FAQ: Brake Rotors and Pads

I'm picking up a set of drilled rotors this weekend. If the other 3 pads look okay, I might try the Hawks again. The more I think about it, my experience probably isn't typical.

Just ordered a set of Akebono ProACT Ceramics. I was ordering rear shocks and hardware from RockAuto; they had these as their top-end, so will try them out. They'll probably be a lot like the Hawks, imo.

Aaron I'm not 100% sure but I think ceramic pads wear faster than regular pads.

When I was getting the ceramic pads at autozone thats what the guy at the counter told me about them.

Off topic but are you sticking with the air shocks or are you going with the F250 conversion Aaron?

SpaceBar wrote:

Aaron I'm not 100% sure but I think ceramic pads wear faster than regular pads.

When I was getting the ceramic pads at autozone thats what the guy at the counter told me about them.

I don't think they wear faster, I think they are harder on the rotors. But I haven't noticed that and they keep the rims MUCH cleaner! I've been using ceramics for years and I love em.

Just got the Monroe MaxAirs in today. Lots to do over the next week: rear sway bars & bushings, rear shocks, front rotors and pads, and a burnt out rear brake lamp.

i think i have a diff pad compund than you though...i got there top of the line ferro carbon..i think u had the carbon metallics...

jax95riv wrote:

SpaceBar wrote:

Aaron I'm not 100% sure but I think ceramic pads wear faster than regular pads.

When I was getting the ceramic pads at autozone thats what the guy at the counter told me about them.

I don't think they wear faster, I think they are harder on the rotors. But I haven't noticed that and they keep the rims MUCH cleaner! I've been using ceramics for years and I love em.

Now that you say that I remember thats what he said. They wear the rotors faster.

Sorry about that.

I had the ceramics, not metallics. They are one level below the ferro carbon.

Btw, driving with the E-brake is fun... ding-ding-ding-ding!!!

I did the brakes over a week ago, the new Akes and drilled rotors are on and performing well. The old Hawks were almost gone, every pad below about .2", two were metal or very close. I do appreciate the evenness of wear:



Detail (argggh!):



So I can't blame the pads. Appears it was me 100%. I liked the performance of the Hawks before they were sharing metal with my rotors.

Although I have not yet replaced the brakes on mine yet, I've had wonderful luck with Raybestos brakes for the street with my previous vehicles. Even on my 00 eclipse with quasi-performance brakes lasted forever and stopped awesome. Carquest and napa have brakes of similar quality but they are more expensive and IMO, i like having brakes with names of brake-manufacturers, not overpriced parts stores on them. I'm sure you know already but make sure you look at the bolts and hardware and grease that stuff so the pads wear evenly.

by the way, I believe the stock brake pad type on all our rivs is semi metallic and for that reason, i'd stay with it while using non-performance rotors to avoid warping and such. I plan to try ceramics on the rear though when I change mine. Most auto stores i've dealt with will let you switch to another pad or rotor at the time of warranty exchange

You'll love the ceramics, dude. Put 'em all the way around!

may be a dumb question aaron, but did you clean off the new rotors before installation?

Yes, I always clean them and run a pad sander over them briefly. The new Akebonos are working very well with the drilled. I'd say at the moment my brakes are performing better than they ever have. They are definitely the quietest.

One thing I like about the Akes is they came with a tube of moly lube for surface contact with the piston. Hawks didn't include this, and got noisy toward the end.

I hate ceramics. They like to retain heat, so if you drive aggressively, they'll ruin your rotors and glaze over quickly.

I bought the drilled front rotors in the above post, have had them installed for about a month now. With ceramic Akebono pads, this has been the smoothest, quietest, and best-performing brake combination I've tried. Especially in wet conditions, it seems they grab much better. And from high speeds I get a tiny bit of judder, but it goes away by the time I'm slowed. It used to be a lot worse with the solid Chinese NAPA discs.

I've read that drilled discs are prone to cracking. I guess we'll see how it goes.

robertwolf86 wrote:

i ordered front power stop drilled rotors from www.autopartswarehouse.com and they sent the rear ones. now i have to pay a/b $30 to send them back the they called today saying they sent the drilled ones for the front and i have to call ups to refuse shipment and then the will send the right ones on thursday and they should be hear on friday.

dont buy $h!† from autopartsgiant.com. They might be the same company.

$50 o2 sensor ordering in early may...STILL not here. Customer service sucks, rude operators and scammers.

NO 4 EVER have you varified that the vibration is the rear rotors being warped?

I get vibration at about 65 to 70 but below that the car is smooth as slik. I've already replaced the front rotors with no change - and I'm thinking next I'll do the rears.

If steering wheel judders, it's the fronts. If not, it's the rears.

My front rotors are going bad, they've become grooved and the pads are no good.. starting to get a vibration and slight squeaking while braking. my dad said I needed new rotors and pads, so i'm checking them out now.. so far i've come up with these for rotors

Summit Extreme Performance Cross-Drilled and Slotted Brake Rotors
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1∂=SUM%2DDSEP%2D55034L&N=700+4294908256+4294908237+4294924744+115&autoview=sku

and for pads

Hawk Performance Ceramic Brake Pads
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1∂=HWK%2DHB119Z%2D594&N=700+4294859529+4294908256+4294908237+115&autoview=sku

any feedback or thoughts on these?

I've used the Hawk Ceramic pads. They're pretty good, but they do wear faster than I thought they would. They wore pretty evenly, though.

how long did you get out of them

drilled rotors are not worth the extra money IMO. unless its a show car.
tirerack has brembo's for $50, which should last a while.
but i dont think rotors make as noticeable a difference as the pads you pair them with. the OEM rotors are probably the best but they are like double $$ what summits are.
ceramic pads are a good choice b/c they will be easy on the rotors, last awhile and perform as well as stock. if you want more initial bit you may want to look into green stuff or performance pads. down side is they will not last as long, dust more, and can eat up rotors faster.

are you doing brakes all the way around?
you know about the F-body upgrade right? assuming your riv is 97+

One of the differences I know of is that the cheaper Advance and Auto Zone rotors are made from imported steel, not as quality a product as rotors made from American steel, which is why you pay more for the better quality rotors. The cheaper ones are more prone to warp than the quality ones, as the Riv seem to warp rotors more than other cars, make sure whatever rotor you get that the wheels are properly torqued with a torque wrench whenever they are removed!

Agree 100% with above. I've used the cheaper Chinese steel rotors several times. They're good for about 35k miles max, not much more.