I noticed the other day when I was looking at my "09 Ram that my brake rotors start showing signs of surface rust after the truck sits outside for a few days and is not driven. I dont have a garage and park under a carport and still drive my old Ford to work a lot and sometimes the Dodge sits a few days without being driven. Has anyone else noticed thier brake discs showing signs of surface rust? I guess it really don't really hurt anything as soon as you drive it and apply the brakes it takes the surface rust right off. Maybe its just more noticeable as I have the 20's on my truck and the way the wheels are made its allows you to view the discs very easy. I guess living 20 miles from the coast doesn't help matters either. I also noticed when I bought my truck from the dealer every new pickup in the lot showed signs of surface rust on the antenna's. I wiped my down with some Eagle One Never Dull wadding polish when I got it home and it took what little rust there was on the antenna right off. I guess I might have to upgrade to stainless steel brake rotors in the future.

HDCowboy (aka Jim)

 

Yeah I've seen this on plenty of other vehicles. I drive mine every day so the rust doesn't form, but like you said, it's nothing to worry about. It'll happen when you let it sit for a few days. Drive it around a little and the rust comes right off. It isn't gonna effect performance at all. Brakes will still work just fine.

 

it will happen on EVERY vehicle, there is NO stopping it.

 

I have some vehicles that will show rust in just a few hours and others that will not rust at all. I do think that it has a lot to do with the quality of the alloy of the rotor. I have not seen it on my 09 and my other Dodge trucks have never really had the problem. It will not harm your rotors or effect braking performance.

 

Are you kidding? All Brake rotors do this stainless or not.

 

Very normal.

Now... The parts that do not get any pad contact will also eventually rust. If you do not want this you would have to paint those areas with high temp paint (I would use caliper paint). It will prevent it from rusting, at least for a while. Brake dust is corrosive, which does not help the situation.

 

it happens because bare steel is exposed to oxygen and oxidizes forming rust- every brake rotor (excepting carbon brakes) will have this happen, but it is only a surface rust and minimal at that. it has no effect on the structural strength of the rotor or it's performance. the rust will come off the first time you stop the vehicle when driving. nothing to worry about.