rearviewmirror

I always did brake jobs when I was young on my cars and I'd just change the pads and not do anything else. (I did measure the rotor thickness though.) I never turned the rotors, just popped some pads in and was done.

My question is, do I really need to turn the rotors if the runout is within tolerance and the rotors are still thick enough?

Same question for the rear drums..?

My 4Runner has 30k miles and I am going to do the brakes. I assume the rotors/drums will not need replacing. How many miles are the original ones usually good for?

jimbo74

if its in spec and the runnout is fine there is no need to turn them... rather you shouldnt because there is nothing wrong with them... how are you measuring the runout... its not easy to measure it without highly expensive proper guages.....

MTL_4runner

Most of us don't have guages for reading runout so we use the older method.....if you can feel any pulsation in the brake pedal, have them turned, if not, then don't (in fact on the rotors if you do feel them pulse at all, I would have them replaced instead...I have never had any luck in turning warped rotors, but drums should be ok). If you don't then just use some 220 sandpaper to rough them up a bit and break any glazing which may have formed. This also helps the new pads to break in faster as well.