Just wondering, need to do the brakes on my 02 Maxima today, it is shaking pretty bad under hard braking, so I'm guessing that the rotors need to be turned as well. Anyone know of a good major chain that still turns rotors, last time I had to have rotors turned was several years ago, I can't remember who did it then but I know I had a hard time finding the service. I just don't want to spend all morning on the phone if I can help it....

Napa

Quoted: Napa

Napa does it, good. I have a Napa close by, they'll get my business today. No Pep boys in Birmingham unfortunately.......

Your auto parts store should be able to do it.  It's been about 5 years since I worked on brakes, but they charged me $5-10 per rotor to turn.

7 Eleven
Hadji will TURN them into car bombs and rid you of the vibration.

Quoted: Your auto parts store should be able to do it.  It's been about 5 years since I worked on brakes, but they charged me $5-10 per rotor to turn.

I charge $12 a piece

I'm going to go against the grain here. WHY?  If they are so damaged/warped that they need turned, toss them and get new ones.  If they are warped and you turn them, they will warp faster the second time. Just my .02, but been at this a while.

Quoted: Just wondering, need to do the brakes on my 02 Maxima today, it is shaking pretty bad under hard braking, so I'm guessing that the rotors need to be turned as well. Anyone know of a good major chain that still turns rotors, last time I had to have rotors turned was several years ago, I can't remember who did it then but I know I had a hard time finding the service. I just don't want to spend all morning on the phone if I can help it....

Maxima's are notorious for "Brake Juttering" (official technical term for front end shaking during braking) and it is sometimes caused by warped rotors BUT it is USUALLY caused by brake pad oxide build up in the metal of the rotors even when your brake pads have plenty of pad left on your brakes.

First, check your brake pad thickness and if it looks good get some 30 grit GARNETT sandpaper, NOT OXIDE SANDPAPER AS THIS WILL ONLY MAKE IT WORSE!!! Use the garnett sand paper to buff the rotors clean front and backsides, it won't take much effort at all, just enough to shine them up a little. The oxide from your brake shoes is probably building up in the pores of the cast iron discs and causing your brake pads to slip just a little at a time while you are braking which in-turn causes the juttering and shaking while braking. Clean the pads with standard spray can brake cleaner and put them back together. This may save you a brake job.

If your pads are thin, then of course replace them and get the rotors resurfaced PREFERABLY AT A MACHINE SHOP that DOES NOT SELL BRAKE ROTORS. If you take them into a parts store they are probably going to lie to you and tell you that they are "out of spec" or they're too thin to be resurfaced just so that they can sell you an over-priced set of new rotors made at some factory in Mexico and priced 300% over dealer cost. This is a racket because they make more money on selling new parts than they do resurfacing rotors. Also, true resurfacing of rotors is an art performed by a machinist and not some pimple-face kid at the parts counter who was flipping burgers at McDonald's last week before he got the job at AutoZone (Pep Boys, O'Really's O'Reilly's, etc.)

I have had 3 Nissan Maxima's, am currently driving a 2005 Maxima, and have had 3-280z's before that...learn from my mistakes...

Edited to add: You need to start visiting Maxima.org to learn more about your car. Properly treated, it will last longer than any Honda, smoke ALL Accords and MOST BMW's 3xx's and 5xx's in the United States (don't try this in Germany) and do it for a fraction of the price. Maxima's and Z's are the most under-priced sports cars on the streets today.

Quoted: I'm going to go against the grain here. WHY?  If they are so damaged/warped that they need turned, toss them and get new ones.  If they are warped and you turn them, they will warp faster the second time. Just my .02, but been at this a while.

Nope, I have exactly the same vehicle, except that mine is Mercury Villager/Nissan Quest.  I went 3 brake jobs before, they warped so bad that it vibrated very badly, so I would say machine every other brake job.  And when it gets too thin, then replace with a quality rotor.

NAPA sells new rotors so cheap that it makes better sense to just replace them.

Quoted: I'm going to go against the grain here. WHY?  If they are so damaged/warped that they need turned, toss them and get new ones.  If they are warped and you turn them, they will warp faster the second time. Just my .02, but been at this a while.

+1

Most of my cars are older and it usually doesn't cost mush more just to replace the rotors.  Not sure how much it would cost for an '02 Maxima though.

ETA - NAPA is great auto store.  Worked at one for a year while I was going to school.

Quoted: NAPA sells new rotors so cheap that it makes better sense to just replace them.

Napa lists them at $44 per rotor. Thats $88 for both, and I can have them turned for $20-25......thats alot of ammo for me.......

I don't know about an 02 Maxima, but I replaced the rotors on my 2000 Neon for like $12 a piece. I think my local machine shop wanted $8-$10 for resurfacing. The hell with it, I just bought new ones. I didn't even have to return a core.

Honestly, I don't know how they sell them that cheap. They're great looking rotors, too.

Most of the new rotors I have replaced on my cars are almost at minimum thickness anyway ( .050-.060") so turning isn't usually on option.  Have the thickness checked before they try to turn them.  You may have to replace them anyway.