Posted on 02/17/2015 11:08:22 AM PST by LouAvul
My wife's Honda Accord has 33,000 miles on it. It's also got "traction control." I was told traction control utilizes the brakes non stop to control traction. The result is that brakes wear out sooner than older vehicles.
I was also told that the OEM rotors are manufactured in such a way as to be light as possible, meaning they're thinner, meaning they aren't designed to be "turned." Replacement rotors are only $40 each.
It's the first brake job on this car. Comments?
Pony up and pay to have it done. Maybe buy the rotors yourself and supply them to whatever place does your brakes. They’ll charge you less that way. Maybe supply the brake pads, too and don’t buy cheap ones. If you don’t do brake jobs, I recommend not doing it yourself as you may get yourself stuck with caliper push rod problems. Could have deadly consequences.
Do you live in an area with lots of hills? In the mountains? That will take its toll on brakes, too.
Perhaps he might want to get his wife to lose weight, add a counterweight, redistribute the illegal aliens or 'shine she's carrying...
Never heard of that one but will check it. I try to catch Sam’s Garage on Saturdays.
All that from 80,000 miles ... are you a profiler? ... :-) ...
TC hardly ever activates except on ice or skidding or deliberate man/woman-handling the car.
Brake rotors that have no scoring or grooves are fine to reuse.
Man nothing worse than cheap rotors. I tried aftermarket rotors once after about 10K they started to shimmy and pulsate. Go to to dealer and get OEM rotors.
Use only ceramic pads. No dust, no noise, last a lot longer. Not cheap though.
My wife rides her left foot on the brake and that has driven me crazy for 32 years. I resign myself that she needs brakes every 40K. My last pickup truck had 180K when I got rid of it and was on its second set of brakes
Traction control only kicks in if your turning hot laps around the neighborhood. even then it just taps the breaks in a very rapid procession for a very brief second of time.
Iv heard a lot of BS but unless you are married to Danaka Patrick I would question the Traction Control claim.
Never shortcut brakes or steering - best words of wisdom from 3 years of high school auto mechanics program.
Some of the more modern, complicated and expensive systems work via operational inputs to/through the transmission and/or differential, but the most basic systems operate by applying brake pressure.
You need a new someone to drive your car.
I once warped all four of the OEM rotors on a Toyota Tercel rental car during a twelve mile drive home from work.
What if they are smooth, but “wafer thin”?
I have no idea what your wife’s driving style is, but I see so many people who are in the habit of driving as some speed that continually brings them up behind slower traffic, forcing them to use the brakes much, much more than a driver who does a better (less impatient?) job of keeping pace with traffic.
That being said, the engines on so many cars are turning so slowly at highway speed that taking one’s foot off the accelerator doesn’t reduce speed much at all. I be come aware of that every time I drive a rental car.
I was thinking the same thing.
Not necessarily. Car manufacturers specify a minimum thickness for the rotors. If they wear beyond that point, they say they should be replaced. At 33K, though, I doubt that's the case.
It's not smart to cheap out on brakes.
...as long as they still meet the minimum thickness spec.
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