it is when you're a grad student living your savings.

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Jennifer
90 350sdl

well my problem is the week or so you are going to have reduced braking capacity till the pad surface wears flat and smooth to match the new rotors...I totaled a car in the rain becasue I hydroplaned in a turn becasue I was driving on bald tires trying to save a buck in college.before I bought new recaps. I tore out 150 feet of metal guard rails...luckily neither me nor my brother were injured.

since then I find other ways to save money when its tight...I never shortcut on safety issues.....or what I percieve as saftey issues anyway.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

very good point. excellent example. thanks for sharing the experience.

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Jennifer
90 350sdl

I'll definitely back you on that statement. Used pads are going to take a lot longer to break in compared to new ones, which will break in immediately as they are flat to begin with. It's not a chance I'd take given a new pad set can be had for $20.

__________________
'83 240D with 617.952 and 2.88
'01 VW Beetle TDI
'05 Jeep Liberty CRD
'89 Toyota 4x4, needs 2L-T
'78 280Z with L28ET - 12.86@110
Oil Burner Kartel #35

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1...oD/bioclip.jpg

I should have said that the rotors should only be replaced if they are below minimum thickness or otherwise unserviceable. Bolting on new rotors is fairly easy when the time comes.

__________________
'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

I think I could break the pads in over a very short period of time
Its now your call...you know the worst case scenario and the usual case scenario...

Personally? I'd run the old (but good thickness) pads and new rotors and just keep in my mind that my breaks are not optimum (ie...no speeding excessive...follow far...and break them in as fast as possible)

But that is me...Driving is a lot more for some of us than others

P.S. And after you have driven a old VW...you know how to drive with "non-optimum" brakes

old VW?.....did you ever drive a 1954 Willys CJ5? with 4-9" manual drum brakes? I think a Modle T ford with cable brakes on the rear only would stop faster

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Scary!

BTW...I forgot to mention for the lady thinking of changing the stuff...I would most defintely check the thickness with a micrometer or something...how thick is the lip on the rotor?

"did you ever drive a 1954 Willys CJ5? with 4-9" manual drum brakes"

No but I drove a late 60's six cylinder Chevy Nova with the same size brakes. Not very far or very fast, but I drove it.

The scary part is these were the standard brakes used on EVERY Nova up to and including the 396 V8.

well the Nova had better brakes...take my word on it...

the Jeep top ended at about 55 mph....in fact it should have been lower becasue I blew the engine driving it 55mph....you could put it in neutral...put both feet on the brake..grab the wheel in both hands stand on the brakes and not come close to locking the wheels up on the asphault.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

If you will rough up the old pads with 36 grit you will have no longer break in period than new pads.

If new rotors were put on every car on the road that showed a lip on the edge of the rotor then there would be no traffic problem at all because the vast majority of cars in the world would be in the shop.

You can buy a 0-1" micrometer for probably less than $20 unless you want a high quality one that will last the career of a machinist. Measure the thickness in several locations around the rotor.

I will say again, unless you drive hard in stop and go traffic, even thin rotors will get the job done just fine. A rotor that is too thin, simply lacks the mass to sink all the heat during breaking. The heat is then hopefully dissipated before the brake is used again. Think of the rotor as a heat bucket. When you stop, you put heat in the bucket, then while going down the road without the brakes on, the bucket empties. If you have a bigger bucket (thicker rotor) it can hold more heat.

If you are braking hard from stop sign to stop sign there is not much time for the heat bucket to be emptied before it needs to be filled up again.

As long as the rotors are not warped and have not had metal to metal contact, and are showing smooth scores or no scores, and you're not driving hard in stop and go, then don't worry about them.

Have a great day,

I have replaced the rotors and used the old pads. As the gentleman said ...
just sand them down on a flat surface. They sand real easy....
If the rotors are within spec.....just drive it...The rotors wear with pads.
If you replace the rotors you will soon notice the "ridge" reappear.
I have used 2 sets of pads without cutting the rotors…….at the third interval I replaced the rotors and the pads. At that point the rotors had worn down to their limit.
The ideal thing may be to resurface the rotors at each brake job. If the rotors are very shiny that may indicate the calipers may be dragging overheating the rotor. If that’s the case replace the rotor and the caliper and possibly the flex line.
So ….what I saying is, don’t spend the money if you don’t need to. On the other hand, if you have some extra cash……..did you say cross drilled……

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2003 SLK 230 (85000)
1999 E300 Turbo Diesel (388,000)
1991 350SD Turbo Diesel (185,000)

Well Bonehead you had a problem. Those brakes were not working correctly. I had a 1951 Willys Overland 2 wheel drive panel truck at one time, in which I installed a 371 cu in Olds V8. It went like hell and I never had trouble stopping, but I rebuilt the original Bendix brakes on the front and the Ford brakes in the 9" rear end. Mind you I knew better than to go barrelling around depending on the brakes to get me out of trouble.

The truck had larger brakes than the CJ5 did.....as you had the Spicer axels adn the CJ had the Dana axels.

oh the jeep did stop...it gust didn't do it in any real hurry...sort of like how it accelerated with the L head engine....


If I had not taken that engine apart for a post mortum...(rear piston braoke in half at the oil ring land.) I would not have believe someone built a motor with the intake valve in the head (and a big one too) and had the exhaust valve in the block.............

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

When I worked for Chrysler, I remember the Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon as having non-power brakes. I believe that it did have discs in the front, but, it stopped like it had all drums. Just slows the vehicle to a stop. Not a chance of locking up the wheels.