I need new rotors and pads, anyone have a good suggestion for good sets that I wont be paying an arm and a leg for?!?!?!?!

 

What do you need a break from....or does your car need BRAKES?

 

HA yeah I need brakes and a break! But yes more so of suggestions on rotors and pads!

 

I recently got a full set (front and rear) of Rotex Gold pads from www.buybrakes.com for $112 shipped - I don't know if that price is still in effect (check the home page because they had a $10 off code listed).

I ordered a full set of black anodized cross-drilled and slotted rotors for $251 from www.brakeperformance.com - they are supposed to be in this week. If all you want are plain OEM rotors, they are a lot cheaper. I did a lot of checking, and it seemed that they all were fairly close in price. Some offer free shipping which can save you some $$$.

Don't forget to get brake lube and anti-sqeal compound - I got both at Autozone.

 

Once you get those installed, please post some pics, I am thinking about going with the exact same setup you are talking about and think it will look/perform excellently...

 

Well, it's been about 700 miles since I put on the rotors and pads, so here's my report:

I opted for the black anodized drilled and slotted rotors from www.BrakePerformance.com and Rotex Gold pads. They took less than a week to arrive - here is what the rotors look like out of the box:



They anodize the entire rotor, so nothing is missed that can rust. Here is the front mounted:



You have to be careful when you first put the rotors on. The anodizing has to wear off the contact area before the braking becomes consistent - sometimes they grab tremendously, other times they are a little soft. Also, I noticed more grinding/scraping noise than normal, but no squealing at all - I put a lot of anti-squeal spray compound on the pads just to be sure. This lasted for about 2 weeks of careful driving (the manufacturer recommends no hard braking until they are broken in). Now they perform at least as well as the OEM pads/rotors ever did. I had to make an emergency braking maneuver when some stuff fell off a trailer in front of me on the highway, and they performed admirably (I felt sorry for the people behind me - probably had to change their shorts). No pulsing, fading, vibration or squealing -- just solid braking power.

It took me about 5 hours to do the whole job, but that was taking my time to be very careful and included a significant amount of time to scrub the backs of all the wheels. The dust was baked on badly since they had never been cleaned in 4 years. The how-to's on the forum on brake replacement were very helpful.

The passenger side outboard OEM pad had separated from the backing causing a lot of squeal:



Here is what they look like now - just painted the calipers last weekend:

The blue isn't as bright in person...can't see much through the stock wheels, either.

The best part of the whole project is NO MORE DUST!!! There is a lot of dust for the break-in period while the anodizing is wearing off, but after that, your wheels stay clean! Hard to believe, but it's true.

For anyone that is interested, this is what the e-brake looks like under the rear rotors:



All in all, I am very happy with the results. The total cost was about $375 - $260 for 4 rotors and $115 for the Rotex Gold pads.

 

GREAT write up! Thanks!

 

Thanks a lot for the great write up, Jon. Those look great and sound like they perform well (and the no dust thing is just awesome).