# Necessity of Replacing Rotors



## fishst1x (Mar 2, 2009)

Ive got 30k milies on my 09 gti and my rear breaks are grindning on me. Can i just replace my pads or do i need to replace my rotors as well??? 

The rotors dont appear to have any excessive wear on them although i havent taken the wheel off to look at them. Only did a quick glance through the wheel.

Thanx


----------



## KG18t (Aug 9, 2006)

If you've got metal of a pad digging into a rotor, you should replace it. ...and is it just me or is it odd that you hosed rear pads in 30k?


----------



## fishst1x (Mar 2, 2009)

KG18t said:


> If you've got metal of a pad digging into a rotor, you should replace it. ...and is it just me or is it odd that you hosed rear pads in 30k?


yea this is what i was thinking....what is the usual lifetime of oem pads on a mkv????


----------



## spitpilot (Feb 14, 2000)

Rear brakes seem to wear faster on later model VW's than in the past...many change their pads in the 20K mile range or B4...Check surface of rotor and if there aren't grooves worn into it by the pad backing plates....then you should be good to go with just pads....I usually don't change my rotors with every pad change..but I make sure to keep an eye on pad lining so as not to damage rotors. A good guage is two pennies taped together..that's darn close to VW's reccomended min thickness on pad lining..you can often reach thru wheel openings (if you have alloys with large cutouts) and see if you can slip the pennies between pad back and rotor face..if not your good..if they slide in there..time to change pads!:thumbup: Rear rotor changes on MKV are a PITA BTW...you need 14mm triple square socket bit that is verrrrrrry short so as to clear suspension parts (got mine on MetalNerd website)...and you need to buy new caliper carrier bolts ("Stretch bolts, replace every time" per Bentley)...Dealer has those..about $10-15 bucks for 4.:thumbup:


----------



## StarStripes00 (Aug 18, 2010)

KG18t said:


> If you've got metal of a pad digging into a rotor, you should replace it. ...and is it just me or is it odd that you hosed rear pads in 30k?


On my wife's 2005.5 Jetta with 65,000 miles... 30k seems to be the norm for the rear brakes before they are metal on metal. According to the dealership they were engineered with more rear brake bias to reduce "dipping" under hard braking. Seems like a bad design as the larger front rotors still have plenty of life lefft in them and the rears have had to be changed twice.


----------



## sworksguy (Apr 25, 2002)

I got 72K out of my original pads/rotors at all four points on my 337. Guess I was lucky.


----------



## Anony00GT (Mar 6, 2002)

Yes. If the pad is completely shot and the brakes are grinding metal-on-metal, the proper repair is to replace the rotor. 30k on rear brakes is normal.


----------



## rods2lug (Nov 8, 2006)

Just had my brakes done for the first time on my '06 Passat at 128500 mi. Needed pads only the rotors were in excellent shape according to the mechanic who replaced them. Still had pads on the rear but getting close so no damage to rotor or otherwise the bill would have been much higher.


----------

