GM brake rotors with cheap metal - Montana Owners Club

beakyfudd · 08-09-2009, 02:56 PM

I was just told by a fellow 5er/GM truck owner, that sometime between 03 and 07 Gm was using poor quality rotors. The result is, the pads don't make contact with the full width of the rotors. He has an 05 and I have an 03, and both show these signs. The fix: replace all rotors and pads. Braking on mine, with the 5er attached, has always seemed has than great.

racerjoe · 08-09-2009, 03:37 PM

all rotors and pads leave a small ridge at the top and bottom edges. that is normal.you do not want to have your brake at the edge of the rotor,it will eventually hang up around the edge of the rotor. you are right,the quality of the rotors is not to good. made in either Mexico or China,sad to say. I am on my third set of rotors on a 2003 f250,due to little use and rusting up in the winter months. I would not jump into an expensive replacement until you do a little more research, I think you will find it is not a problem that all vehicles have.

dsprik · 08-09-2009, 04:09 PM

All my rotors have been changed out over the past three years.

Glenn and Lorraine · 08-10-2009, 02:01 AM

I had 75,000 miles on my 2003 Silverado when I traded it on my 2005 Sierra. I am approaching 73,000 on the Sierra. I have not needed to replace the pads muchless the rotters on either truck. YES, my trucks are inspected frequently.

wswebster · 08-10-2009, 03:24 AM

We just replaced back rotors & pads and had the front rotors turned and pads replaced on our '04 that we took to Alaska last year and it's our back up truck that plows the snow in the winter it has 80,000 mile on it.

beakyfudd · 08-10-2009, 04:54 AM

racerjoe, I am all too familiar with how the brake rotors should look, as I was a HD truck mechanic for 11 years. However, this rust is located in the path of the pad. You are correct, I will do more research on the issue, and this forum is part of that research. I appreciate any and all comments. I only heard, and saw this from one source, and that is why I posted a comment here. On edit; Braking on mine, with the 5er attached, has always seemed "less" than great. Jim

racerjoe · 08-10-2009, 12:23 PM

that's also where my rust is on my rotors,in the path of the pads. I started to look for ceramic brake pads for next time,as they are already starting to shake a little when braking. which you know the rotor is starting to get a buildup of rust and running out of round. p.s. I was in no way trying to make you feel if you did not know what you were looking at. but sometimes,"non mechanics" will sometimes worry about something they cannot control. I am in no way an expert on everything mechanical but also have many years as a mechanic,both autos and industrial. I apologize if anything was taken wrong

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