Installing new brake rotors - need new pads too?

[JI737]

I'm getting some fierce vibration when I brake, and have for the past probably 6 months and have been negligent in getting it fixed. I've never done brakes myself but it looks pretty straight forward. I figure the vibration means my rotors up front need replacing (base model, disc fronts, drum rears). 15,000 miles ago I got the pads replaced and rotors turned at Pep Boys. Do I need to replace the brake pads if I put on new rotors? As far as wear, after 15,000 miles they should look basically new, but I wasn't sure if driving for so long with a warped rotor might wear the pads unevenly or anything. After reading tutorials on here (which are great) it looks like replacing the rotors is ridiculously simple, and the pads slightly less so. It would be great to not have to pay for new pads as well. Thanks for any help! I'm looking forward to knocking the crap out of my rotors with a rubber mallet but I'm not looking forward to having to replace pads.

[joatmon]

Quote, originally posted by JI737 »Do I need to replace the brake pads if I put on new rotors? Need to? some might argue both ways. if it were me I'd probably replace them and go with new to match the new rotors.Assuming the people who worked on them last did good work, the question is why did they warp again soo soon? Maybe someone overtorqued the lug nuts, that has been attributed to causing warped rotors. Might be too late now, but being cheap myself, I might take the wheel off and put it back on again with a reasonable amount of torque and see if just that might get rid of enough of the vibration while braking.Then I might try to see if there was any measurable warp. Professional tools are nice, but you can probably take off the tire, then rig up some pile of stuff to just barely touch the face of the rotor, then spin the rotor by hand and see if there is any wobble, any variation in the distance between the face of the rotor and the tip of the pile of stuff.Or you could take it back to Pep Boys, let them tell you what';s wrong, then say no thanks and go fix the things yourself. Maybe there si something wrong with the calipers causing drag->overheating -> rotor warp.There are better brakes people here than me, so hopefully they will correct anything I have said that's wrongQuote, originally posted by JI737 » I'm looking forward to knocking the crap out of my rotors with a rubber mallet If you do replace the rotors, then you don't need to use a rubber mallet, you can use a sledge hammer, since you'll be tossing the existing rotors.

[JI737]

Isn't it common for rotors to re-warp rather quickly after they've been turned? That's what I was thinking, but maybe not. I had a blowout a few months ago and had to get a new tire put on; it's possible that's when the lug nuts got overtorqued. I'll definitely try the retorquing method first although my bet is that it's still needing a new rotor given how much the wheel shakes and the brakes pulsate when slowing from 55 or 60. I guess another question is, is it ok to just replace one rotor if it's only one that is noticably warped? Maybe a stupid question but something in the back of my head tells me that you'd want to keep these replacements, eh, symmetrical. Thanks for the reply. Quote, originally posted by joatmon »you can use a sledge hammer, since you'll be tossing the existing rotors.Even more fun.