I've been getting some pulsing while braking for a month or so now, then the past couple days I've heard the wear indicator for the brake on the driver's side make noise. I had replaced the pads once already with ceramic pads to reduce brake dust, so I still had the old pads with plenty of meat still on them. When I lifted up the caliper to remove the pads, the inner pad looked fine but the outer pad was on the wear indicator so it appears the caliper/sliders are sticking a little. Not sure if the rotor can be turned, it has a slight lip at the outer edge so it is probably not going to have enough material left to be turned. Probably just replace both front rotors with better than OEM anyway.

I know the hotness in rotors are Brembo blanks but what about calipers? Anyone using rebuilt ones from auto parts stores? New OEM?

 

sounds like its time for the 6th gen upgrade!

 

Not really. My detailing business has been taking it in the shorts since last March due to Mother Nature-had to go to Phoenix for a week to make money this month. Just replacing what I need to right now.

Stock 5.5 gen brakes are pretty good anyway. In an old Road and Track I have, the I-35 had the shortest 60-0 stopping distance out of a group including a Mercedes E-class, Jaguar S-Type, Volvo and I believe a 5 series...and our cars weigh a good 100 pounds less with the same brakes.

 

The Centric Premium rotors are respected by S2k track junkies as good, cheap OE alternatives. Rock Auto, amongst others, sells these rotors.

As for calipers, I prefer rebuilds from NAPA followed by AAP and Autozone (equally).

Good luck, and maybe get new slider pins instead of just cleaning them.

 

Really? Hotness? I've had Brembo blanks for a number of years now, and am not particularly impressed. Lots of rust, and very prone to pulsation. I bed them in twice a year to smooth them out; but it doesn't completely work.

About the only thing I'll say that makes them stand out over the OEM rotors is that they seem to last longer.

These are my next rotors. Installation isn't for another 6 weeks, however, so I can't personally vouch for them yet.

 

Looks like I need to consider the Centric rotors. Just going over a few threads it appeared the Brembo blanks were the way to go but I'm open to suggestions.

 

i've used Bremobo blanks on my turbo Sentra w/o problems. got a good price on them but i forgot where ( $35 each shipped ) and EBC brakes.


it sounds like you are describing sticking/non-lubed slide pins. if the caliper was bad/seized the piston would either A. not move thus when you brake your car will pull to one side or B. it is seized therefore causing drag and heating up your rotor/cooking it.


I had a caliper seize on me before, with a glowing red rotor that almost caused a fire.


uneven pad wear is usually caused by sticking sliding pins.

removeing them and cleaning and regreasing them usually fixes the problem.

unless they are corroded to all hell and then you will need a new torque member/caliper bracket.

 

Good advice. Honda service has been doing that with our CR-V, and I hope to be running those OEM calipers forever.

I went through TireRack because, well, TireRack is easy and reasonably priced. A full set of Centrics was $176 after shipping. That same set of Brembos would be $235. The Centrics are painted (edges and hats) to hold off rust (or so the theory goes.) The Brembos will rust as soon as you look at them.

Don't know about performance differences. I might have an opinion come April, but since I'm going from Hawk Ceramics to Hawk HPS at the same time, anything unique to the rotors will be lost in the perception. I'm using OEM calipers, btw. 3 out of 4 are originals, too. One rear caliper is a Napa rebuild.

Scott, I think unless you go BBK or something similar, a rotor is a rotor for our daily drivers, and the biggest diffs will be in the pads you choose.

 

sorry about the big resolution, have to resize

 

I clean and regrease the slider pins, but going to need to replace at least one rotor, might as well do them both. Back brakes look great.

 

Check on www.rockauto.com but all of the calipers they list are reman.

Still cheaply replace parts with the idea to buy more stable parts later.

I'm sure the Dave B price per caliper for the 2002 is $90 or so. And if that's not enough, the 2004 front caliper costs $220!!

I am in the same boat, need to replace most of my front brake hardware.

 

yeah the brake pulsation is caused by the rotors warping, possibly from being overheated from the sticking caliper slides.


i have seen rotors being ground in from people waiting until they hear grinding to find out what the problem is, only to have to replace the rotors.


if in fact you still have " meat " on the rotors, why not just have them resurfaced?

usually a rotor will need about .005/in on each side to remove excessive runout ( correct warping ) .

more than that and you run the risk of premature warping from having a thin rotor although i have seen some rotors get resurfaced up to .010 w/o problems , if you can believe that.

 

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp...rakedisk.shtml

 

Bottom line is the rotor metal is more durable than the brake pad. During hard braking, the brake pad builds heat and causes the pad material to become partially liquid. This partial molten liquid is what's transferred onto the rotor.

What is more bizarre, with my power slot rotors, I still experience front brake hardware judder during braking.

 

That seems reasonable. All my life, I've always done brakes and tires in pairs, or all 4 at once. Right or wrong, it feels like common sense.

2slow: nice myth buster write-up.

 

There is a small lip at the outside edge of the rotor. I'd have to measure the rotor to see if there is enough left to turn them but my experience has been that once a rotor warps, it will continue to do so. Thinner rotors mean they don't dissipate heat as well. . Rotor aren't *that* expensive anyway.

 

yeah good point. better to do it right once even if it costs a little bit more. you'll save time & $$$ in the future