More brake problems... rusty rotors and won't stop!

[5.0]

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1997 Explorer.
Vehicle sits for a long time, only driven occasionally.
The brake pedal is plenty firm.
The vehicle does not stop well.
The pads are nearly new.
Makes grinding noise when using brakes.
There is only a thin ring of clean metal around the rotor, the rest of the rotor is rusty... it's a very coarse type of rust.

What would you say is the problem?

I'm going out now to pull a rotor off and look at the pads. What I suspect is happening is that there are "bumps" of rust at various places around the rotor that take a chunk out of the pads, so the pads don't touch the rotor anywhere else as it spins.


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[smokey]

Just gottta love that china made steel

 

[5.0]

I'm not sure if these are replacement rotors or not, but at 192,000 miles I'm thinking they have to be.

You know the wind up music players that have the drum with all the bumps, then the drums turns and the bumps hit the thing that makes the different tones? I'm thinking the rust on the rotor acts like those little bumps on the drum, only contacting the rotor a time or two as it rotates.


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