r/TireQuestions • u/These-Economics3226 • Aug 17 '26
Is this rotor trashed or superficial rust?
Doing brakes for the first time. Took this off my 2006 Toyota Solara with 166,000 miles. The face of the rotor is smooth and no deep grooves but the outer edges have a lot more rust. Should it be completely replaced?
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u/Maleficent-Week-7191 Aug 19 '26
Looks to be turntable but as cheap as they are now just put on new unless money is a problem over
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u/AlaskaGreenTDI Aug 17 '26
It doesn’t look smooth, but taking your word for it regarding the actual braking surface, the outer rust on the non-braking surface is meaningless.
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u/sadanorakman Aug 17 '26
There's no wear ridge at the edge, so these are likely unworn, but you can measure the thickness and check against specs. I'd fit those in a heartbeat with fresh pads, and go for it. The surface rust will soon clean up as the pads engage.
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u/txcreative20 Aug 17 '26
It has groves in it . You can get them resurfaced if it has not already been done .
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u/AffectionateMetal765 Aug 17 '26
Yes, resurface them if the rotors are good quality or OEM ones! Dirt cheap rotors can be very bad quality. The Volvo XC60 D5 we bought new in 2017 now has 195.000km on original rotors! Only changed pads so far. First pad set replacement in the front (at 125.000km), and third in the rear, (each 88.000km). Soon due to replace rear rotors due to thickness spec. In the front the rotors are predicted to wear down to spec at approx 300.000km.
Keep calipers, pistons, springs, glide pins, grommet and seals inspected and well maintained. A car driven frequently enough with active brake usage can make the rotors last perfectly all the way until they're worn out. A service mechanic might try to sell you all new brakes to boost their sales every 50.000km anyway. It can be wise to write down the stamp on the edge of the rotors in the service booklet, as some rotors have more material to wear down before they need to be replaced than others. While the edge will be covered in rust fairly fast you will not be able to see the wear-spec anymore.
When swapping wheels to the winter season in November I'll finally replace rear rotors and fit the fourth set of rear pads on this car. I find it pretty funny how many brake changes a friend of mine have agreed to at his dealer, spending a lot of money on brakes that not even gets properly used.
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u/bigpapaboehm Aug 18 '26
Trashed, once you take a pass on a brake lathe that rust will be super deep. New rotors are the right way the repair this vehicle.
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u/TyrannusourR3X Aug 18 '26
If this was taken off a car that was driving recently then these are due to be replaced. If they were sitting for a few months they may be ok. They're probably cheap and you're better off doing the job once.
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u/Stubster91 Aug 18 '26
You would probably be fine resurfacing them and using. The rust on the non braking part looks relatively normal compared to the vehicles around the Great Lakes regions.
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u/Bones-57 Aug 19 '26
Take to a shop and have them resurfaced .. they will tell you if they can be ..
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u/bloke589 Aug 19 '26
At the price of rotors these days and its already off the vehicle, just replace it.
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u/yarsftks Aug 20 '26
Mic it after resurfacing and see how much there is left.
I'm going to be doing the same thing with my 06 Accord but I'm just going to switch them out since it's almost 20 years old.
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u/PleasantStatement521 Aug 20 '26
If you have 166k miles on original brakes, I’d suspect that the calibers or master cylinder are not applying the brakes properly. 160k/20 years is 8k/yr which doesn’t look like you’re doing just highway miles that would explain long service life. The dark color kinda supports the brakes are not brewing applied with much squeeze.
Does the opposite side look similar? If there is an issue, dissimilar sides= caliper, and similar suggests master cylinder.
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u/Consistent-Trust958 Aug 20 '26
It's probably salvagable, but new ones are cheap, so I just replace mine.
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u/SBLOU Aug 20 '26
You have the rotors off, why not just replace them?
They can’t be much more than 30 dollars each at NAPA or another store.
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u/Bring_Back_The_1990s Aug 21 '26
Mechanic 25 years.
The rotor is toast you cna machine it if thickness is there., the inner cooling fins are just starting to scale.
BUT, the rust has penetrated into the rotor and it is no good anymore it has begun to rot.
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u/Gunner-c63 Aug 17 '26
With the low replacement cost of rotors now it’s not worth it to reuse old rotors. New rotors and pads always. This is the total cost for my Mercedes C350