SC400Zulu

As soon as the tint guy finished with my windshield (& he raved about the beauty of the car), I went to the brakes and exhaust shop.

Pads are done for. He says I need new rotors on the front and that they should be changed every time you need new pads???

The rotors look clean up front and he saw that they where Racing Rotors. He says $300+ for racing rotors and performance pads.

Is it true that you need to change rotors and pads at the same time? I will be sure to ask him what's damaged about the rotors, in case he's tryna jerk me. If the rotors are shot, I'm replacing them with regular ones for $165. Says I won't need the brembo rotors unless I'm racing.

Any advice before I go would be great! Also, he's running straight pipes from the cats to the Borla Mufflers for $79 extra. Says it'll be a lot louder.

alltrac

Do you HAVE to change pads and rotors at the same time? No. Is it a really really good idea to do so, yes. At a minimum they should be measured for thickness and if they are in spec, then they can be turned (machined) flat. Most of the time, the shops that sell rotors will tell you that they are too thin to turn and most of the shops that turn rotors will turn them without checking.

I use quite a bit of quality aftermarket parts on my cars and truck. But, there is NOTHING that can compare to genuine toyota rotors.

SC400Zulu

Interesting. I can ask if they have Toyota rotors. But why would OEM rotors be better than racing rotors, such as Brembo?

weeters

iTrader: (1)

what he means is the casting of brembos or oe rotors are a better quality. allows heat to dissipate quickly without distorting the metal. 300 for rotors pads and labor is avg. Make sure they do ceramic pads though.

alltrac

They aren't going to have Toyota parts at a brake or exhaust shop. They will just have to buy them from a Toyota dealer then make 10-20% markup on top of that. While I don't know for sure what makes the toyota rotors better than aftermarket, I can only suspect that much better steel is used. In my experience, they always last much longer than aftermarkets. It's a well known fact that chinese steel is sub par. It would be interesting to weigh and measure new OEM brake rotors vs an array of aftermarket.

Ramblerman

Chinese rotors are throw aways, but always Buy billet made never composite ones. Racing rotors & OEM's are made out of quality steel designed to dissipate heat quicker thus keeping brake fade @ bay much better. Brake rotors can look smooth, Be dimensionally correct for thickness, but if your peddle pulsates they're warped or have hard spots,turning them will elimanate hard spots,but warped need replaced. If your racing the car Wildwoods have some very good set ups. City driving is always hard on brakes & you'll go thru 2 sets of fronts to every rear. Ceramic pads can glaze & cause brake squeel & must be roughed once in awhile to get rid of it. Metallic pads can eat rotors. I run organics so I don't have to replace rotors so often, but they do make a bit of dust which washes of easily & doesn't effect my rims. I also never take my car to these so called brake & muffler shops as they replace parts that don't need it & charge out the kuzzoo.

scENFORCER

For $300 I'd upgrade to the LS400 brakes.
There's millions of threads about this upgrade and lots of the calipers themselves for sale in the SC classifieds section. Might as well spend a few bucks more and do that (just make sure they will clear your wheels and you're good).

SC400Zulu

The stock calipers look really close to the GS wheels. The LS400 brakes look chunkier?

I will look now. And I've seen some on eBay as well. I would prefer TT brakes for looks as well as performance. Unless I get a nice painted set.

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

You've got the same wheels I had. LS400 calipers won't fit unless you run a pretty thick spacer. At least 15mm, possibly as much as 20mm.

SC400Zulu

I was thinking the same thing. I plan to run a 10mm spacer on the rear. But for the front where the brakes would be, if I run a 20mm spacer, I'm not sure I'd clear the fenders at full steering wheel lock.

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

I never thought to try it out, but you could probably test it by putting the front up on jacks and applying washers to the studs as temporary spacers to figure out fender clearance.

I estimated almost exactly an inch (25mm) shy of flush in the back with the GS4xx wheels. I don't remember what the front was or if I even measured it (I don't think I did), but it was probably half of that. That's why I gave up on the idea of installing LS400 calipers. I didn't want to run spacers, and even if I did, it would have been a tight fit. The wheels I've got on up front now have more than an inch of stock caliper clearance...

SC400Zulu

I'll run a 20mm spacer instead on the rears. Looks like I'll stick with the stock iron calipers until I get wheels that clear bbk's.

I have my eye on some 18's and some decent 40 series tires (pot hole protection).

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

Moved to brakes/ suspension forum, please try and get the right section next time.
remove rotors, drop them off at local auto shop that turns rotors, they will measure them and tell you if they can re-cut them straight again. if its never been done then thats what they would do is turn/ recut them for cheap, if they are past the minimum thickness, then they will tell you you have to replace them.

IF someones just eyeballing the rotors and saying they are done, they are just a shop that prefers to do pads and rotors together, lots of places like to do that cause if they just do the pads and there is a noise or something with the rotor then the customer may complain a whole lot and have to do the work again. some places wont even warranty the pads if you don't do the rotors. unless things are squealing and biting into the rotor or you have already had them turned twice, I would look into resurfacing the rotor especially if they are the OEM type you can usually turn those things a few times.

I always prefer a 6 pack and take the time to remove your own pads and rotors and you wont have a shop telling you what to do. go to the shop to get new pads, drop the rotors off, pick them up if they are good to go again, grab another set if they aren't, slap everything back on the car. its a process.

CatManD3W

iTrader: (18)

X2 it is really easy to do.....each caliper has 2 bolts on them....soak them in penetrating liquid i.e pb blaster/wd-40....let them sit and have a few beers....unbolt the 2 bolts pull caliper away...take of rotor and repeat....it will probably take you a little bit longer on the first one if you have never done it before...but shouldnt take more than 2 hrs to do all 4.

From experience on my earlier cars when I was younger... I paid someone at a shop to put new rotors on my car...it literally took him maybe 30 minutes for all 4....and it cost almost $300....it was at that point that I began to work on all my vehicles myself...plus it is a great learning experience and saves you a lot of $$$

What is the offset on those GS wheels....Like others have stated you can do the LS400 BBK for around $350-400....might as well do that over putting crappy stock brakes on

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

I had that same experience years ago when I paid a large sum of money to have a new battery installed. I was looking back for the receipt (it died like one month out of warranty...) and couldn't believe how much I wasted on something I knew by then to be one of the easiest things you can do on a car.

LIkewise, brake work is fairly intimidating if you don't know the steps, being a fairly mysterious looking contraption and vital safety equipment. I've watched my mechanic a few times now while doing struts and wheel studs, and finally feel like I'm familiar enough to change pads myself without giving it a second thought.

They're +50, same as stock SC wheels. They only have a sliver of clearance over stock SC calipers in front. It would require a thick spacer to clear LS calipers, and possibly a fender pull.