well... i bought a used car... the dealer said " yea... we will replace the front tires.... and front brake pads if its less than 50%.."


he was gonna hold the car for a couple days for the brake job.... but i was too excited.... and wantede the car now... so i bought it with new front tires and an "IOU" for the brakes..


i finally get sent to a shop that he reffered me to, for the brakes... and the guy says ... " ur pads are bit more than 50% but the rotors are warped"

the dealer refuses to pay for the resurfacing (i have no idea how much it costs) and says... they only agreed for the pads


anyways.... the brakes squeak.... especially when up to temperature.... but no steering wheel shake or anything....

so warped rotors never crossed my mind...

are they messing with me so they can save the cost of pads and installation?

 

yeah if you getting a vibration in the steering wheel then i wouldnt say your rotors are warped. your probably going to have to replace your pads because you stated they squeak when they warm up. if i was you, i would replace the pads with something that is suitable to your driving style and machine the rotors. The only reason i say to machine the rotors is because with new pads you always want a even smooth surface for the new pads to break into. If you have slightly uneven rotors, the life of your pads are going to be cut down, not significantly but it will be affected. did they state whether the warped rotors were the front or rear?

 

I'm getting my front brakes done this weekend, I get vibration when I brake at speeds 70+ and noise when I stop while parking or backing up. I'm trying out the Hawk pads and having my mechainc turn the rotors.

From my experience with dealers they don't turn rotors only replace them, and it sounds like if you had let them do the job they would have only replaced the pads so consider yourself lucky.

Btw new rotors aren't that expensive, here in Kansas new front rotors cost anywhere from $25 to $40 dollars each depending on your preference. I'm not changing mine because they only have 52k miles on them and have never been turned. Good luck.

 

the car has 120k miles....and should i stick with the stock pads... or aftermarket?

 

I highly recommend ditching the stock pads. Anything is better than stock, I was going to get Duralast before I decided to try the Hawks.

 

aftermarket for sure. there have been many issues with pad material transfer to the rotors which will cause the shimmy in the steering wheel. most of the guys on the site run the hawk hps pads which are good quality but have a few drawbacks. i have akebono proact pads which are awesome. my GLE is my daily, very low dusting plus great stopping power. i replaced my factory rotors with brembo blanks. no complaints as of yet.

 

Go with Hawk Hps and you will never go back to stock. $65 at tirerack. They have fast shipping, they got to me in three days.

 

what are the drawback?

 

some people complain about squealing/squeaking when cold. its a handful if guys here and there. they also dust a lot from what i have read. thats about all i can really think of. i think if you bed them properly, you might not get the squealing/squeaking noise. as far as the dusting goes, thats just how that pads are.

 

resurface the rotor and get a pair of new pads
it's just that simple

 

Pep boys sell hawks.

 

Hawk HPS are great pads.
Squeaking is usually caused by a more metallic pad. (i.e. cheap pads.)
If you do not notice vibration and/or your brake pedal pulsing, don't bother getting the rotors resurfaced.

 

Ceramics are Godly, specially when they get hot , watch out for the windshield

 

Akebono are nice and quiet