People... my English is not the best ,you need to understand that i'm only "resurfacing" the rotor to remove the glaze and the outer rusty lip this way when i install the new pads it prevents the new brakes not to damage the rotors and start to pulsate , this method will NOT work if your rotors are thin, deep gauges very rusty or warped. I will change the description to " RESURFACING ROTORS FOR FREE " if it makes you guys feel more safe. I did not make this video for fun or to see people get hurt cause of my stupidity but to help one another specially for people that have common sense and understand ,thanks for watching.

I've done this, and it works. Don't listen to all the tool salesmen (and poverty stricken mechanics who bought into their bull-shoot finance programs) dogging this guy. Obviously you need to use some common sense, never go to thin (easy to get specs & measure).

This, this video is why auto shop needs to be taught in schools again.

This method can be applied safely, but it does require a very high level of skill and common sense. So if you are questioning it, you shouldn't even attempt to do it in the first place. This is Jedi level stuff!

I have a smaller buddy and i found the best way is to remove the rotors from the vehicle, tie a rope onto the rotor and allow my buddybto ride on the rotor while i pull it behind my truck on the road. The concrete gives it a very smooth better than factory finish. Do it around the 4th of july or new years and nobody really questions it at all!

It's a workable method of smoothing off the outer lip and inner lip from a part-worn disc if there's no engineering facility or new discs immediately available, but personally i would shy away from grinding across the entire surface.

This is a great video. You did a great job.

Got my rotors ruined at o'reileys auto parts. Kid had no idea what he was doing on that machine. They're marginally better after I did this.

If your pads are still good do you still have to change them?

Let this video be another example of why KZfaq shouldn't have hidden the dislikes counter

I live in the middle of nowhere too 3 auto parts stores all don't turn rotors. You either have to buy new rotors or do this method

Great!!!thx nice job man!

as a tech I can see several things wrong with this method, one the coarse wheel he is using is a grinding wheel the second wheel is a sanding wheel known as a flapper wheel. When doing this the grinding wheel is wearing and the angle of cut is not staying consistent across rotor surface. A brake lathe is always the best option as it keeps consistent pressure and speed while cutting the rotor. I bet if you used a dial indicator on that rotor you will find low and high spots like crazy.

I do valves with right angle die grinder for many years by hand. Then lap them in. I've done diesels and gas using that method. I've often thought of doing rotors like this. And have used grinder to take ridges off. But Im going to give this method a try. Nothing to lose.

Great video, I just wish people could understand that they don't have to do this and at no point did you say this is something you have to do... common sense would indicate this is a "do at own risk" method and it can be done without killing yourself but just like anything else when working on a vehicle you must be careful. Thanks for the video and keep it up!

Tack denna metod hjälpte mig att spara 4000 kr Du är best Tack för video From sweden

What size grit to start n finish?

I bet a smooth grinder disc after would give pretty great results.

what tools did you use ?

The smart guy use a micrometer to make sure it’s within the right measurements. On another note, race car mechanics when they don’t have the resources to fix things with machines they use whatever it’s available and this is one of them. It’s all a mechanical quick fix. If in the middle of nowhere you need to fix your brakes this way, believe me, you’ll do it this way.

Now mount your dial indiactor and see your .025 run-out. If brake lath isn't used cut custemr will return every time.

Thanks for sharing. One question please. You did the inner side after that in the same way? Thanks in advance, stay healthy.

did the specs say that ya had enough to take off, (that's most important).

Good job.

So many people on here with their wise guy comments must have lots of money to just go out and buy rotors all the time. I personally, have a bunch of vehicles and the cost of rotors, especially for trucks, aren't as cheap as they all make you think! They add up! Any time someone can come up with an idea like this that works for them and saves them money,, dude,, I am all for it! Especially if they video what they do and I can get ideas from it for myself to save a ton of money,, that all you rich people obviously have to blow every brake job!!! I am personally tired of tossing rotors that cost almost 100 bucks a piece for a truck that has lots of meat on them yet, just because they have tiny grooves or rust from pads that either got chewed up on one side due to a sticking caliper, etc! So now, I have to buy pads, caliper, and a rotor???, when I can just do something like this to work out the groove or rust and still have a good meaty rotor???! I just saved a good chunk of money i dont have to throw away by cleaning rotors myself!! Good video dude! And the heck with everyone else!! But I gotta say,, that guy who commented stating he has his friend ride the rotor behind the truck on the pavement,,that gave me a chuckle!!

you read my mind ! I have a little warpage and they don't turn rotors anymore too much time and effort. Mine on a motorhome are pricey.

but how to you control the flatness of the surface along the radius? it may end up not having enough surface for the pads to apply the braking force.

What kind of pads do I get?

Cue Elvis, In The Ghetto!

Well, that’s pretty wild….and you need a steady hand!👍

Very creative but my situation is a little different if have light groves no pulsation on the rotors could I smooth them out with just replacing pads with new semi metallic ones?

Like you said, its good for removing glaze but will NOT fix warped rotors that shutter when breaking. To get rid of that they must be machined parallel to each other in order for smooth breaking. What you're doing is just deglazing which is fine. Good hack!

how fast mph does the car need to be going ?

What sound comes out when you play this on an audio turntable? I'm guessing "replace me please"

Also ive had relatively good " luck" with swapping rotors from side to side and chaging direction of braking force relative to the rotor itself. This especially works when you first notice a slight pulsating in brakes. I always break thr glaze with sandpaper anytime i and just replacing pads. Ive had slight warpage completely go away swapping rotors from side to side.

You gotta love the cheapness!

Buen trabajo. La gente habla del peligro, pero... Vale, partimos de la base de que, obviamente, unos discos nuevos es la mejor solucion. Pero para un cambio de pastillas (manteniendo el disco), vosotros habeis visto lo que sucede? La pastilla golpea las partes exteriores e interiores del disco y estará muchos kilometros haciendolo hasta su degaste, reduciendo asi la superficie de contacto entre la propia pastilla y el disco de freno, con la consiguiente ineficiencia en el frenado. Por tanto, trasa opción del disco nuevo o el torneo de este, siempre es mejor esto que no hacer nada.😊

What if you have a larger groove

Can you do this with a rear wheel drive,somehow put the rotor over the drum brakes

good idea

There is no doubt, new rotors are the best way to go. Turning them professionally is second best. If you can't afford to do that, then taking the glaze off of an otherwise good rotor, may be an option. Removing the outer lip is easy enough to do with a file, but the surface where the brake pads do the work is a critical area. Wouldn't it be safer to use a sanding pad with maybe 100 grit paper and even work your way to 150, 220, or higher, just to score the surface, but with minimal effect to the sizing of the rotor? You only want to de-glaze it. And by all means, check the thickness before even starting. There are always limits to safety that must not be exceeded, and you need to consider others you share the road with.

He couldve just an 80-100 grit sandpaper then fine sanded with a 3-400 grit on a small orbital sander...

how did you stop the car without the wheels turning if you have no breaks??

I can tell this man knows what he’s doing the way he let’s the calliper hang by the flexible brake pipe,whilst this method of cleaning up the surface looks good if that disc is warped in any way it will NOT correct it,taking the wear lip off the outer edge is not a bad idea but trying to machine the whole surface is NOT.

I was thinking about doing it, but it only costs $12 and I have a shop near.

what about back side of it?

How would you know how much your taking off. I dont know about that one.

Woo... nice.. but you might accidentally cut a grove the hub support

Do you soak your oil filter in gasoline and reuse them too?

This works great , I'd just slow down the rotor speed.

Don't do this... not only does this NOT fix any warpage, but you're likely to not end up with a smooth surface on the rotor. In fact this will probably make the rotors worse than before you cut it. Just take your old rotors to a local brake shop and have them turn them if you don't want to fork out for new rotors.

That's a good video good tip would that fix a warped rotor you think. Also how would you do that for the front

Just when you thought you saw it all

Whats the point in taking the outer groove off if the brake pads never touch it.

I do this all the time ( we live in the RustBelt) I thought I was the only one who did this..haha I've never had a problem and we put a lot of miles on them. Deep gouges don't matter either...racing rotors have cuts in them from factory after all. Here in Canada I haven't seen anyone use a brake lathe anymore..all the shops just replace them.

Have you ever checked the runout doing that???? Just curious....

what about the other side?

I have found on EVERY car I have owned or done the brakes on, the rotors or discs as they are called in the UK, are cheaper to replace than the pads, about half the price in some cases so why mess about like this? I am not just trollin on this, are they really that expensive there?

This is how new laws bans are made.

i do this to remove rust ridges before putting the rotor on a lathe but doing it this way all the way across does not achieve the proper finish or remove rotor runout/warpage

Now put a micrometer on those rotors and see if they are legally thick enough

To see if it worked properly just test drive did steering wheel pulsating go away. Or for rear pulsating in pedal and seat. If your worried about rotor thickness buy a micrometer they are cheap. But i worked on brakes 25 years seen enough i had them come in showing vanes before and i could still stop. Anyway nice job if you really know what your doing you can find unorthodox ways of fixing many things while still being safe and checking your work within reason, but obviously this is aimed at saving money of course new factory rotors or equivalent high carbon rotor would be best followed by a real brake lathe with a non directional finished aplied after the cut.

Hey shade tree put a straight edge on it and shine a light from the back.

this is a great way to get another cycle of pads out of a set of rotors. to all the nay sayers out there you have no fucking idea how many cars are on the road where new cheapo pads are slapped on an old grooved set of rotors and they work fine. dont need to ask because ive seen it done, by cheap shops, co workers, and even myself. as long as the rotors arent warped they will be fine.

👍👍👍

Precision as fuck

Do you check for minimum thickness before doing this?

Not got an angle grinder? Axle stand both fronts up, turn engine on, 2nd gear and let the discs spin. Use a hand file on the rotating lip and sand paper block on flat surfaces to remove any surface rust. ❤🇬🇧 army method lol

NO! Don't waste a sanding disk like that. Use metal cutting disc (preferably the thicker once for grinding and not cutting) and bring that edge flush. THEN sand the actual disc surface. This is good for brits who get raped on MOT for silly things such as "below limit" stuff. This method will full an MOT tester thinking your brake discs still have plenty of life in them because the edge is within tolerance. Same thing with brake pipes. Sand them so the copper/metal shows up so they don't fail you and force some work hours out of your pocket to keep the garage from bankruptcy.

how do you do the rear rotors

He could do more harm to the rotors as they war before grinding , if they war warped he just copied the same counter , bu at least he clean the rusted lips formed by the old pads , if he had a way to rest that grinder and a steady hand probably he could bring them in specs 80% . I don't see any danger to this method , brakes on the car gonna work perfectly . Bt the way .. Nice job cleaning the rotors!.. Anderson .

ya tight bugger buy some new ones just for safety reasons alone

Great idea. Turn your car and an angle grinder into a high precision metal lathe (with respect to the stone age) . Maybe this what they have to do in Russia or Cuba or other 3rd world countries. Rotors are high precision machinery components that are machined within 0.001" or less. I have no doubt you can see the divots in the with the naked eye. This is simply bizarre.

have your rotors turned in a lathe!

Awesome! This is the truth in a real world! Down with the Nay Sayers. This is what I do with mine until it's time for new ones. And to the Negative people if your car stops it is safe.

put the rotor on a bench grinder, same method really... but uh how can you be so sure that its all level ? my rotors are badly warped slight touch of brake the front end shakes violently at 40+mph

Seems to me that you could just hold the sanding disk while the wheel is spinning

Do you enjoy not being able to stop as you pull into your garage and putting a car-sized hole through your back wall? How about rearending the car in front of you? Blowing through red lights, even though your brake pedal is to the floor? Or maybe even having your brake rotors crack and explode as you try to stop? If you like any of the things stated above, then this modification is for you!!

Judder, judder, brake judder, squealsqueal, holy crap, grinding & scraping metal away so it's shiny may work for head porting but stick to emery paper for brakes or renew

Darwin award winner!

This dude still alive?

Where is the elbow grease?

Flying sparks ouch!

I’m old school take it to a Machine shop

I can smell this video

did it work, did it shake when you press on the brakes when driving

Rough pass is perfect. Turned rotors are not shiny

If you need something quick in a pinch. It's not a bad idea. My concern is safety. Doesn't look very safe. Make sure you're wearing a mask and safety glasses.

Oh crap and you used a cut off disc. Wow.

A lot of time to save a few dollars on new ones.

I will keep this poor guy in my prayers.

Might look good but how true are they. Be better off putting 80 grit paper on old brake pads and driving around the block a few times

I can see the value of this as an on sight farm or off road repair in a pinch or just to keep a beater on the road for a month or two. You have a steady hand and it doesn't appear that your removing much metal and I'm sure if your good this does work...but why? No matter how good you are at this you can never match a lathe's accuracy by hand for a long term quality repair besides, no one turns rotors any more...some newer cars like BMW's for example have hardened surfaces that cannot be turned because you'll burn through the hardened outer surface. New rotors are cheap, dead flat and true...and you've already got the old rotors off at this point. I wouldn't be recommending this to people unless you explain to them the risks. I've seen home grinding jigs that work like this but at least the tool is not being held by hand but still...why bother to save $16-$24 to have (2) of them turned on a lathe or buy new rotors for $30-$60 a pair? Time is $$$$.

flat piece of thick steel and sand paper is better than that in the middle of nowhere

Great method

poor folks love it, not so poor folks hate it.... Your call.

this work its uprecise,you dont have a flat surface

Well it just matches the way your engine sounds like lol. Please don't try to do that too your car

The BIGGEST reason we cut rotors is to remove pedal pulsing, which is because both sides of the rotor are not paralell. This will NOT fix that....

But the disk are all shiny now so it much be good, right? No, it's really much more about the rotor being true than the surface being smooth. You don't seem to understand that.