It's important that your brakes work properly and one common practice whenever a brake job is done is to have the rotors or drums machined. This is when the surface of the discs or drums are made smooth and even to reduce certain braking problems. It's often called "turning" in mechanic's lingo. Though discs and drums don't have to be machined every single time the pads are changed, there are times when the work is needed. Here are two common signs that indicate that you may need to take your discs or drums to a machine shop when you do your next brake job.
Your discs or drums are damaged
If you've let your brake pads wear down past the time that they're due for a change, then you risk scoring, or cutting into, your discs or drums. This is less of a problem with drum brakes when standard shoes with glued-on pads are used. Shoes with riveted pads may score the drums when they have worn down to a certain point just like pads on disc brakes. Most brake pads have a wear indicator that will send out a signal when your brake pads need changing. Continue driving for much longer and the metal on your pads will begin to scrape into your rotors. This could affect your braking conditions, and the only way to get these gouges out is my machining them.
Your pedal pulsates
Even if you don't see any damage to your discs or drums, it doesn't mean that they don't need machining. Depending on your driving conditions and style, your brakes can become warped, or made "out of round" without being directly damaged. Using the brakes in a way that gets them overheated is one way to warp the disc. The same goes for driving with hot brakes through cold water which will distort the metal when the brake is suddenly cooled off. When your disc is warped, your pedal will pulsate and possibly vibrate while braking, reducing braking power. Even if your brakes are only a little warped, replacing the pads without machining may cause unwanted noise.
Most of the time, a simple machining will take care of these problems as long as you tend to them right away. Drums and discs usually can be machined at least a couple of times as long as the damage or run-out is not severe. After that, they will have to be replaced. If you aren't sure if your rotors and drums need machining, and you're doing the brake job yourself, then take them to a machine shop like Certified Products Co to be looked at and measured. If they can be machined, then they can be restored back into good working tolerances.
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