does anybody cut drums/ rotors anymore?

Every dang shop in town used to have a brake lathe. Noticed over the last several years there are only a few places left in town that'll cut 'em. I know where to go to get 'em done so that's not a problem but did some reg happen or are newer rotors/ drums just not worth cutting (for what's left) ? A cpl inspection mechanics have told me most newer lighter weight rotors are prolly good for one cut... but they'd rather replace 'em w/ new. Lotta newer rotors also pit so bad they can't be cut, mfgrs cut the nickel to save a whole .02. Also seen quite a few brake lathes in CL searches that made me wonder too.

All the parts stores around here do it.

"Do it," and "do it right" are two different things. The last shop I tried, it was with my wife's Audi A6, and I ended up with paperweights with more runout than when I started.

Most shops advise that current rotor designs do not have enough "meat" to leave a usable rotor after one machining operation.

From this point forward, I will be heavily biased toward buying new, high quality rotors. I don't need the aggravation.

I see brake lathes come up on CL every so often and one of these days I might just get one. I used to cut brakes at the shop I worked at and you are right its getting hard to find someone to do it and do it right.

We use ours all the time but 1950's vehicles are about the newest thing we see on a regular basis.

We have found that new "white box" rotors and drums from China have enough runout that they need to be cut before they are installed.

One of th guys I work with is a GM master tech and he mentioned something about surface finish being very critical in some applications.

Apparently GM W-body cars can have all sorts of strange problems if the rotors don't have the correct finish.

Shawn

JThw8 wrote: I see brake lathes come up on CL every so often and one of these days I might just get one.

I was thinkin' that too... and a tire machine

fasted58 wrote:

JThw8 wrote: I see brake lathes come up on CL every so often and one of these days I might just get one.

I was thinkin' that too... and a tire machine

I've considered starting an "on the side" tire/brake business

Also depends on the car, most of the saturns (just for example) I've seen didn't have enough left to cut off to still be in spec. Make sure to measure to make sure you still have room to cut .020 at least.
If they're warped, they're gonna warp again, easier, since they are now thinner.
I'd personally rather replace the in most applications, but I have cut several.
And most dealerships I've been to and worked at have had brake lathes, both on-car and off

the price of new rotors/drums are so close to the cost of having the old ones cut that it makes more sense to just replace them.

iceracer wrote: the price of new rotors/drums are so close to the cost of having the old ones cut that it makes more sense to just replace them.

As long as they're still available new.

iceracer wrote: the price of new rotors/drums are so close to the cost of having the old ones cut that it makes more sense to just replace them.

I gotta buy wherever you're buying. A pair of front rotors for my Mazda3 would be $150+. Rock Auto, Amazon, etc. all seem to be that high for the. Getting them turned is $25. Pretty substantial difference in price there.

Depends what you're driving. I wanted to get rotors cut on a MoPar minivan I was working on. The guy at NAPA offered to cut them for $15 each.

My other choice was to buy new rotors from him for $14.99.

The only ones that I get cut these days are for trucks and Porsches. Everything else is cheap enough to just replace.

I've also seen brake lathes on C list (in my search for a South Bend lathe) and I've thought about picking one up, but I've heard that it makes a huge mess.

for my CRX ... the local O'Reilly's charges $9/rotor ... new cost me ~ $25 each

I too just priced Saturn SL1 rotors and the cheapest at Autozone are $19.99.
World Auto Parts has pads for $8.90.

In reply to jrw1621:

For the race car I cut them to the min. Figure less unsprung weight. Never had an oveheating issue. Buick-Tow van and street jetta = new

Cast iron blanks are just too cheap anymore. For the M3 I use Balo, which w/ Performance Friction 06s last a season. Everything else gets aggressive street pads so pads and rotors cycle out the same time every few years. I could probably resurface the rotors on the Tacoma, but I forgot last time and bought new OEM...ouch.

EvanR wrote: Depends what you're driving. I wanted to get rotors cut on a MoPar minivan I was working on. The guy at NAPA offered to cut them for $15 each. My other choice was to buy new rotors from him for $14.99.

No matter how many new parts you put on it, it'l still be a Dodge.

I seem to remember hearing once that is was a good idea to turn even new ones, just to rough them up a bit. But it was a quite some time ago and manufactoring tolerences may have gotten higher.

You do not want rough surfaces... if you write on the surface with a ballpoint and see a series of dots instead of a line, it's too rough.

It doesn't pay to turn rotors anymore since new are often cheaper, and the old rotors are often destroyed in the process of removal anyway. Plus, the braking surface is usually too rusty to machine - even if it didn't destroy the bits trying to cut rust, it usually pits deeply enough that you need to cut a LOT to get to clean metal.

Plus very few people bother to take the time to set the rotor or drum properly in the lathe (get zero runout on the hub before you start cutting)... or maintain the lathe so that it cuts cleanly and doesn't chatter... or replace the bits on a timely basis... or put a proper non-directional finish on the rotor when it's done...

There's a lot of ways to screw it up.

Trans_Maro wrote:

EvanR wrote: Depends what you're driving. I wanted to get rotors cut on a MoPar minivan I was working on. The guy at NAPA offered to cut them for $15 each. My other choice was to buy new rotors from him for $14.99.

No matter how many new parts you put on it, it'l still be a Dodge.

Nuh uh! It was a Plymouth!

Trans_Maro wrote:

EvanR wrote: Depends what you're driving. I wanted to get rotors cut on a MoPar minivan I was working on. The guy at NAPA offered to cut them for $15 each. My other choice was to buy new rotors from him for $14.99.

No matter how many new parts you put on it, it'l still be a Dodge.

also, a minivan..

novaderrik wrote:

Trans_Maro wrote:

EvanR wrote: Depends what you're driving. I wanted to get rotors cut on a MoPar minivan I was working on. The guy at NAPA offered to cut them for $15 each. My other choice was to buy new rotors from him for $14.99.

No matter how many new parts you put on it, it'l still be a Dodge.

also, a minivan..

Okay, yes, but at least it had a clutch!