Brake rotor replacement question

[AVUEtoRemember]

My VUE's rotors are warped and need to be replaced. This may be a dumb question, but should the brake pads also be replaced when putting on new rotors? The pads have a lot left.

Any suggestions for rotor/pad brands?

Thanks,

Brad

[golftango]

Originally Posted by AVUEtoRemember

My VUE's rotors are warped and need to be replaced. This may be a dumb question, but should the brake pads also be replaced when putting on new rotors? The pads have a lot left.

Any suggestions for rotor/pad brands?

Thanks,

Brad

Yes, new pads should go with your new rotors. Just go down to Auto Zone and get some duralast rotors and pads. The rotors are around $48 a piece and the lifetime duralast gold ceramics are $55, or the lifetime semi-metallic are $21. Never have to pay for pads again.

[VUEmaniac]

I wouldn't use the cheapo Chinese whitebox parts from Autozone. You can get quality rotors like the ATE slotted @ tirerack.com and combine those with Hawk HPS or Raybestos pads for a solution that will last. Sure, it will cost a little more, but then you'll only need to do the job once and won't be kicking yourself when those cheapo rotors are warped a few months down the line.

[fdryer]

Uh, unless the OP corrects me (if I'm mistaken), his may be original OEM rotors making any other rotor having a better chance at avoiding warpage. Care to comment about OEM rotors before putting down Chinese white box rotors being inferior to OEM before the OP has had a chance to consider the options? There are some members here that have not had any issues with low cost rotors. I just happen to be another user of low cost rotors and guess what? My OEM fronts squeaked at low speed from the day I bought my used car. Never considered them an annoyance at all since they only squeak below 5mph. Too minor to ever consider them noisy and doesn't occur all the time. Some may find this annoying but they're brakes. Acceptable to me. Replacing my front rotors with A-z white box rotors and new standard metallic pads made all noise go away. I've never bedded brakes and did it this time. Even before I bedded them in they never made any noise, before and after. My new rotors and pads work just as well as the originals - stopping in a straight line with little fanfare. Of course, its too early for me to comment on new front brakes and I would have to eat my words later.............provided they do warp. For now, perfect brakes just like new. Btw, my OEM front brakes only lasted 54k miles in NYC traffic. No warps. The rears are still meaty.

[golftango]

Originally Posted by VUEmaniac

I wouldn't use the cheapo Chinese whitebox parts from Autozone. You can get quality rotors like the ATE slotted @ tirerack.com and combine those with Hawk HPS or Raybestos pads for a solution that will last. Sure, it will cost a little more, but then you'll only need to do the job once and won't be kicking yourself when those cheapo rotors are warped a few months down the line.

Never experienced any warping from duralast rotors. I had 35K warp free miles on the auto zone replacements when I traded the VUE. Half of the pads were left too.

[Bismarck318]

Originally Posted by fdryer

Replacing my front rotors with A-z white box rotors and new standard metallic pads made all noise go away. I've never bedded brakes and did it this time. Even before I bedded them in they never made any noise, before and after. My new rotors and pads work just as well as the originals - stopping in a straight line with little fanfare. Of course, its too early for me to comment on new front brakes and I would have to eat my words later.............provided they do warp. For now, perfect brakes just like new. Btw, my OEM front brakes only lasted 54k miles in NYC traffic. No warps. The rears are still meaty.

Are you refering to this on your L300? I think this depends all on the vehicle, My Camry ate ALL rotors the Cheap Chinese or the Toyota OEM which cost 4x the price... OEM lasted a bit longer but nothing signifigant here.

Also consider the effects on them from Road Corrosives here too.

[fdryer]

Yes, my '03 L300. We LOVE salt in NYC!? We're next to the ocean so why not salt everything in sight?

Theoretically, rotors with meat allowing multiple cuts, thick the old way(?) should have better resistance to warping. Wouldn't it make sense when a thick walled rotor would have more mass with greater warp resistance? I was surprised when my car failed state inspection; the front pads had less than 1/8th in. of brake material left!? The OEM rotors miked out to a little more than minimum thickness and I was informed that I could just replace the pads and pass. I decided after measuring rotor thickness (whether or not to cut or replace them) that I would do an entire front brake replacement with new rotors. Surprised even more at the lack of rotor meat to allow a comfortable margin to machine them one more time before tossing them. If all OEM rotors are now made this way with less meat on them it would lend credence to warping tendencies. I would think that the high end cars wouldn't allow this. It wouldn't look good for a 'Vette owner to complain about warped rotors, M-B owners, Lexus', Mustangs, Escalades, etc..

[mrtube]

fdryer : I don't believe BMW allows any cutting on rotors. Tho how much beef they have I don't know.

Id like a set of good slotted rotors for the vue next. The last set of rotors I bought for anything was for the 92 pickup, Which those were autozone specials, 60,000 miles on them and the 1 set of pads, and half the pad is still left. Sadly they don't put brakes like that on cars\suv's.

I know slotting is supposed to cool the rotor. But i'm told another reason is it helps keep the pad clean and from getting glazed. If this is true, I'd assume it wears pads faster as well?

[DavidBo]

I ordered a pair of drilled & slotted rotors from e-bay with a set of ceramic pads. I'ts only been 8K miles so no long-term results yet, but so far so good. They sure do look sharp! I'll dig up the manufacturer info if anyone's interested. Cost was on-par with the rest of the aftermarket.

[D C]

Brakes & Tires are two areas where you should NOT go cheap!!

Pads: do NOT skimp on brake pads! $21 lifetime pads? No way. Not on my car.
I want a high quality (read: expensive) pad made preferably in the US by a company like Raybestos. Skip the crappy box stores and go to a real part store. CarQuest is a good choice. Spend $50-75 on a set of pads and you're off to a good start.

Note: I had a set of cheap Chinese pads on the REAR of one of my cars for a little over a year. Went cheap because I planned to sell the car, but ended up keeping it. In about a years time, the pads were literally disintegrating. We're talking about 5k miles of light use and the pads were literally falling apart. Never again. Not even on a car I planned to sell the next day.

Rotors: I simply do not trust Chinese quality control when it comes to a critical item like brakes. Get a quality OEM-equivalent rotor. Ideally it'll be one that's coated on the inside to prevent rusting.

To those that think OEM rotors are somehow inferior to Chinese rotors that are built to nonexistent quality control standards, please explain what differences are present in those rotors that makes the cheap Chinese ones better.

[wolfman]

Originally Posted by D C

To those that think OEM rotors are somehow inferior to Chinese rotors that are built to nonexistent quality control standards, please explain what differences are present in those rotors that makes the cheap Chinese ones better.

While my replacements are Raybestos...I can speak to the inferior metallurgy of the OEM rotors which had become "warped" beyond all use at 45K miles. The OEM rotors would rust overnight on a damp night, literally with no "shiney" metal showing. The Raybestos that replaced them do rust, but it takes a WEEK of the vehicle sitting still in damp or rainy weather. The OEM's I took off I left out to see how they fare exposed to the elements (just as they would be on the car) its been about 5 months, and they are literally rust pitted from exposure to rain.

On the "S" series cars where I used (and recommended) "Cheap Chinese" rotors...they were the last pair of rotors I ever bought, 10's of thousands of miles later. As far as "non-existent" quality control...Officials of Chinese companies that deliberately manufacture inferior products that result in harm to people are usually dealt with thusly;

Arrested
Tried
Convicted
Executed.

Now THAT is quality control.

[AVUEtoRemember]

Thank you all for your replies. I haven't bought the pads yet, but did buy the rotors today from Amazon. Decided to get the Raybestos Advanced Technology Rotor for approx. $36 each.

Have the pads narrowed down to Raybestos Advanced Technology ($70), Bendix CT-3 ($35 after rebate), NAPA Adaptive One ($75 after AAA savings and rebate) or Duralast Gold ($60).

Like the price of the Bendix CT-3, but leaning toward Raybestos or Adaptive One for the NU-Lok and NRS features.

What would you guys get out of those choices?

[chillin05VUE]

When I had my Cutlass, it had 4 wheel disc and to be honest, the factory disc were crap. The front rotors were so far gone that turning them wouldn't help. Was told to buy the white box rotors which I did. Never had a problem. So, when my rears needed to be replaced, I went back to the white box. I went cheap on the pads too. Guess what? They (pads) lasted 6 years and 40k miles before needing to be replaced. And with the freeways here, thats great. The rotors were still going strong. So, when it's time to replace my pads and rotors on the VUE, I'm going back to Auto Zone for more white box rotors. Not sure about going cheap on the pads though.

[AVUEtoRemember]

Meant to say in my last post that I am replacing the OE rotors and I'm at 31,000 miles.

Decided to go with higher priced rotors and pads in hopes of preventing a reoccurance of the warping. If it happens again I will probably just buy el cheapos after that since apparently there is no hope.

I considered getting the NAPA Ultra Premium rotors for the lifetime warranty which I have read are suppose to be the same as Raybestos Advanced Technology, but NAPA wanted almost double the price compared to Amazon. Plus I didn't know how hard it would be to get new rotors under warranty.

[wolfman]

Originally Posted by AVUEtoRemember

Thank you all for your replies. I haven't bought the pads yet, but did buy the rotors today from Amazon. Decided to get the Raybestos Advanced Technology Rotor for approx. $36 each.

Have the pads narrowed down to Raybestos Advanced Technology ($70), Bendix CT-3 ($35 after rebate), NAPA Adaptive One ($75 after AAA savings and rebate) or Duralast Gold ($60).

Like the price of the Bendix CT-3, but leaning toward Raybestos or Adaptive One for the NU-Lok and NRS features.

What would you guys get out of those choices?

Raybestos Advanced Technology Rotors and Raybestos Advanced Technology pads are what are on mine. Flawless performance. It was like having a new car the first time I took it out to bed the pads. Price the pads from RockAuto.com.....

[golftango]

Originally Posted by D C

Get a quality OEM-equivalent rotor. Ideally it'll be one that's coated on the inside to prevent rusting.

To those that think OEM rotors are somehow inferior to Chinese rotors that are built to nonexistent quality control standards, please explain what differences are present in those rotors that makes the cheap Chinese ones better.

Um, the rotors you pick up at Auto Zone are up to, if not exceeding, OEM standard. Napa Premium ad Ultra Premium rotors are made in China too. Almost all one piece solid rotors are made in China, Venezuela or Brazil. Hell, even Raybestos's lower end stuff is made in China. I believe Wagner is one of the last few brake manufacturers that its products are still made in the USA.

IMHO, drilled and slotted rotors have no performance benefit to a typical street car, or SUV application.

[Tom92SCm]

Originally Posted by wolfman

It was like having a new car the first time I took it out to bed the pads. Price the pads from RockAuto.com.....

Quite possibly the key ingredient to making any brake rotor/pad combination work correctly.

[Bismarck318]

Originally Posted by fdryer

Yes, my '03 L300. We LOVE salt in NYC!? We're next to the ocean so why not salt everything in sight?

I'd like to Compare notes on this salt thing... never really seen the habits of NYC streets though... There are salt mines under my area, so it's a local economic thing. I live near an expressway & I have salt leeching into my basement & garage through the walls & floor, (eating holes in them), & using polished brass house trim is something you really don't want to do.... in the spring they seem to 'celebrate' here by purging all the remaning salt on to the local roads, so it's kinda like sand on the beach here for a while.

There was a nice article in PM (Popular Mechanics) December '09 on Offshore brake rotors, explaining a lot of this.

[fdryer]

Ok, ok, so I'm a little drama queen. Sheesh!? We definitely don't have salt mines around here otherwise all 'dem tall buildings would sink!? Our parking lot at work just underwent crack sealing; a local contractor was hired to pour seam sealer into the asphalt where cracks develop. They picked the wrong time of the year; when I first went to park my car a few weeks ago I stepped out of my car at about dawn and saw what looked like very fresh wet HOT tar just poured. It was shining like glass!? It was already hardened when I thought it was still wet. It remained "wet" looking for a few weeks until the shine wore off. It must be the improved plastic tar for NYC weather since we see all four seasons, expanding and contracting our roadways. Somebody said that this will minimize the parking lot (room for approximately 500 cars) surface from cracking further when we dump rock salt all over the place when snow turns this lot into a skating rink. We're next to JFK airport and the ocean is less than a mile away (we're about 20' above the ocean).