beaterKU

So last June I installed Brembo sport drilled rotors along with Satisfied pro ceramic pads all around on the GS. After about 6000 miles the rotors were warped and I had to have them turned. They were smooth as glass for about 1000 miles and once again they are warped. I have contacted the vendor who I purchased the rotors/pads from and they are seeing what they can do. My question is, has anyone else had a warping problem with the sport rotors? These pads are not aggressive enough in my opinion to warp the rotors like this. I am at a loss here. I love my car, but I am not going to spend the money every 1000 miles to get the rotors turned (which I can only do a few times before I have to buy new rotors).


Any help will be appriciated.

-Nick

rwheelz

iTrader: (2)

I have come across many threads where people complained about their brembo rotors warping, I am opting to go with something else.

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

There are tons of reasons for rotors to warp and there is not a brand out there that hasn't warped. At the same time I don't think there is any statistical data to say that one brand warps more than others. So where does this leave us?

If you go back and read some of the technical notes posted by StopTech a year or so back, you will see that improper bedding of the pads or no bedding of the pads will cause the impression of having a warped rotor.

The explanation is very long and beyond what I am willing to paraphrase.

I will try to do it in one paragraph.

If you do not bed in the pads on new rotors when they are new, then you may get uneven pad deposition onto the rotor, that feels like warped rotors. This is usually backed up when you attempt to turn the rotors and the problem dissappears for only a short period of time then returns. This is because once bedded improperly, they can only be bedded when new, the rotors cannot be fixed later.

There are a ton of opinions on warped rotors, how and why's. So I'm not here to argue or defend any one opinion.

I am stating what I have read and come to know through my own experience following the directions when I installed a set of StopTechs in the past. I also respect the information that Stop Tech provides and give their opinion more credibility than the opinions coming from people with lesser knowledge or unknown technical knowledge.


Stop Tech warns very strongly in their brake kits to do proper bedding "or else". I wish other manufacturers would follow suit and give people similar instructions with their own products.

Sadly most don't.

GUNRU-GS4

I just put new rotors and pads on my GS and I did as much research as possible because I have no experience with aftermarket parts. It was a toss up between the Brembo Sport rotors and the Rotoras for me. I had my credit card in hand and almost purchased the Brembo Sport cross drilled from Tirerack. But one of the Tirerack employees told me there had been complaints with those rotors warping. So I bought the Akebono ceramic pads from Tirerack and the Rotora slotted rotors from Carson. There had been other posts about cross drilled warping easily. You might better off having to bite the bullet and purchase some new rotors.

The Akebono ceramic pads I bought said there is no bedding in procedure . These were the manufactures instructions. Just to take it very easy on them for 400 miles. I believe Rotora's rotor instructions said to do the same thing otherwise it could effect brake performance drastically. But other brands like Hawk pads had an important bedding procedure with a series of stops. Good Luck.

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

Your information is reasonable and makes sense, but the Tirerack comment on cross drilled warping easy is too generalized. Again I'm not here to argue, but common sense tells me that Porsche wouldn't cross drill their rotors if it were as simple an issue as saying stay away from cross-drill period. I'm sure their maintenance plan doesn't include turning rotors every 1000 miles. At the same time there may be truth that drilled are worse offenders than say slotted, but it doesn't mean that if done right , drilled would not last long as well.

Something has to be said about how the drilling is performed and the hole pattern is selected . Too many other factors.

GUNRU-GS4

I wanted the cross drilled rotors because I like the looks a little better. I was kinda upset when the guy from Tirerack had told me that others have had complaints with the Brembo Sport X drilled. I wanted to get the ones from Tirerack because they are actually drilled by Brembo and aren't just knock offs drilled in someones garage. I thought I read that the big brake X drilled rotors are a multi piece design to help with these problems???

Neo

iTrader: (3)

It helps but even multi-piece rotors will warp. Also, just to be clear, getting Brembo drilled rotors to replace the OEM ones does not get you multi-piece rotors. You probably already know this but I just wanted to be sure.

GUNRU-GS4

Yup I understand this.

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

I sympathize with all the mixed messages out there, it's difficult to have confidence that what you are buying is good when the salesman is knocking a product they are selling.

So there were complaints about Brembo, so what? There are complaints about everything. I would of asked the guy if that meant Tirerack would stop carrying those rotors. Throwing out negative information and then just letting people run with it in their minds doesn't do anything but confuse us.

tkracing

Glenn, coming from an engineers standpoint wouldnt you say drilling into a piece of steel will weaken its shear strength? Or at least take from the structural integrity?

I always blamed it on this..

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

Technically yes, but I am not a metallurgist, who understands the material composition, so I can't speak on how heat expansion, cooling, etc. factor in to this.

I would think the location of the holes, spacing, size, drill pattern, how they are drilled, the exact composition of the brake rotor, etc. all factor into designing a rotor that will not warp easily.

For all practical purposes, most people can just play it safe and stay with slotted rotors.

For cosmetics, well thats always a factor, that atleast many of us try to have an excuse why we need drilled rotors on street driven vehicles

You see motorcycles with drilled rotors all the time and like I said, there are plenty of High Performance cars with OEM drilled rotors as well, so if it were hands down a bad practice, I don't think they would offer it would they?

tkracing

Good point. Well said.

sockfocks

iTrader: (1)

Let me throw my .02 cents in....Improper torquing of lug nuts can cause rotors to warp. Always use a torque wrench to install lugnuts. It doesnt help if you run them on with an impact before you use the torque wrench SO STAY AWAY FROM THE IMPACT!!! there 'nuff said

natnut

Just to add on, you should torque the lug nuts to 80 lbs-feet(no more!) and in a star shaped pattern eg lug 1,3,5,2,4.

Chin

iTrader: (34)

There are so many factors that go into this topic that it's impossible to diagnose over the net. I've personally installed dozens of Brembo Big Brake Kits on cars/suv's with very few issues. Break in of the pads/rotors is key, take it easy the first few hundred miles and you will be a happy customer(that's with any brake setup). I've also seen guys come striaght of the highway and pull into a car wash and the first thng they do is hose down their very hot wheels/rotors with some near ice cold water You can see the steam flying of the rotor (not good).