brakes - replace rotors or not...

[pairadocs]

got my car cpo 3 years ago - 06 s4 - not sure if it's on original rotors or pads. my brakes are squeeling, pad life is coming to an end (dealer said so, and i can see thin pads) and it takes more push on the pedal.

but, i don't feel any rotor vibration/shakey steering wheel when braking.

so, do i just replace pads? or do i do new pads and new rotors?

generally speaking, are stock rotors good for 50K mileage or more?

what would you do?

car has 50K mileage. daily driver, and i drive it hard every day.

[elwigglero]

It's always a good idea to replace rotors and pads at the same time. Putting new pads on worn rotors will often result in noisy brakes because the pads wear right down into the existing grooves on the rotor. Do your rotors look worn? Do they have lips on the outer edge?

I recently replaced mine with "Adams Rotors" (drilled/slotted) and Hawk HPS pads and am pretty happy with the result.

[b spot]

On the advice of my mechanic I skipped the rotor replacement. My rotors are pretty deeply scored now, but still no warping. It really doesn't matter if your brake pads wear unevenly because of the scoring, if your rotors aren't thin enough to warp up, and they are still able to shed enough heat to avoid brake fade (ours are huge, so not really a problem if you aren't tracking it) save yourself the $.

[JimmyBones]

There is a easy way to check but you do get brake dust on your hand. First check when the car is cold in the morning before driving because the brakes will not be hot yet. Stick your hand in the wheel and touch the rotor, with the car parked of course. Feel the outer edge of the rotor and see if there is a lip as you rub towards the outside. A good lip means the rotors are worn and needed replacement. It is that simple.

Generally most of my customer's get two sets of pads to one set of rotors so if this is the second set of pads just go ahead and replace the rotors. 50k miles also sounds about right for rotors as long as you are not tracking the car.

[LJH]

I am sure Audi has a min. thickness stated for our rotors. Rotor life is not a set thing, use, pads etc all have a bearing on how long rotors will last.

I would say as long as they are not warping you are good to go.

Cheers,
Jim

[handyvorb]

As Jimmy said you can usually run through 2 sets of brake pads per set of rotors.

If they are over the wear limit of 28 mm (S4) or 34 mm (RS4) width you are good to go with just pads.