Brake rotor corrosion

Scubanero · October 4th, 2019, 20:47

I am curious to know if anyone else has experienced severe corrosion of their rear (and only rear) brake rotors. I have just put on my fourth set of rotors in 13 years and 270,000 km. The front rotors don’t. Other vehicles at the same location don’t. The car is driven regularly. It is a dry climate with low usage of road salt. The slide pins and pistons have always moved freely.
Three different brands of rotor including OEM have reverted to the oxide form prematurely. Most recently were Zimmerman rotors and Wagner ceramic pads. Typically a portion of the rotor face starts to rust and scrapes off the pad material at the rusty strip, which then grows slowly wider.
If you have seen this type of thing, have you found any way to prevent it?
Thanks

QuickTD · October 5th, 2019, 14:31

Here in the rust belt, it would have been 13 sets of rotors in 13 years. I have no sympathy for you...

afarfalla · October 5th, 2019, 17:44

I've never had to change mine

Scubanero · October 6th, 2019, 17:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by QuickTD

Here in the rust belt, it would have been 13 sets of rotors in 13 years. I have no sympathy for you...

You can’t scare me. I lived in Sarnia for a while. All of your brake rotors rust, though, not just VW rears.

blazen71 · October 7th, 2019, 13:31

Sometimes its associated with the pads getting stuck. Make sure the pads move freely.

Scubanero · October 7th, 2019, 17:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by blazen71

Sometimes its associated with the pads getting stuck. Make sure the pads move freely.

Always were and still are.
1. There is always a clean friction zone that just keeps getting narrower.
2. Parking brake always works perfectly.
3. Pads get worn away quickly, fastest at the rust zone which gets a bit thicker as rust forms and erodes off.
4. All four faces are affected pretty much equally.

imo000 · October 9th, 2019, 12:14

Get better quality rotors.

blazen71 · October 9th, 2019, 14:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by imo000

Get better quality rotors.

That would be my guess, but the OP has used OEM and Zimmerman. Castings keep getting cheaper and cheaper.

imo000 · October 10th, 2019, 08:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by blazen71

That would be my guess, but the OP has used OEM and Zimmerman. Castings keep getting cheaper and cheaper.

Get OE instead of OEM.

soot1 · October 10th, 2019, 09:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by blazen71

Castings keep getting cheaper and cheaper.

You may have pinpointed the problem exactly. Even some Zimmermans now have an imprint on the box that says "Cast in China, finished in Germany". What good is it that the runout on such rotors is below 0.0005", if the base material contains so much garbage that the rotors self-destroy after one winter?

Scubanero · October 10th, 2019, 13:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by imo000

Get OE instead of OEM.

I bought the car with 12000 km on it. The factory rotors did the same thing.
I have replaced the front rotors once and see far less corrosion on both OE and aftermarket, none on the friction face.

Powder Hound · October 10th, 2019, 20:01

Back when I drove every day, my rotors lasted and lasted. Now that I'm working from home and many weeks go by where I drive 5 miles once during the week, and that's it, my rotors barely go a year, and less than 2k miles. I'm paying lots more for rotors than anything except fuel, insurance, and registration (taxes). Well, registration is neck and neck with rotors.

PH

Scubanero · October 11th, 2019, 16:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Powder Hound

Back when I drove every day, my rotors lasted and lasted. Now that I'm working from home and many weeks go by where I drive 5 miles once during the week, and that's it, my rotors barely go a year, and less than 2k miles. I'm paying lots more for rotors than anything except fuel, insurance, and registration (taxes). Well, registration is neck and neck with rotors.

PH

That is really excessive. Front and rear the same?
My Dodge pickup sits outside all winter with infrequent use and is still on the factory rotors with over 300,000 km.

peteguenther · November 17th, 2019, 19:18

I'm seeing exactly the same on my '03 and others, most with cheap rotors. My last set have not even lased a year and 15k miles - the rears that is = fronts are fine and even the inner rear is not so bad.

Scubanero · November 18th, 2019, 20:36

Thing is: even the factory rotors did the same thing, just as fast as the after-market ones. The rears rust away 2-3 times faster than the fronts and the inner face is just as bad as the outer. I am beginning to think that there is something a little different about the brake setup on these cars.
This go-round, I just replaced the rears rotors and used semi-metallic pads thinking that softer pads might make better full face contact with the rotors.