I have a 2005 Grand Caravan w/ about 33K mi. The front pads are down to about 10%. The rotors seem fine, no shuddering, bad scoring, etc. Anything wrong with just replacing the pads? Is there a "how to" somewhere on here? I did pads on a 2000 some years back, but it's been a while. Just trying to avoid the usual brake shop's "shotgun" approach to brakes. Why machine or replace rotors when they ain't broke, or even in bad shape? Thanks.
vabear
11-07-2007, 11:12 AM
On my '96 the front pads went 55,000 miles and then I changed them, I did have the rotors turned as they were shimmying a bit. I left the rears (drums and shoes) alone until 100,000 miles and there were no problems.
Rick99
11-07-2007, 11:39 AM
You can replace fronts only if the rears aren't worn out yet-- the rule is to do both sides at once, but you can do front or back at different times. As for the rotors, if they're fine, you can just lightly scuff them with coarse grit sandpaper (preferably mounted to a drill)... or not. You should measure them though to see if they are still within thickness specs. I usually take the "shotgun" approach when I DIY my brakes-- I figure I'm saving enough on labor to easily cover the cost and that I'll just make them new again and not have to worry for the next 50K miles.
XDGT03
11-07-2007, 12:26 PM
IMO, always have your rotors resurfaced or replaced. New rotors are about $20-$25 each so if they are under spec it is not too expensive to replace them.
TomQuick
11-07-2007, 12:43 PM
I agree on replacing the rotors. It's pretty cheap insurance, and you are saving plenty enough on the labor doing it yourself to more than make up for the cost of replacing the rotors. With rotors being so reasonably priced now, it isn't terribly more expensive to replace them than it is to resurface the old ones.
