Who builds Cabela's brand tractors?

[MinnesotaEric]

This is based on experience. Vehicles from about the 90's up are this way.

Exactly. Put away the Ammco brake lathe.

It has to do with lightening the vehicles up to increase CAFE standards and marketed as lowering unsprung weight for better handling.

Sadly, piles of nicer Ammco lathes are now on craigslist for 1/4 what they cost new.

 

[Cherokee140]

Yes, most cars and trucks you replace the rotors when you change the pads. The brakes on your Subaru are probably way below the discard at thickness even if you just threw a set of pads on it without having the rotors resurfaced.

Nope they have tons of meat left on them....try again.

They (ford dealer) also seemed to re-use or at least did not charge me for rotors or drums (yes my cheapo focus uses drums still) when they did the brake job last summer as well.

This has not been my experience in any way shape or form, and I do own a pair of calipers.

 

[94BULLITT]

Nope they have tons of meat left on them....try again.

They (ford dealer) also seemed to re-use or at least did not charge me for rotors or drums (yes my cheapo focus uses drums still) when they did the brake job last summer as well.

This has not been my experience in any way shape or form, and I do own a pair of calipers.

Your Ford dealer resurfaced your rotors and probably charged $15 a piece to do it. In 6-8 months you will be back at the dealer saying every time I hit the brake pedal the steering wheel shakes. At that time they will sell you a new set of rotors and pads, they can make more money this way.

What year is the Focus? I'll gladly look up the specs in my Ford shop manual to prove it has throw away rotors.

 

[Cherokee140]

Your Ford dealer resurfaced your rotors and probably charged $15 a piece to do it. In 6-8 months you will be back at the dealer saying every time I hit the brake pedal the steering wheel shakes. At that time they will sell you a new set of rotors and pads, they can make more money this way.

What year is the Focus? I'll gladly look up the specs in my Ford shop manual to prove it has throw away rotors.

2010, They are not throw away if they are not too thin somewhere.

f'ing stupid....ash tray is full time for a new car. Tires worn down time for a new car.....ran out of gas time for a new car, It may be the way of the world, but that does not make it right.

 

[GManBart]

After a set of pads is wore out the most rotors are down too close to minimum specs to turn.

We have a fleet of 300+ late model cars, and I know we don't replace the rotors even close to every time we change pads....our rules require they be kept within manufacturer's specs.

I just called our head mechanic to ask him about it. We typically keep cars around 100K miles, and he said a lot of them leave with their original rotors still within spec. He agreed that the way they make rotors now isn't as good, and they don't have as much extra meat to start out with (so turning them often isn't possible), but said they still don't have to mess with them often. Sure, you get the occasional pad failure (happened to one of my assigned cars), or they get warped because someone gets crazy with an impact wrench, but those problems aren't the rotor's fault.

 

[94BULLITT]

2010, They are not throw away if they are not too thin somewhere.

f'ing stupid....ash tray is full time for a new car. Tires worn down time for a new car.....ran out of gas time for a new car, It may be the way of the world, but that does not make it right.

10 Focus
Thickness new .98"
Discard at .905"

That leaves you .075" from new to throw away. Normal driving can wear off .035-.040." So from normal driving your brake rotors will be somewhere around half wore out. Then if you have to take .010"-.015" off each side of the rotor to clean it up you would be removing an additional .020-.030." So best case scenario .035" from normal driving and .020" to clean it up for a total of .055". Then you drive a few miles and they will warp. Then factor in that you are doing it for a customer that is going to be driving in the hills and getting the brakes hot and every time they stop they are going into ABS. The customer is expecting the second set of brakes to last as long as the first set. You can buy premium rotors for your car from NAPA for $27.99. I like to use ultra premium on the front if the customer has the money. Brakes are not a place to cheap out.

 

[94BULLITT]

Exactly. Put away the Ammco brake lathe.

It has to do with lightening the vehicles up to increase CAFE standards and marketed as lowering unsprung weight for better handling.

Sadly, piles of nicer Ammco lathes are now on craigslist for 1/4 what they cost new.

Right, on vehicles now they are trying to save ounces.

We have a fleet of 300+ late model cars, and I know we don't replace the rotors even close to every time we change pads....our rules require they be kept within manufacturer's specs.

I just called our head mechanic to ask him about it. We typically keep cars around 100K miles, and he said a lot of them leave with their original rotors still within spec. He agreed that the way they make rotors now isn't as good, and they don't have as much extra meat to start out with (so turning them often isn't possible), but said they still don't have to mess with them often. Sure, you get the occasional pad failure (happened to one of my assigned cars), or they get warped because someone gets crazy with an impact wrench, but those problems aren't the rotor's fault.

A rotor should be either resurfaced or replaced when new pads are installed so the pad has a good surface to seat into and so the pad will wear properly. Brakes are more finicky on vehicles with ceramic pads too.

 

[sd455dan]

9N, 2N, 8N, NAA to name a few.
Maybe in the 800's they did not have sleeves.

Ford 671 Sleeve and Piston Kit, 134 Gas, STD (PK14G1)

Also I believe the 3000,4000,5000 were all sleeveless- Ford cited no hot and cold spots in the cylinder walls.

Those were some pretty popular tractors so there were quite a few built...

 

[paulfun9]

A rotor should be either resurfaced or replaced when new pads are installed so the pad has a good surface to seat into and so the pad will wear properly. Brakes are more finicky on vehicles with ceramic pads too.

When I start having to replace the rotors every single time I change the brakes I will start making my own rotors!!
So far I haven't had to replace a rotor with a brake change on any car or truck I have owned with less than 100,000 miles on them. I have had to resurface some rotors but that's even rare.

Also if a mechanic told me that every time I need new pads I would have to resurface my rotors I would not ever let that mechanic work on anything I own again!
You do not need to resurface the rotor to get the new pad to seat into the rotor. Every single one of my vehicles and the 1000,s I have done for others are proof of that!

 

[MinnesotaEric]

When I start having to replace the rotors every single time I change the brakes I will start making my own rotors!!
So far I haven't had to replace a rotor with a brake change on any car or truck I have owned with less than 100,000 miles on them. I have had to resurface some rotors but that's even rare.

Also if a mechanic told me that every time I need new pads I would have to resurface my rotors I would not ever let that mechanic work on anything I own again!
You do not need to resurface the rotor to get the new pad to seat into the rotor. Every single one of my vehicles and the 1000,s I have done for others are proof of that!

Working as a tech, I've never done a brake job without turning the rotors or replacing the rotors. Why? I hate comebacks and my customers hate squeaking brakes.