Just went to Meineke for the $29.95 brake pad special (would cost a total of $80 installed) and the guy told me that i would need new rotors because the ones on my car and the Infiniti are made of composite material and not turnable. I told him my rotors didnt need turned because they are still smooth. He said that new pads would still squeak if i put them on anyway.

Does all this sound right?

 

no

 

I remember Jason @ Performance Nissan saying it was best to change out the rotors at the time of new brake pads. I can't remember why though..

 

Meineke... YOUR KIDDING RIGHT??? YOUR GUNNA PUT MEINEKE BRAKE PADS ON YOUR Z?

 

 

you can cut the rotors on most any car (save for those with carbon disks), provided they meet minimum factory thickness. Yes, you can cut the rotors on these cars. Given your story, I'd find someone else

new pads do not squeak, nor should they, unless they are track compound

 

but ideally, you'd get new pads and rotors so that the bedding process is done right. you run the risk of squeekiness by putting new pads on used rotors. (which is what mine is doing right now)

 

so long as the rotor is cut properly and you bed your pads in properly, use new shims and a dab of anti squeal, they should be silent, unless they are a track oriented compound

My setup - second set of pads (first were Mintex M1144, now running Porterfield R4S - AP brakes, never cut the rotors and they are absolutely silent

 

the problem is... 99% of the time, when the pads need to be changed the rotors are already at the point where it would be worthless to turn down...

In some of the cases where the rotors were thick enough to turn down, if we were to turn them down, they would be either at the minimum spec after turning them down or below...

so if your pads are worn, might as well do the upgrade on the rotors...

When I had my Stop Tech Single Piece rotors on... I was able to turn them down 2 times when I changed my pads even after tracking... they tend to last a bit longer...

 

The Meineke place didnt have their own brake pads for the Z, they were gonna get them a local autoparts store. Who knows what brand they would have been, but i doubt they would be Meineke brand brake pads LOL.

 

I have customers who have cut stock rotors 2 times now without incident - and still been within factory specs. The machine shop that does them will not cut them if the process will result in sub factory specs