OEM Front Rotor Life

I have ~70K mi on the OEM front brake rotors and you can tell there is a slightly raised "lip" on the outer edge, where the pads do not touch.

Sometime in the past, I worked on a 4runner brake replacement that had the same thing, although much worse. (I had to compress the pistons a few mm in order for the caliper to even come off the rotor)

Is it worth having the OEM rotors turned to clean up the faces and to shave down the lip? Or just get brand new replacement units?

 

I got 90k and had them turned then an additional 60k and replaced. I believe 27mm is the thickness minimum.

 

It’s way less hassle to just buy new rotors. Honestly cheaper too by the time you factor in your time from finding someone that can/will turn rotors and driving back & forth.

The choice is totally up to you tho.

 

I'd say you're due for new.

I replaced my 2015's rotors and pads last summer right at 70,xxx miles. The Akebono bits have given the truck the best braking its ever had. (The shop, with whom I've done business for 25+ years and trust implicitly, tell me the rotors came in Akebono-branded packaging. I didn't know Akebono made rotors. I'll bet they were Brembos...)

 

I have 110,000 miles on my front brakes and rotors. At the last oil/filter change which was about 106,000 miles when I rotated the tires, I had 3 to 4 mms of pad left. One day this week I'm going to do an oil/filter change and rotate the tires and being it's winter I'm hoping the pads have enough material left to make it to spring. I've had the pads and rotors sitting in the garage since last spring.

12-14-2023, I did the oil/filter change, plus rotated tires today. I checked my pads and still have 3-4 mm of pad left so I'm going to wait for warmer weather before I replace the pads and rotors.

 

Measure your thickness...

 

Akebono rotors are made by Winhere...fairly standard run of the mill china rotors

 

I’m at ~130k with only 1 set of pads since purchase at 30k. If the rotors aren’t warped you can do this. My next set will be completely new. No issues now.

 

Thx — I’ve used and liked Akebono brake pads for years on several Tacomas. This’ll be my first experience with Chinese rotors. Can’t say I’m impressed or particularly happy to have them. I’ve got a trip of about 6k miles starting later this month, much of it in the mountains of the southwest. We’ll see how they do.

 

The rotors on my 2007 are still factory with 243,000 miles on them. I've had them turned twice, can't remember how many sets of pads, 4 or 5 is my guess. I will need new rotors with the next set of front brakes. Should be around 250,000.

The mechanic I use has a lathe in his shop and doesn't charge any extra to turn them when installing new pads.

 

Im in the same boat. ~116k miles and almost down to the squeakers on my pads. Plan to slap some pads on early in the spring and keep going.

OP @2015WhiteOR measuring the min. rotor thickness is the proper way to check. I dont recall the spec off the top of my head.. But Id bet you can easily run them again. If you can find someone in your area to turn them, you could do that too. Unfortunately it seems shops with brakes lathes are very few and far in-between these days.

For what its worth, I had a warped rotor a year or two back. Needed the job done quick so I replaced with a Napa Premium. I've been happy with it and wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

 

I replaced rotors @ 120K when I first started feeling a slight pulsing from warpage. I consider that excellent life considering my Ranger got 55K before warping forced replacement of the OEM rotors and then the cheap Autozone chinese replacements didn't last half that long. Learned my lesson and knew I wasn't using Chinese if I could help it. I swapped the OE rotors for a pair of Brembo replacements made in europe.

 

If your rotors are OEM, they should have the MIN thickness engraved into the the outside edge of the rotor. Measure the thickness of your rotor (past the raised lip of course), then decide how much life those rotors have if you have them turned.

 

Original rotors had 140K mi when I changed them. Could have gone another 20-30K. New OEM rotors and pads. Not that expensive, good mileage, why mess around?

 

Back in the day we resurfaced rotors at my garage, but the cost of new verses resurfacing was not that much and you can only resurface approx 2 times depending on the thickness. I would go for new rotors and pads. Get them online you’ll save a lot of money.

 

Would it be a good practice to wait for the warning (squealing) device to activate before getting new pads? I'm not very mechanically incline; I have to rely on the mechanics advice.

 

I don’t recommend using that method, but to each there own.

 

Went 155k before I touched the front brakes. Had the rotors resurfaced and new pads done when I got my frame replaced in 2021.

 

Start shopping for pads when you have 5-4mm left and replace them right away at 2-3mm. For replacement vs turning, when I worked at a shop with access to a lathe I would spin my rotors but now that I no longer have the luxury I just replace them

 

I'm not too picky, I usually just get Centric (the higher end line - not the eco line) or Power Stop, but either way, I always get the coated rotors (because I live in NH). In my job, I have met quite a few independent auto shop owners, and a LOT of them swear by Centric, stating it's the brand that causes the fewest come-backs. Never thought of using Centric before then, but they are an OEM supplier as well (not Toyota).

That being said, I don't know what the price difference between Akebono versus dealer parts is, but my understanding is that Akebono is the OEM supplier of brake parts for Toyota.

https://akebonobrakes.com/oem