brakes & rotors

[TomZR1]

going to do brakes & rotors since wheels are off and new shocks installed,dont want nothing fancy want oem look.whats a good pad & rotor? want to get them here local o'rielys,napa or autozone,are rotors the same quailty from the 3 stores.are pads any better from store to store.

[TomZR1]

car has pbr pads whatever that is and there all glazed

[Dynomite]

See Brake Pad TIPS (http://www.zr1.net/forum/showthread.php?t=17630)

[Mystic ZR-1]

Spend a few $ more and use Hawk HPS pads.
You'll be glad you did. Bleed the brakes while
you're at it...:)

[TomZR1]

yes, im leaning towards hawk hps,everyone says they stop good but do they squeel.

[Mystic ZR-1]

No squeel, at least not on the 2 cars I've used them on.

[TomZR1]

cheapest i could find $149,corvette central fronts & rears if thats good price will order. what about rotors? auto parts store? napa, o'rielys ,autozone,etc etc

[scottfab]

I have the Raybestos ATD412C from Rockauto.com at $95.
And here is a blow by blow article in Technet.... easy stuff of course.

http://www.zr1netregistry.com/Information/TechNet/%5BAllArticles%5D/tabid/262/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/198/Front-Brake-Pad-Replacement.aspx

[WVZR-1]

cheapest i could find $149,corvette central fronts & rears if thats good price will order. what about rotors? auto parts store? napa, o'rielys ,autozone,etc etc

How many miles? I'd certainly prefer the OE rotors properly refinished to some of what is available presently.

[TomZR1]

70xxx,I'm sure there's a little bit of life left in rotors,there rusty and nasty,warped.dont want to do brakes in 8 months from now so ill do everything now,I think napa will be best bet for rotors.

[Franke]

cheapest i could find $149,corvette central fronts & rears if thats good price will order. what about rotors? auto parts store? napa, o'rielys ,autozone,etc etc

Tom, try to stay away from Chinese steel if possible. Sometimes too much carbon content.

[TomZR1]

But I like Chinese food,I'll make sure it's USA made.

[tpr60]

Just remember good brakes and tires are a lot cheaper than paint and body work!!

[A26B]

I agree with the NAPA rotors, but I think they have 3 different grades of rotors. I bought the top of the line and wasn't disappointed.

I'm suspicious of cheap rotors. You can sell poor quality for high prices, but you can't sell high quality for bargain basement prices. They may look the same, but the casting process, metallurgy and machine work are all but impossible to see a difference.

Re pads: Hawk is good. Autozone used to carry and may still sell Performance Friction brake products. I have used the Z pads with good results.

[Paul Workman]

I agree w/ Jerry re cast iron rotors; very good and can be had at a very reasonable price.

I used to pit crew, back in my misspent youth, and recently too it was a friend of mine that does the road course circuit every season; racing every weekend around a 5-state area that steered me away from the drilled and slotted rotors fad, "Unless you want to spend some really big money, because the low end look-alike crap will develop cracks running between the holes and have been known to shatter!"

Here is a LINK (http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/-warped-brake-disc-and-other-myths) to an article "Warped Brake Discs and other Brake Myths". I have tested the validity of the statements over a 10-year period on several sets of pads and rotors on a variety of vehicles, and I swear by its content as proven by multiple demonstration (to me). Worth a read!

:cheers:

[scottfab]

....snip...
Re pads: Hawk is good. Autozone used to carry and may still sell Performance Friction brake products. I have used the Z pads with good results.

Autozone also has a lifetime replacement guarantee on the pads that include wear!!
I'm doing the brakes on a friends car and purchased the pads there for the warranty (to test it). This could be great for track day.:-D

[WVZR-1]

Autozone also has a lifetime replacement guarantee on the pads that include wear!!
I'm doing the brakes on a friends car and purchased the pads there for the warranty (to test it). This could be great for track day.:-D

I believe that there's a "LIMITED" which I'd guess is at their discretion, examples might be "reasonable" time/mileage, unusual wear with likely the first replacement not being an issue BUT subsequent replacements maybe catching the second look. If you presented the first pair and it appeared very uneven wear (implying maybe stuck caliper) you might be advised of the uneven wear and offered additional parts, you decline so "no problem" BUT repeat this in six months I'd guess the "limited" would apply.

If there's "unconditional" mentioned - different rules!

[Paul Workman]

yes, im leaning towards hawk hps,everyone says they stop good but do they squeel.

I've NO experience with the Hawk HPS pads (tho I'm about to).

That said, applying ≈ 2-3mm layer of RTV to the back of brake pads prior to installation on various vehicles has resulted in NO, ZERO, NADDA squeal on any vehicle I've installed pads on for over a couple decades.

(It was a set of pads I bought years ago that came with a tube of RTV and directions as to its application to prevent squeal. It worked, and so became my personal SOP.)

[TomZR1]

Jerry,i think you mean c pads from auto zone, I've been reading a lot of reviews on c pads(autozone),Wagner , hawk hps,I guess to each thier own,good not good,dusty no bite,loud.best review so far hawk hps,not going to track the car,Sunday drives,car shows, a little street racing:) so it must handle 0-120,120-0,every once in a while:dancing

[XfireZ51]

Just finished installing a set of Hawk HPS Ceramics in the F/R Z06 calipers.
Since I just installed the rear calipers, I thought I would switch out all the pads.
The stock Z06 pads that were in the front calipers create waaayyyy too much dust. Wheels need to be cleaned after at least every 4-5 drives. And not long distance ones either.

[mike100]

...,Sunday drives,car shows, a little street racing:) so it must handle 0-120,120-0,every once in a while:dancing

That was my attitude going into my C5 front brake conversion- I wanted a low dust street pad you could buy at the parts store down the street.

THE COMBO NOT TO RUN:
Wagner Ceramic (Thermoquiets) with $59 Chinese rotors. You can just see one of several cracks at 9-o'clock position:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c265/mschrameck/Cars/DSC02494.jpg~original

Plenty of heat checking and hot spots:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c265/mschrameck/Cars/DSC02492.jpg~original


This pad could not pass heat thru it and I would recommend a true semi-metallic. the ceramic ran hot- and this was just from street use. I probably ran these all of about 4 months. At least C5 brake parts are 1/2 the cost.

-----------------------------------------------------------

My current set up is Hawk HPS with EBC rotors (cast in the UK). The HPS dust, but this combo dissipates heat properly.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c265/mschrameck/Cars/EBCrotors_sm.jpg~original

[TomZR1]

Hey exfire,
Is it to soon to see if you like em,less brake dust,good grip?you said just installed.

[TomZR1]

Mike,
Wow that's crazy,I think I'll go with hps and look for a high quality rotors.i like your rotors,do they make em without slots?

[Schrade]

How'd the exhaust install go there Tomz?

[XfireZ51]

Hey exfire,
Is it to soon to see if you like em,less brake dust,good grip?you said just installed.

Tom,

Yeah it is a bit too early for a number of reasons:

1. Car is up on jackstands
2. Need to bleed brakes
3. Gotta install eBrake cable setup for the Z06 calipers
4. Still snow on the ground although looks like weather may be warming up pretty soon.

I did buy them from someone who had them installed on a Z06. He had switched out the OEM pads for the same reason. Too much dust. I asked about noise and he said these pads did not squeal.

[TomZR1]

Hey schrade,
Haven't started on exhaust yet after brake job,shock install went good,waiting on captain z for actuator,should be Wednesday,then exhaust(will post pics):cheers:

[TomZR1]

Check out centric pads & rotors from tirerack.com under brakes.looks and sounds high quality.

[mike100]

Mike,
Wow that's crazy,I think I'll go with hps and look for a high quality rotors.i like your rotors,do they make em without slots?

Looks like they do, but without the black coating- just standard replacement types. Double check the p/n and application, but EBC-UPR7009L, EBC-UPR7009R look to be 13" J55 rotor replacements. I would also consider Raybestos discs if you could find some old stock that was made in Canada or even a good set of used ones with a cut left on them.

I think in my case the cheap metallurgy of my rotors was worse than the ceramic pads- or maybe the combination of both. I had run the same Wagner ThermoQuiets on my old 95 LT1 car without issue, but it was on the oem rotor. That car was lighter and less powerful, but also had a weak brake booster and I feel it was just plain easier on the brake temps.

The experience I had above kind of put me off on ceramic pads, but I will try again on my C6 as I was able to get all for corners with GM Delco ceramics for $100 shipped on a promotion. The Z51 came with semi-mets, but I only street drive this car...but we'll see. If they also don't work well, I will never buy another set again, but if it works out, I'm calling the issue a cheap rotor metal problem.

[scottfab]

I believe that there's a "LIMITED" which I'd guess is at their discretion, examples might be "reasonable" time/mileage, unusual wear with likely the first replacement not being an issue BUT subsequent replacements maybe catching the second look. If you presented the first pair and it appeared very uneven wear (implying maybe stuck caliper) you might be advised of the uneven wear and offered additional parts, you decline so "no problem" BUT repeat this in six months I'd guess the "limited" would apply.

If there's "unconditional" mentioned - different rules!

Yah, I was skeptical too. The gal I talked to seemed to think wear no mater what. We'll see :)

[A26B]

My current set up is Hawk HPS with EBC rotors (cast in the UK). The HPS dust, but this combo dissipates heat properly.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c265/mschrameck/Cars/EBCrotors_sm.jpg~original

These look a lot like PowerSlot Rotors, same cadmium plating. I ran Powerslot Rotors with GrandSport Calipers and Performance Friction Z pads for a few years before I installed the 4 piston Brembos with big, hatted rotors.

It was more for the asthetics with the Fikses & LPE Aerobody than anything. The PowerSlot/GS Calipers/PerfFric-Z combination worked well for anything I ever did.

[A26B]

Jerry,i think you mean c pads from auto zone, I've been reading a lot of reviews on c pads(autozone),Wagner , hawk hps,I guess to each thier own,good not good,dusty no bite,loud.best review so far hawk hps,not going to track the car,Sunday drives,car shows, a little street racing:) so it must handle 0-120,120-0,every once in a while:dancing

I don't know about the "c pads" you mentioned, but do recall the pads were Performance Friction, Z-Rated. I do not know if A/Z still carries the performance Friction Line. it's been several years ago.

Re: Here's a link that lists a lot of different rotors, Hawk & Performance Friction pads. The performance Friction-Z pads are still current.

http://www.frozenrotors.com/shop-by-vehicle/chevrolet/corvette/1991/models+with+heavy+duty+suspension/

[TomZR1]

Here's my update after days of research hawk hps it is $159 f/r pads,rotors ended being oem gm,still had life getting them cut.plan on putting everything back this weekend.Thanks everyone for all your knowledge & expertise :cheers:

[WVZR-1]

Here's my update after days of research hawk hps it is $159 f/r pads,rotors ended being oem gm,still had life getting them cut.plan on putting everything back this weekend.Thanks everyone for all your knowledge & expertise :cheers:

The quality of the resurfacing is quite important - it's not a "corner store" operation usually. Equipment and the condition of the tooling are important. Having them Blanchard ground is I believe generally the preferred locally available method. Automotive machine shop that does flywheels also.

*** Don't forget your front rotors are "directional'!