kennycoulter

i have about 5-6000 miles on my ate power groove front discs. at first, they were fine, took a trip to athens from columbus, came back, still fine, a few trips to work and i noticed that i had some shake when braking. yesterday, i took my rotors to work to turn them (finally), and when they were on the lathe, you could see they were way out there! i think when the groove is gone on the ate's, they are in need of replacement, so i already went through half of them in 6000 miles or so. so anyway, i bolt them back up to my hubs afte rbuying a new inch lbs. rachet. i torqued the bolts to 204 inch lbs. which should be 17 ft.lbs. i put my hubs back in and the calipers on, and tried to spin them...they do the same thing like theres a high spot. my hubs were very clean, and the rotors were very clean, so i dont think it is dirt or anything underneathe the mounting points both times around. also, when i put these on the first time, the driver side had more drag than the passenger side. this time i switched the hubs and the passenger side has more drag (or so it seems). are you supposed to turn these rotors with the hub in place to get a proper real life end product?

Peckster

What's ate? Is that a brand?

GlenL

Not sure I'm following. (But I won't let that stop me.)

You shouldn't need to sap the discs side-to-side.

Common wisdom is tht rotors with slots (or holes) can't be turned. The tool will bounce on the slots and you'll get a wave disc. The corect way is to grind them. Apparently this is pricey. I just toss the old ones and slap on new. (OK, I put the old ones on the shelf "just in case" and build new shelves as needed.)

Not a good report on these. Ain't cheap when I've looked.

IceShark

Probably. The same guys that make brake fluid. Continental Teves AG&Co. oHG

The engineers that do brakes want you to throw them away after wear or other problems. You can turn or grind them down but they wouldn't unless they had no pot to **** in.

Dave in Chicago

Ate is the same folks that make components (slave/master cylinders), fluid (Ate Blue), and these "swirl slotted" rotors.

If they are that far out of true, then I say replace. OEM rotors for these cars are pretty cheap as long as you don't buy the Porsche ones. New rotors are easy to install and give the best heat dissipation. On the street, they'll go 30k+ miles.

I'm not a fan of slotted/drilled rotors on anything short of a dedicated race car. As long as they do not "groove", I have been replacing pads on these cars without ever turning a rotor for the last 4 years. That probably spans at least 3-4 complete sets of rotors and some ridiculous number of pad sets.

nine-44

the rotors should be turned while mounted and torqued to the hubs. I've turned plenty of stuff (with closer tolerances) besides rotors that had grooves, holes, slots, etc. You just can't take too much with each pass and do a slow cut on the last to ensure a clean cut.

Friendan

Not to highjack the thread here or anything, but what is the minimum width necessary for a rotor? I need to replace the pads soon, and the rotors are looking a bit ridged, and they already seem kindof thin to me. Any thoughts? Is it necessary to turn the rotors at all?

IceShark

Yes, there is a minimum thickness that is suggested. You will find it in the repair manual.

Matt H

On car brake lathe as Andy suggests is the best way to go. They run a ton of money so not a lot of shops have them (all of mine do now, I believe), they make turning a quick procedure as well.

That said, rotors are throw away parts, just buy new ones, cheap and easy install.
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kennycoulter

its just the fact that i just put these on (?) months ago, and they are already warped, and after turning the rotors, they are back to dragging in one spot on the calipers again. i turned them at work at napa on a brake lathe and used the same procedure that andy said, EXCEPT i did not have them mounted to the hub....more than likely if i turn them again with the hubs mounted, they will become too thin after the warp-ed-ness is out.

lleroyb

Minimum thickness dimension should be cast into the edge of the rotor.

Lou

schumi

they make good stuff, like the brake calipers on most BMWs (I remember my M3 had Ate stamped on the calipers) and the other stuff others mentioned. They are either German or Italian, can't remember, but they are OEM supplier of brake components on many German makes and models. I have heard it said as both (saying each letter) A-T-E and as a two syllable word pronounced like ah-tay; I think the latter is correct.

OT, did anyone see those infomercials a while back for those special brake pad like things that you install like brake pads and make a few stops and they are supposed to be equivalent to turning your rotors? I thought those were really stupid, because you have buy these things for $20-$30, jack car, remove wheels, install these things, do a few stops, then jack car again, remove wheels, reinstall brake pads...when on many cars you can get brand new rotors for $17 each at NAPA, or you could just remove rotors and have a shop turn them for $20, and save yourself one round of jacking cars and taking off/reinstalling wheels. Plus you don't know if the things wore your rotors below min. spec. I only saw the infomercial a few times so I suspect few people bought these things.