Suggestions for Rotors/brake pads
10-04-12, 06:22 AM
#17
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i hesitate to say " rotors are rotors " but let me explain it this way....
all street rotors are cast iron. there is very little difference from the extreme best quality materials to the worst that are used in this application. the quality of the castings is important and the quality of the machine work is critical. for a conventional and nominal street application like your wife, there will be no difference at all in function between oem and aftermarket.... in fact , they could be worse. cad plated and nickle plated rotors while having a fractionally harder and " tougher " surface do not have the coefficient of friction that plain cast iron does and while when they are at extreme temps and extreme loads may offer somewhat better performace ( but not much ) unless you are pulling heavy trailers thru the rocky mountains, you will never see the advantages. beyond that, they do not offer that nice initial bite that std cast rotors and soft pads offer.
that dust you hate ? thats your brakes working. when you make a pad harder like metallic ones and ceramic ones are, you get a pad that has a higher "working temp" . that translates into a much weaker initial " bite" because the pad takes a longer time to get hot and then work than a soft pad does. on extreme or very heavy duty use such as towing or heavy loads or lots of hills and mountains , you get away with it because the pads and rotors get hot and stay hot so they are always in their operating range. on a car that you wife drives around town, even tho she drives aggressively, you need a pad /rotor combo that works 100 % from almost dead cold. the std rotor and soft pad will give her superior performance.
as for cutting the rotors, unless there is measureable run out or vibration, leave them alone. the pad material that is embedded in the surface is a better interface than the bare iron . if they do have runout, you can cut them .020 or 030 without a second thought but if they are really 50 bucks a pair, why bother ? but if they are straight then you don't need to do anything.
the brake configuration and material is defined completely by how they will be used. if its your wife around town, lightly loaded, no matter HOW she treats them, std rotors and oem pads are what you want. all you end up doing is throwing pads at it every 10 or 12,000 miles... which is a cheap deal as long as you don't get scammed.
all street rotors are cast iron. there is very little difference from the extreme best quality materials to the worst that are used in this application. the quality of the castings is important and the quality of the machine work is critical. for a conventional and nominal street application like your wife, there will be no difference at all in function between oem and aftermarket.... in fact , they could be worse. cad plated and nickle plated rotors while having a fractionally harder and " tougher " surface do not have the coefficient of friction that plain cast iron does and while when they are at extreme temps and extreme loads may offer somewhat better performace ( but not much ) unless you are pulling heavy trailers thru the rocky mountains, you will never see the advantages. beyond that, they do not offer that nice initial bite that std cast rotors and soft pads offer.
that dust you hate ? thats your brakes working. when you make a pad harder like metallic ones and ceramic ones are, you get a pad that has a higher "working temp" . that translates into a much weaker initial " bite" because the pad takes a longer time to get hot and then work than a soft pad does. on extreme or very heavy duty use such as towing or heavy loads or lots of hills and mountains , you get away with it because the pads and rotors get hot and stay hot so they are always in their operating range. on a car that you wife drives around town, even tho she drives aggressively, you need a pad /rotor combo that works 100 % from almost dead cold. the std rotor and soft pad will give her superior performance.
as for cutting the rotors, unless there is measureable run out or vibration, leave them alone. the pad material that is embedded in the surface is a better interface than the bare iron . if they do have runout, you can cut them .020 or 030 without a second thought but if they are really 50 bucks a pair, why bother ? but if they are straight then you don't need to do anything.
the brake configuration and material is defined completely by how they will be used. if its your wife around town, lightly loaded, no matter HOW she treats them, std rotors and oem pads are what you want. all you end up doing is throwing pads at it every 10 or 12,000 miles... which is a cheap deal as long as you don't get scammed.
10-04-12, 04:07 PM
#19
OEM parts from Sewell? That is what I did and I am very happy. My OEM rotors lasted 90K without issue. The only reason that I removed them was that the harsh PA winter weather caused them to rust enough that pieces of rust would flake off the interior of the fins. Great service from Sewell.
10-22-12, 03:35 PM
#20
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