Land Rover Repair: Replace Brake Pads, rotors, brake pads

Question
John,

Glad you are here to answer questions...

We have a 1998 Discovery that appears to need new pads since you can hear a little grinding when applying the breaks.  I was told that in order to change the pads, the rotors need to be replaced as well.  Is that accurate?  Is that a must and/or what if we just change out the pads?  Is it safe to do that?

Thanks for the help!

James


Answer
If you drove the vehicle until the pads wore out, and you have metal on metal grinding, then yes the rotors need to be replaced too.  That's one reason to inspect brake when you do other services.  If you replace them before they wear completely away you can usually get two sets of pads for every one set of rotors.