Hello everyone,

I have a question about brake pad & rotor replacement.
Today, I went to a Ford Service Center for brake pad service after hearing grinding noise from rear brakes. After inspecting brakes with a service advisor, he said that my rear rotors had some grooves forming and I needed to replace rotors aa well as pads.
I was advised for pads replacement last time I got service and it was near 2-3mm mark.
I asked if rotors could be just ground down and just replace pads this time, but he said rotors have to be cut and they would be too thin for grinding. Also if I were to replace just pads, then grooves on rotors would set on pads and I would have to replace pads again when I replace rotors.

Is this correct?

I drive 2014 Ford Escape and it has around 50,800.
How often do you replace pads/rotors?

 

How about we take this a little at a time ?
Different brake pads will last longer than some others.
The better thing to do is true (cut) the rotors when the pads are replaced . There are folks that replace the pads alone ,but usually the rotors will wear more on the outer circumference than closer to the center of the rotor. Because of this when new pads are installed the lower inside of the pad contacts the rotor first and wears faster and also can cause the pad to **** in order to get full surface contact with the rotor. Now when you check the pads for wear you look at the outside and there appears to be plenty of pad material left , but the inner portion is with much less material and now needs to be replaced again, plus stopping power is not as good as when both surfaces contact evenly.
So much for being practical, If my pads were to last 30,000 miles with mostly hyway driving and not much brake application and yours lasted only 20,000 miles with a lot of city driving stopping a lot does that help answer your concern?
On top of all that, Ford does not use squealers to let you know when the pads are due for replacement and by the time you get the grinding noise the damage has been done. There are specifications on every rotor or brake drum that if machining them to remove groves to provide a smooth surface reduces the rotor to less than the specified dimension is a NO- NO !! So regular inspection and quality maintenance can and will save you a lot of grief, money and time.

 

if the groves in the rotors are to deep to turn the rotor and keep it in spec (thickness) than they are done and need replacing.

I have done 3 front pads and rotors on my 09 in 100k mi. Rotors were to grooved to turn.

I do my own work though so pads & rotors are no big deal for me to replace

 

The days of cutting rotors and drums to true them up and smooth them out are pretty much long gone. There isn't enough meat on them to start with and by the time you cut them, they are below the minimum specs for thickness and you just wasted money having it done (money that could have been spent on new ones). Sure you could find somebody to cut them past the minimum specs and put them back on, but then your looking at a sure case of rotor warpage. Then you have another issue to contend with.