Cracked rear brake rotor

[Mark IV]

Originally Posted by patrickt

That doesn't make any sense to me at all. Popping new pads in is easy. Safety wiring wheels is really easy. Surface cracks on rotors can be nothing or it can require new rotors. Rear rotors last longer than front rotors. You have to actually see it to know though. If it were me, two new Wilwood rotors are going to cost maybe around $500 for parts, so if the cracks bothered me I'd just replace them and put them on myself. But, I'm not going to say that to you after seeing a $800 bill from a mechanic just to pop in a set of pads. If for some reason mechanics are seeing your car and thinking "well I'll just price this rotor replacement job as if I had to drop an XKE's rear in the shop (even if I don't)" then there is something I'm really missing. Does your SPF not allow for on-car brake lathes? If so, I would go ahead and grind them and if the rotors are new looking and within specs I would think that would be just fine. Rear rotors can be a bit of a PITA to pull but I don't know SPF cars well enough to tell you how much. My ERA has six pin hubs back on the rear so it makes for a different job, but I don't think you have that issue so I won't belabor it.

We would never "grind" rotors, on car of off car, rotors from the last 20 plus years do not take well to machining. The new Wilwood rotors are not expensive ($60-70) and as you lose mass, you reduce the thermal absorption capacity of the rotor thus increasing the chances of warping/cracking, etc.