I'm experiencing major brake fade. Tonight, I'm going to bleed the calipers. I'm planning to also replace my front rotors. I saw some Brembos on Ebay. I've notice a lot of people have Powerstop rotors too. I wanted to find out some opinions from you guys on these cross drilled/slotted rotors. I want to stick to the stock pads but upgrade to a better cooling rotor. I think overall the stock pads don't eat the rotors as much and don't have problems with noise.
Thanks for any input.

 

Your fading is probably caused by the pad and not the rotor...

Aftermarket rotors will not increase the thermal holding capacity of the rotor unless it is heavier... Crossdrilling help marginally with heat disapacition (sp?) at the cost (or benefit) of reduced mass of the rotor...

Get better pads...

 

To add to Chunger's advice. How old is your brake fluid? If it's been more than about 3 years, you might have water in the lines(will happen over time no matter what basicly). Under heavy braking, this water will boil and greatly reduce your brake capacity. ie.. super spongy brake pedal or crappy feeling brakes. Try not only re-bleeding the brakes but totally replacing all the brake fluid. (basicly bleed the brakes for a long time)

 

How about using dot4 as opposed to dot3 fluid? Can I fill the resevoir with dot4 as I'm bleeding the the calipers?

 

Dot 4 is okay I believe. Just don't let the resevior go emtpy. I will take alot of bleeding to get that air out again if you do. Take a look at the 4-ge stickes. There should be more info for you.

 

DOT4 is compatible with DOT3, it just has a higher boiling point. I would recommend Castrol LMA (low moisture absorption).

A better pad will definitely help. I've had great success with Bendix Titanium-Metallic and Porterfield R4S.

 

Where did you get those great looking seat covers?? There awsome?? Please let me know...

Greg
swartzzz@hotmail.com

 

Thanks swartzzz, I got them from http://www.leatherseats.com
They did two group deals not too long ago. IIRC, $625 with no charge for 2-tone and free embroidery on the front seats.

 

Hey, you should check out this brake deal. I ordered them and got them in 2 days! They really made a difference.

http://www.eatricezone.com/MaxBrakeSale.htm

I know it seems too cheap, but its for real. The X-Drilled rotors even come in the Stillen Box.

Erik

 

I can raise the price if it seems more 'real' to others

 

The holes (or slots) on the rotor are there to dissipate the gases from the brake pad, not the heat.

For street use, the simple upgrade to a semi-metallic brake pad and DOT 4 brake fluid makes a world of a difference. Xdrilled or slotted for street use is basically for looks since most street drivers will never push the car to the limits to fully utilize the extra capacity that the holes/slots are capable of.

sinewave: isn't the Castrol LMA $60/bottle (or is it the LM) ?

 

I used up 2 12oz. bottles to bleed the brakes last night. Everything went well using the speedbleeders. For some strange reason my local Kragen didn't have any dot4. I just picked up some dot3's. After the bleed, the pedal felt alot better and tighter; i didn't have to push all the way down on the pedal to stop the car.

On aftermarket pads, do they still have the holes on top for the retaining spring/clip to keep the pads away from the rotor?

 

I guess it depends on the size of the bottle (jk). I buy pints for about $6. I have mever seen LM, so that must be what you're thinking about.

JMAX95, the Bendix pads I have had the holes for the springs, but the Porterfields don't. Someone told me a while back that Nissan changed the design of the pad separators and that the late 4th gen hardware kit would have them in it. Right now I'm running without either with now noise or dragging; at least none that I can detect.

 

Hmmm...Does the Bendix or Porterfields wear out the rotors faster?

 

Just the opposite; I think they are much easier on the rotors than the cheap "lifetime" pads, but they dust like crazy. If I wash my car on Sunday, I can see dust on the wheels by Wednesday

 

I went back to stock rotors and pads in the front --
Only because my Stillen rotors got pretty scored after a winter trip to Tahoe --

In retrospect, the rotors don't make that much help for me --

 

Everyone has made some good points. It seems like for street use, the best thing to do is get better pads with some dot4 fluid. I doubt getting SS brakelines and crossdrilled rotor would make a huge difference (maybe a little, but not enough to justify the cost).

 

I've been considering some brake system mods.
The Stillen Big Brake set up might be sweet
but I don't have the bucks.

Thought I'd start with the SS lines.
Not too expensive and I figure I could wrench it myself.
And, as long as I was at it, some better fluid.

Then maybe some new rotors when these wear out.

Thought about aftermarket pads, but I'm worried about squealing.
What are all a y'alls experinces with noise
and what pads are you using?

My dealer who I bought from and get all my service from
doesn't "approve" of mods for sqealing reasons and I don't know...

kind of odd too. It's Bob Sharp in CT.
They used to sponsor Paul Newman and Bob's son is Scott Sharp.
Go figure.

 

In the past five years, I haven't installed new pads on any car without first putting anti-squeal compound on the backs of the pads. I have never had any complaints.

 

How can this work?
[I'm not saying it doesn't - I just don't understand]
I would think the squeal comes from the pads rubbing on the rotor,
or maybe not releasing all the way off after braking.
So how can something on the back of the pad affect the set up?
Does it act like some kind of sound insulation?

 

Ok so if i want to just have less brake fade and less pedal travel, i know i should bleed the brakes. I kinda know how to do this but enlighten me a little. you just put a piece of hose on the bleeder valve and that into a can of brake fluid and pump like crazy??? i know how to change the pads but what ones are good for stopping and NOT squealing. the crappy ones i have on now squeal with the stock rotors.

 

I believe the high pitched noises are caused by the pad vibratinng against the caliper, the compounds designed to eliminate the noise, hold the pad more tightly to the caliper and therefore reduce noise production.

 

The key is not to get any air into the system when you're bleeding. Do a search on speedbleeders and bleeding brakes. I found some good info. on this forum and did my first brake bleeding just a few days ago. It was not difficult at all.