Paul O.

When doing the disk pads, when is it necessary to re surface the disk?

--
Paul O.
oplholik@gmail.com

JimV

Paul O. wrote:
> When doing the disk pads, when is it necessary to re surface the disk?
>

Not if they are above minimum thickness and not warped.

The OTHER Kevin in San Diego

On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 02:28:14 GMT, "Paul O." <oplholik@hotmail.com>
wrote:

>When doing the disk pads, when is it necessary to re surface the disk?

If they're not warped or scored, you can just put a set of pads on and
be done with it. If the surface is "rippled" (kinda like growth rings
on a tree) it *MAY* need to be resurfaced or replaced.

If it is necessary to resurface 'em, they'll need to be removed and
taken to a shop with a brake lathe and turned. The shop will measure
the thickness with a micrometer and then check for any warpage with a
dial indicator. If they can'[t be turned without exceeding the
manufacturer's MINIMUM thickness, you'll need to replace 'em. If they
can, the shop will put 'em on the lathe and turn 'em. Takes about an
hour (at most) to do a pair.

If you don't need to resurface them, hit 'em with some 220 grit
sandpaper to scuff 'em up a bit and break the glazing. (Take the
shine off of 'em) That'll help the new pads set well.

Really not a difficult job to replace pads.. Pretty much if you can
turn a wrench, you can do 'em.

Utopian Drifter

IIRC you said in your previous post that you had 36,000 miles on this
set of pads. Unless you are very hard on your brakes, I doubt that you
will need to turn the rotors.

In general, if the car pulses when stopping the rotors are warped and
need to be machined or replaced. If the car stops smoothly now then all
you should need is a new set of pads. Rotors warp due to extreme
heating. You might see this more often if you live in the mountains or
you like driving with both feet (riding the brake pedal)or if you just
like seeing how fast you can stop every single time you hit the brakes.

Check back in again when you get to your second pad change. At that
point in time you might need to pull the rotors, repack the bearings and
replace the bearing seals. Not a difficult job either but it is really
messy!


Paul O. wrote:
> When doing the disk pads, when is it necessary to re surface the disk?
>

Utopian Drifter

Almost forgot to mention, many Fords do not use the bolts to hold the
calipers on. Look at the calipers carefully and locate the surfaces
where the two halves slide together. If there is a bolt head near that
area, then those are the bolts to remove. If you do not see the bolts,
you should see what looks like a piece of rubber sandwiched between two
pieces of metal wedged between the sliding surfaces of the caliper. IT
is about half the diameter of a hotdog.

If you have that setup, you have to drive the piece out to get the
caliper loose. Buy new ones because you will likely destroy the old ones
getting them out. They only cost a few dollars at the parts store and
are readily available. Maybe someone else will know the proper name for
these things and will chime in.

Good luck.


Paul O. wrote:
> When doing the disk pads, when is it necessary to re surface the disk?
>