Subaru Forester Owners Forum banner
Cancel

Rusted Rotors

6642 Views 9 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  Botnik, 
F
7
Do these Rotors need to go? :|

I am replacing my brake pads this week and wanted to ask the experts:wink2: on the forum if my front and rear rotors need to be replaced. I've read on this forum that these OEM rotors are notorious for rusting, but there’s significant amount of rust around the edges and some parts of the metal are flaking off.

The calipers are rusted as well. Just wondering what you guys think.

I have no issues with breaking (no pulsation issues etc).

Any recommendations on brake pads brands in particular? My Forester is a daily driver and I am NOT looking for high end performance (ie. Power stop Z26). I am checking out the rockauto website for rotor+pads combo. Any suggestion would be highly appreciated.

Attachments

See less See more
Reply
Save
Like
1 - 10 of 10 Posts
sneefy
Rotors and calipers rust. That's what they do. Those look fine.

Though, I usually replace the rotors with the pads.
Reply
Save
Like
  • Like
Reactions: 1
sleepstate
That huge lip i can see on the rotor face leads me to believe that these are at/below minimum thickness.
If so, replace. If not, roll on.

Anything from Rock Auto listed under the Daily Driver sections would be a fine choice for pads/rotors.
Reply
Save
Like
F
sneefy said:
Rotors and calipers rust. That's what they do. Those look fine.

Though, I usually replace the rotors with the pads.
Click to expand...
Good idea. I guess I can't go wrong replacing both at the same time.
The car only has 44,000km so I was a little surprised to see so much rust.
Reply
Save
Like
adc
I always got my rotors resurfaced. But then again my mechanic did the whole job. If you are DIYing probably best to go with new.
Reply
Save
Like
F
sleepstate said:
That huge lip i can see on the rotor face leads me to believe that these are at/below minimum thickness.
If so, replace. If not, roll on.

Anything from Rock Auto listed under the Daily Driver sections would be a fine choice for pads/rotors.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the useful info. This is why I love the members in this forum!
I'll most likely go with Power Stop rotor + brakes combo from rockauto.com. :thumbsup:
Reply
Save
Like
E
Looks normal to me. No point in replacing them. You can scrape off the rust with a file easily.
Reply
Save
Like
SyrForester
As long as they don't pulsate when braking, I'd just knock the rust off the edge and run them for a few more years.

It may be worth flushing the brake fluid and greasing up the sliders as preventive maintenance, though.
Reply
Save
Like
S
Looks like a bit of a lip. On another vehicle I've filed/ground the raised rusty area smooth enough to get vernier calipers on to measure the thickness. Keep in mind that the it's not healthy to breath the contamination and brake dust in the whole job, including cleaning up the rotors. If replacements are not expensive (sometimes so, sometimes not) I just go ahead and replace the rotors. If not replaced and within spec I think removing contamination is a good thing to do.
Just my opinion.
Reply
Save
Like
B
For the last 1-2 sets of pads on my 2007 I switched to the Raybestos pads that had a mixture of metal and ceramic and I really liked them. They have specialised pads for police cars, racing, etc (I don't remember the name of the pads I got but they were for passenger cars) but the Raybestos guy I talked to at a trade show explained a lot to me.

https://www.brakepartsinc.com/dam/j...52/31R052 Friction Brochure_PGS_Lowrez[2].pdf

If you do take the rotors off, make sure you use a wire brush and get rid of all the rust on all the mating surfaces before you put any rotors back on, and torque everything evenly, because if the rotors aren't straight you will end up with pulsation in the brakes.

https://www.google.com/search?q=pulsation+in+brakes
Reply
Save
Like
1 - 10 of 10 Posts
Subaru Forester Owners Forum
We’re the best Subaru Forester Owners Forum to talk about the best years of the Subaru Forester, modifications and reliability history of the Subaru Forester.
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
General Troubleshooting and Technical Help Interior and Electronics Europe Members' Journals General Forum
Top