How to Tell if You Have Bad Brake Rotors

How to Tell if You Have Bad Brake Rotors

Rotors typically last as long as two or three sets of brake pads (about 70K miles), but they may wear out faster depending on your driving environment. Sometimes a rotor becomes warped or severely worn due to towing or stop and go driving.

It’s important to pay attention for any symptoms of a bad rotor and replace it as soon as possible. A bad rotor drastically decreases your car’s braking performance. For example, an accident may occur if you’re forced to slam on your brakes because your car may not stop in time.

Luckily, checking your rotors is something you can easily do at home with this guide.

The Most Common Symptoms to Look For

The symptoms don’t show up until the rotor is really, really damaged. For that reason, we highly recommend checking out your rotors as soon as one of them starts acting strange. Here are some symptoms to look for:

• Steering wheel vibrating while braking
• Squealing, scraping, or squeaking sounds while braking
• Increased stopping distances

These telltale signs are a great way to know that something may be wrong with one of your rotors. But they’re not definite proof that you need to replace your rotors. Sometimes these signs may mean that your rotors are fine but your brake pads have worn thin. So if you want to be 100% sure that you’ve got a bad rotor in your Mitsubishi, you’ll have to look at all of the rotors on your car.

Visually Inspecting Your Rotors

Sometimes it’s easy to see the rotor through your wheel, but we still recommend removing the wheel to get a better view of the rotor. To do this:

1. Loosen the lug nuts. Only turn them loose by about a quarter turn.
2. Lift your car just high enough to remove the wheel. You can lift either one end of the car or the whole car, as long as you do it safely.
3. Remove all of the lug nuts from the wheel.
4. Pull the wheel off the car.

Now that the wheel is off, it’s time to look for any signs of a warped or worn rotor. Here are several things you can do:

1. Feel for a lip along the outside of the rotor. Press your finger up against the rotor and slide it up. If you feel a large bump along the edge, then your rotor is thinning out and it may need to be replaced. You can measure the thickness of the rotor to verify this. Every rotor has its minimum thickness stamped on it.
2. Look for any grooves, cracks, scoring, or uneven surfacing.
3. Look for burn spots, (which look bluish) on the friction surface of the rotor.

Basically, if the rotor isn’t flat and smooth, then it’s not in good condition.

Image Credit: BAP

You can replace one rotor at a time, but it’s always better to replace rotors in pairs to ensure balance in braking performance. The good news is that you can find genuine OEM Mitsubishi rotors on our website at deeply discounted prices.

Please contact us if you need assistance with anything related to identifying bad rotors or finding the right rotors and brake pads for your Mitsubishi model. We’re always happy to help out!