I may have received a line of crap from an auto mechanic, and wanted to see what somebody who knows what they are talking about had to say. My 2003 Disco's brakes are squeaking- not screaming, but squeaking. I had the rotors and pads replaced about 1.5 years ago. I would assume that the truck is ready for more pads. However, some mechanic guy told me that both the rotors and pads ALWAYS need to be changed. It sounded fishy to me.

Is he full of it?

Thanks!!

 

Yes he is full of it, kinda.
Depending on the thickness of the rotors depends on if they need to be repalced at the same time or not.
Here is what you can do, pull the wheels off of the truck and take sand paper and rough up the rotors, both sides and this should help with the noise.
While you have the wheels off check the thickness of the pads, if they are thin then they need to be replaced, and the quailty of the brake pads will determine how long they last, as well as the type of driving that you do, stop adn go, big hills, towing a trailer, etc. will shorten brake pad life.
I drive for fedEx Home Delivery and I have to put new pads on my van every 4-6 weeks (and I use NAPA's middle of the line pads) but I only replace the rotors when they are paper thin and full of stress cracks, which is about every 6-7 months.

So your mechanic is half right.

 

Do you know what brand of rotor and pad was installed before? How mechanical are you? You can save a lot of money, buying good pads and rotors and installing them yourself.
As for replacing your rotors, if they aren't warped and your brakes don't shake when hot, leave them for now.

 

Unless that is specific to rovers, i have never heard it. As long as the rotors arn't warped too bad (pulsating brake pedal), or there isn't too much scoring/gouging you can get them resurfaced (machined). Sears does it for $11 each rotor.

 

no, don't have the rotors turned. rover rotors are too thin to have turned. the only thing you can do (beside replace) is scuff with sandpaper like spike said (temporary fix).

 

There is a minimum thickness specification somewhere. I had one of my other vehicles fail safety inspection once because the rotors had worn too thin, but they were over ten years old. If you have a micrometer you can measure them yourself, or a place that turns rotors could probably tell you if they can still be turned (if they need it). Normally though, unless they are warped or have been driven with worn out pads, they should be good for much longer than a year and a half.

 

Thanks for all your helpful replies!
I am fairly mechanical and was going to try and take care of this myself. I would assume that any fairly rough grit sandpaper would work to scuff the rotors, right? There is no shimmy or pulsating coming from the brake pedal at all, just a squeak. I will try just putting on new pads and see if that helps.
Does anybody have any recommendations for a good shop manual for LRs?
Thanks again!

 

google the Rave CD it has the manual on it, and it is free to download.

The rotor thickness should be on the rotor. Check the lip and see how big it is. Midas replaced pads and rotors 10 months before I bought mine. A week later, I was on metal. This was under 8K miles. Depending on what materials were used before, you may want to replace the rotors as well. Pads and rotors even, on a D2 are super easy.

 

Find AK Rover, he has a free download for the RAVE manual which is THE shop manual for LR's, it is the same manual that the dealer uses.

 

My brakes are also squeaking. I have tried Stop Squeak on the back side of the pads. this did not fix the squeak. When you say sand the rotor, how should it be done?