VVT-i

This is your second set of brake pads in 37K miles. I recommend to measure the rotor thickness and make sure it's not under the minimum spec.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

Couple criteria you will need to know...

First off, measure the thickness of the rotor in thousandths of an inch or tenths of a millimeter... Compare to minimum thickness... if the rotor is thicker than the minimum and is not scored and has a nice even surface, you can get away with just replacing the pads. I recommend resurfacing the rotors, however, in which case, you will need at least .030" more than the minimum thickness so long as the rotors are not warped (do you feel brake pulsation?) If the rotors do not meet these specs, then you will need to replace the rotors as well...

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

fair prices, not sure on the parts, but front brake labor should run somewhere between $70 and $90 depending on where you live...

taze

i dont feel any pulsation. the brakes feel good. when you say not scored, how would i know that? there is some visible thin dark lines but it feels smooth to the touch. what's a fair price to resurface the rotors?
if i do replace the rotors, should i go aftermarket or OEM?
thanks for the advise!

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

sounds like you would be a decent candidate for just replacing pads and not needing to turn the rotors... so long as the rotor surface is smooth, you are good to go, so long as you use the same pad as was on there before... if you are planning on changing to a different brand or composition of pad, then I would have the rotors turned, at minimum - pad compound needs to stay the same if not turning...

a standard brake job should cost $70-$90 like I mentioned earlier, which should include either replacement or turning of the rotors... an on-car brake lathe would be preferable if turning is performed... if you do decide to do rotors, you want to make sure they are similar in quality to OE... Brembo makes a good rotor... a less expensive rotor may work, but may not be of OE quality, meaning quick wear and possibly noise...

edit: unless you are replacing the rotors, you will want to measure the thickness of the current rotors to ensure they are thick enough to re-use or turn....

SpinAll4

One thing to remember is that if you're not a performance oriented driver, than turning the rotors will be fine if they have the meat left on them to do it, but if you drive like I do and they're all ready warped from pushing the brakes too hard, turning them will only make them thinner and the will warp that much quicker this time around.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

good point... so long as they aren't warped though, a good tech using an up to date on car brake lathe (yes, they have software in them), can turn about 5 thousandths off each side and not remove enough to notice (again, given that they are thick enough to turn) - I personally don't recommend getting within 30 thousandths of discard else you'll potentially run into problems...