Hello guys, here's an easy way to reuse rotors if they have plenty of meat left with NO deep gouges, lots of rust, warped or have groves, will save you time . Enjoy the video :)
People... my English is not the best ,you need to understand that i'm only "resurfacing" the rotor to remove the glaze and the outer rusty lip this way when i install the new pads it prevents the new brakes not to damage the rotors and start to pulsate , this method will NOT work if your rotors are thin, deep gauges very rusty or warped. I will change the description to " RESURFACING ROTORS FOR FREE " if it makes you guys feel more safe. I did not make this video for fun or to see people get hurt cause of my stupidity but to help one another specially for people that have common sense and understand ,thanks for watching.
Your knowledge about "resurfacing" is completely wrong and one should never attempt putting a grinder to a brake disc/rotor. By doing so you are actually causing more damage to the rotor and new brake pads. Not to mention " pulsating brake pedal". Should your brake pedal start jumping or judder, as I like to call it, it is your rear brakes which need repair. But thats just me. Im no expert...
I've done this, and it works. Don't listen to all the tool salesmen (and poverty stricken mechanics who bought into their bull-shoot finance programs) dogging this guy. Obviously you need to use some common sense, never go to thin (easy to get specs & measure).
I was discussing with my brother about taking a drill chuck,fine thread All thread,a few nuts that fit all thread,some metal stock material and a welder. I've already have some lathe cutters laying around. I think you can see where I'm going with this. I'm sure many would nay say my method of doing valves by hand. But I've got diesels still running years later with hand ground valves and lapping them in.
Its got noting to do with as you said "tool salesmen (and poverty stricken mechanics who bought into their bull-shoot finance programs) dogging this guy! Its clear you nor this guy has ever worked in a real fab shop! If you did then you and him both would know better!
It's a workable method of smoothing off the outer lip and inner lip from a part-worn disc if there's no engineering facility or new discs immediately available, but personally i would shy away from grinding across the entire surface.
I have a smaller buddy and i found the best way is to remove the rotors from the vehicle, tie a rope onto the rotor and allow my buddybto ride on the rotor while i pull it behind my truck on the road. The concrete gives it a very smooth better than factory finish. Do it around the 4th of july or new years and nobody really questions it at all!
This method can be applied safely, but it does require a very high level of skill and common sense. So if you are questioning it, you shouldn't even attempt to do it in the first place. This is Jedi level stuff!
The smart guy use a micrometer to make sure it’s within the right measurements. On another note, race car mechanics when they don’t have the resources to fix things with machines they use whatever it’s available and this is one of them. It’s all a mechanical quick fix. If in the middle of nowhere you need to fix your brakes this way, believe me, you’ll do it this way.
You'd maybe do regular maintenance and check the brakes periodically, no reason for you to just be blindsided that your brakes need to be replaced halfway on your trip to florida.
I do valves with right angle die grinder for many years by hand. Then lap them in. I've done diesels and gas using that method. I've often thought of doing rotors like this. And have used grinder to take ridges off. But Im going to give this method a try. Nothing to lose.
Great video, I just wish people could understand that they don't have to do this and at no point did you say this is something you have to do... common sense would indicate this is a "do at own risk" method and it can be done without killing yourself but just like anything else when working on a vehicle you must be careful. Thanks for the video and keep it up!
yes you can, i have done this before and turn on well, remember to make sure the rotor or drum is not to thin and also not warped or have deep groves in it other then that you'll be fine..
Very creative but my situation is a little different if have light groves no pulsation on the rotors could I smooth them out with just replacing pads with new semi metallic ones?
as a tech I can see several things wrong with this method, one the coarse wheel he is using is a grinding wheel the second wheel is a sanding wheel known as a flapper wheel. When doing this the grinding wheel is wearing and the angle of cut is not staying consistent across rotor surface. A brake lathe is always the best option as it keeps consistent pressure and speed while cutting the rotor. I bet if you used a dial indicator on that rotor you will find low and high spots like crazy.
Like you said, its good for removing glaze but will NOT fix warped rotors that shutter when breaking. To get rid of that they must be machined parallel to each other in order for smooth breaking. What you're doing is just deglazing which is fine. Good hack!
Also ive had relatively good " luck" with swapping rotors from side to side and chaging direction of braking force relative to the rotor itself. This especially works when you first notice a slight pulsating in brakes. I always break thr glaze with sandpaper anytime i and just replacing pads. Ive had slight warpage completely go away swapping rotors from side to side.
So many people on here with their wise guy comments must have lots of money to just go out and buy rotors all the time. I personally, have a bunch of vehicles and the cost of rotors, especially for trucks, aren't as cheap as they all make you think! They add up! Any time someone can come up with an idea like this that works for them and saves them money,, dude,, I am all for it! Especially if they video what they do and I can get ideas from it for myself to save a ton of money,, that all you rich people obviously have to blow every brake job!!! I am personally tired of tossing rotors that cost almost 100 bucks a piece for a truck that has lots of meat on them yet, just because they have tiny grooves or rust from pads that either got chewed up on one side due to a sticking caliper, etc! So now, I have to buy pads, caliper, and a rotor???, when I can just do something like this to work out the groove or rust and still have a good meaty rotor???! I just saved a good chunk of money i dont have to throw away by cleaning rotors myself!! Good video dude! And the heck with everyone else!! But I gotta say,, that guy who commented stating he has his friend ride the rotor behind the truck on the pavement,,that gave me a chuckle!!
....you Always use a micrometer to determine the Minimum working thickness of the rotor or drums. The Minimum Specs are stamped On the rotor and drum by the manufacturer, or reference your Vehicles Service Manual.... Always! It's The Safest Work Practices, Procedure and Maintenance 🤨
i do this to remove rust ridges before putting the rotor on a lathe but doing it this way all the way across does not achieve the proper finish or remove rotor runout/warpage
Alessio Sangalli If you have a micrometer to check several places on the rotor to make sure it has no run out and there isn’t a terrible rust ring then just put the new pads on
@@cokecollector12 an indicator is cheaper than a micrometer and I believe more appropriate. Many (not all) pads leave a lip on the rotor that I think is best to remove when installing a new pad. Also I think smoothing out the surface would help with the bedding of a new pad.
@Waylon Stewart. You can tell if the rotors need machining by just a test drive. If the brakes don't pulsate you have a good rotor if it is not worn thin.
Buen trabajo. La gente habla del peligro, pero... Vale, partimos de la base de que, obviamente, unos discos nuevos es la mejor solucion. Pero para un cambio de pastillas (manteniendo el disco), vosotros habeis visto lo que sucede? La pastilla golpea las partes exteriores e interiores del disco y estará muchos kilometros haciendolo hasta su degaste, reduciendo asi la superficie de contacto entre la propia pastilla y el disco de freno, con la consiguiente ineficiencia en el frenado. Por tanto, trasa opción del disco nuevo o el torneo de este, siempre es mejor esto que no hacer nada.😊
There is no doubt, new rotors are the best way to go. Turning them professionally is second best. If you can't afford to do that, then taking the glaze off of an otherwise good rotor, may be an option. Removing the outer lip is easy enough to do with a file, but the surface where the brake pads do the work is a critical area. Wouldn't it be safer to use a sanding pad with maybe 100 grit paper and even work your way to 150, 220, or higher, just to score the surface, but with minimal effect to the sizing of the rotor? You only want to de-glaze it. And by all means, check the thickness before even starting. There are always limits to safety that must not be exceeded, and you need to consider others you share the road with.
I have found on EVERY car I have owned or done the brakes on, the rotors or discs as they are called in the UK, are cheaper to replace than the pads, about half the price in some cases so why mess about like this? I am not just trollin on this, are they really that expensive there?
I do this all the time ( we live in the RustBelt) I thought I was the only one who did this..haha I've never had a problem and we put a lot of miles on them. Deep gouges don't matter either...racing rotors have cuts in them from factory after all. Here in Canada I haven't seen anyone use a brake lathe anymore..all the shops just replace them.
Amen. I'm so happy someone else does this. People pretend that rotors need to be so smooth when most people drive around on trashed rusty rotors and don't even know it.
put the rotor on a bench grinder, same method really... but uh how can you be so sure that its all level ? my rotors are badly warped slight touch of brake the front end shakes violently at 40+mph
I can tell this man knows what he’s doing the way he let’s the calliper hang by the flexible brake pipe,whilst this method of cleaning up the surface looks good if that disc is warped in any way it will NOT correct it,taking the wear lip off the outer edge is not a bad idea but trying to machine the whole surface is NOT.
Thanks for.mentioning such an important part, no I did not check if there is any runout since the rotors didn't pulsate before I resurface them, when I had to use the brakes at 65 mph there was no pulsating in the paddle, also runout should not exceed more the 5000, 3000 of an inch is normal. Will make a video on the rotors that I resurface and see where it's at.
To see if it worked properly just test drive did steering wheel pulsating go away. Or for rear pulsating in pedal and seat. If your worried about rotor thickness buy a micrometer they are cheap. But i worked on brakes 25 years seen enough i had them come in showing vanes before and i could still stop. Anyway nice job if you really know what your doing you can find unorthodox ways of fixing many things while still being safe and checking your work within reason, but obviously this is aimed at saving money of course new factory rotors or equivalent high carbon rotor would be best followed by a real brake lathe with a non directional finished aplied after the cut.
NO! Don't waste a sanding disk like that. Use metal cutting disc (preferably the thicker once for grinding and not cutting) and bring that edge flush. THEN sand the actual disc surface. This is good for brits who get raped on MOT for silly things such as "below limit" stuff. This method will full an MOT tester thinking your brake discs still have plenty of life in them because the edge is within tolerance. Same thing with brake pipes. Sand them so the copper/metal shows up so they don't fail you and force some work hours out of your pocket to keep the garage from bankruptcy.
Great idea. Turn your car and an angle grinder into a high precision metal lathe (with respect to the stone age) . Maybe this what they have to do in Russia or Cuba or other 3rd world countries. Rotors are high precision machinery components that are machined within 0.001" or less. I have no doubt you can see the divots in the with the naked eye. This is simply bizarre.
And then they get used as a disposable car part and lose that 0.001" tolerance. And yet people still drive like that and stop like that for years upon years on the same old grooved pitted scaled and glazed rotors. Imagine. Wow. Crazy.
Not got an angle grinder? Axle stand both fronts up, turn engine on, 2nd gear and let the discs spin. Use a hand file on the rotating lip and sand paper block on flat surfaces to remove any surface rust. ❤🇬🇧 army method lol
Don't do this... not only does this NOT fix any warpage, but you're likely to not end up with a smooth surface on the rotor. In fact this will probably make the rotors worse than before you cut it. Just take your old rotors to a local brake shop and have them turn them if you don't want to fork out for new rotors.
It should also be noted that there is such a thing as cutting your rotors too thin. If you don't know your rotors' minimum thickness or even have a decent micrometer to measure your rotors' thickness then you can end up machining your rotors thin enough that they will crack and break apart during normal braking.
Yeah I work at oreillys and we have a $15k brake lathe that's able to cut within .0005in give you a perfect cut surface that will actually provide a working rotor to put back on your car. Not to mention alot of your basic rotors are off up to .008in so we can improve even new rotors with our lathe.
Shade tree mechanic. What shop do you work in so the people know NEVER to go anywhere near you and your Mickey Mouse BS... Don't waste your time or money doing this. It's cheap and easy enough to properly resurface your rotors. I'm a certified repair technician who works for Goodyear.
Stop saying you're an experience technician if you didn't even know this was the old school way. It work for your ancestor. Are you calling your ancestor an idiot. The only difference in today is that we have machine to do everything. Is also make a lot of you people lazier and more useless than ever.
If you need something quick in a pinch. It's not a bad idea. My concern is safety. Doesn't look very safe. Make sure you're wearing a mask and safety glasses.
@@slycooper61 Just a gut feeling, but I'd pass on the gloves and be sure to roll up my sleeves. If your gloves or sleeves get hooked onto that spinning hub by catching a nut or a bit of rough lug thread, you'll be sucked in and killed, maimed at best. Seems counterintuitive, but it's like a lathe. I'd never wear gloves operating a lathe. It's a deathwish.
I can see the value of this as an on sight farm or off road repair in a pinch or just to keep a beater on the road for a month or two. You have a steady hand and it doesn't appear that your removing much metal and I'm sure if your good this does work...but why? No matter how good you are at this you can never match a lathe's accuracy by hand for a long term quality repair besides, no one turns rotors any more...some newer cars like BMW's for example have hardened surfaces that cannot be turned because you'll burn through the hardened outer surface. New rotors are cheap, dead flat and true...and you've already got the old rotors off at this point. I wouldn't be recommending this to people unless you explain to them the risks. I've seen home grinding jigs that work like this but at least the tool is not being held by hand but still...why bother to save $16-$24 to have (2) of them turned on a lathe or buy new rotors for $30-$60 a pair? Time is $$$$.
James you have a point, I was in the middle of no where pretty much and it was late . I don't recommend this to anyone unless they know what they are doing , everytime you cut or I should say resurface a rotor I used a new (disk (40 or 60 rough) per rotor and that cuts very well .
He could do more harm to the rotors as they war before grinding , if they war warped he just copied the same counter , bu at least he clean the rusted lips formed by the old pads , if he had a way to rest that grinder and a steady hand probably he could bring them in specs 80% . I don't see any danger to this method , brakes on the car gonna work perfectly . Bt the way .. Nice job cleaning the rotors!.. Anderson .
Yeah right. It's basically like brand new again. Do you have any idea how many people let their brake pads grind down to metal and still drive daily with deep scoring in their rotors? This is WAY better than that.
But the disk are all shiny now so it much be good, right? No, it's really much more about the rotor being true than the surface being smooth. You don't seem to understand that.
Among many problems with this, this would not take out any warping in the rotor. Not to mention, rotors for old VW's are so cheap, it's not even funny.
Judder, judder, brake judder, squealsqueal, holy crap, grinding & scraping metal away so it's shiny may work for head porting but stick to emery paper for brakes or renew
Why not have someone cut the rotors for a few bucks a piece? They make precise, controlled brake lathes for a reason.. replace or have someone cut them professionally. Definately dont reccommend surfacing rotors this way. Im not hating... just know right from wrong
your hand is not a machine that can have constant pressure and movement.....so you can not be sure if you stayed longer or you pressed harder in some spots