Cheap Rotors

[nc211]

Just a little note on using cheap rotors. I put cheapo' Napa's on the rear of my car about a year or so ago. They have maybe 15k miles on them, at best. Went to the shop today to finally get them turned "warped due to former freeway commute, several stops and gos in heavy traffic".... Well, they're already out of spec, too thin to cut. So, you do get what you pay for in the rotor department. I think I paid $45, each.

[bicol-ini]

then again as the saying goes you pay what you pay for,but not always, sometime you get a good deal also, for example bradi rotors are just the generic name for brembo and is made by the same company for half the price

[nc211]

then again as the saying goes you pay what you pay for,but not always, sometime you get a good deal also, for example bradi rotors are just the generic name for brembo and is made by the same company for half the price

Today was my only day in the coming weeks to work on the car, so I had to go with aftermarket rotors again for the rears. I upped the ante' though with a more premium metal rotor, the autozone duralast with the 2 year warranty, for $95 (e). I figure, get 18 months out of them, worth the money. Although, I must say, I'm a bit ticked at the shop that told me the others were out of spec. They obviously just didn't want to turn my rotors, but rather tried to sell me their new rotors instead. They weren't out of spec at all! They were the same as the new ones, just covered in rust. Oh well, not worth the $89 bucks to turn, $90 dollar rotors anyway.

BUT, here's my question: The slider pins on the back rotors. The pins that have the bushing notch at the ends, the ones that go into the bottom slide rail. Are those notches supposed to have a bushing on them? Mine have never had those bushings around those rings, but manual suggests that they should. I'm confused?? Also, just curious, what difference would it make if they were installed on the upper slider rail, instead of the lower?

Thanks amigos!

PS, today's chores were the replacement of the rear rotors, oil change, tranny fluid drain and fill, replaced burnt out marker lights, new wipers and a one hell of lump on the top of my head, thanks to the rear wheel well, OUCH!

[falciott]

then again as the saying goes you pay what you pay for,but not always, sometime you get a good deal also, for example bradi rotors are just the generic name for brembo and is made by the same company for half the price

Today was my only day in the coming weeks to work on the car, so I had to go with aftermarket rotors again for the rears. I upped the ante' though with a more premium metal rotor, the autozone duralast with the 2 year warranty, for $95 (e). I figure, get 18 months out of them, worth the money. Although, I must say, I'm a bit ticked at the shop that told me the others were out of spec. They obviously just didn't want to turn my rotors, but rather tried to sell me their new rotors instead. They weren't out of spec at all! They were the same as the new ones, just covered in rust. Oh well, not worth the $89 bucks to turn, $90 dollar rotors anyway.

BUT, here's my question: The slider pins on the back rotors. The pins that have the bushing notch at the ends, the ones that go into the bottom slide rail. Are those notches supposed to have a bushing on them? Mine have never had those bushings around those rings, but manual suggests that they should. I'm confused?? Also, just curious, what difference would it make if they were installed on the upper slider rail, instead of the lower?

Thanks amigos!

PS, today's chores were the replacement of the rear rotors, oil change, tranny fluid drain and fill, replaced burnt out marker lights, new wipers and a one hell of lump on the top of my head, thanks to the rear wheel well, OUCH!

Nc, I haven;t done the rear rotors yet, and hopefully I don't need to do them in a while, but are those bad boys just as easy to change as the front rotors?

[hardhat]

On the subject of rotors. I have heard that uneven and excessive wheel torque can cause warping. Not convinced that this is true, but kind of makes sense. So I told the folks at the shop doing my tires that I wanted my tires torqued down. So they blasted them on with an impact wrench and then went around and clicked the torque wrench on them. Not a single bolt budged when they did this. Car drives fine, but now I'm wondering if I should loosen the bolts and retorque all of them to spec.

Larry

[glenmore]

You should always loosen and retorque your lug bolts after a shop repair. About the only shop that does this carefully are the COSTCO tires shops. This is a good excuse to buy some more tools! I have 3 torque wrenchs, lo, med and hi ranges. You simply cannot guess how tight nuts should be.

The Lexus rotors look pretty beefy and they are designed to be turned so you might get away with it. But it is good practice to use torque wrench. Torque IIRC is 80 ft-lbs, and this is not that much. Mercedes rotors are thinner and designed not to be turned, maybe three sets of pads and toss them. Torquing is much more important here.

A while ago, I bought some new wheels and I had a shop swap them. I was watching them start the nuts by hand threading them, always a good practice. Sure enough on the last wheel, the guy rushed and just did them with the air wrench. Got home and was able to loosen and retorque them all except one that was solidly cross threaded. I snapped off the stud trying to get it off. Drove back and they replaced the stud. How fun would that have been to later have a flat in that tire with just a tire iron to get off that nut?

glenmore

[nc211]

Falcoitt, yes, they're just as easy! You need a wratchet, a 2 inch extension piece "the bolts are set back a bit", and hammer to hit the wratchet with to loosen them, and you're good to go. Just be gentle on those brass centering screws, as they will strip faster than Britney Spears at a tatoo parlor.

then again as the saying goes you pay what you pay for,but not always, sometime you get a good deal also, for example bradi rotors are just the generic name for brembo and is made by the same company for half the price

Today was my only day in the coming weeks to work on the car, so I had to go with aftermarket rotors again for the rears. I upped the ante' though with a more premium metal rotor, the autozone duralast with the 2 year warranty, for $95 (e). I figure, get 18 months out of them, worth the money. Although, I must say, I'm a bit ticked at the shop that told me the others were out of spec. They obviously just didn't want to turn my rotors, but rather tried to sell me their new rotors instead. They weren't out of spec at all! They were the same as the new ones, just covered in rust. Oh well, not worth the $89 bucks to turn, $90 dollar rotors anyway.

BUT, here's my question: The slider pins on the back rotors. The pins that have the bushing notch at the ends, the ones that go into the bottom slide rail. Are those notches supposed to have a bushing on them? Mine have never had those bushings around those rings, but manual suggests that they should. I'm confused?? Also, just curious, what difference would it make if they were installed on the upper slider rail, instead of the lower?

Thanks amigos!

PS, today's chores were the replacement of the rear rotors, oil change, tranny fluid drain and fill, replaced burnt out marker lights, new wipers and a one hell of lump on the top of my head, thanks to the rear wheel well, OUCH!

Nc, I haven;t done the rear rotors yet, and hopefully I don't need to do them in a while, but are those bad boys just as easy to change as the front rotors?

[TexasLexus94]

Hi, NC and others. My 94LS, with 112K has started a little front end give and take when braking.. Which is amazing since the new pads and new rotors have a total of 3,000 miles on them. The rotors were cheapies, I must admit.

I'm not surprised since the previous owner paid through the nose for 3 brake jobs, with new pads and reground rotors each time. About $800 a pop at the dealer. All after 70K miles. I saved these rotors, and will take them for another grind soon. My question is the replacement pads-What's best? I know ceramics wear out rotors, but hell, the rotors seem short lived, anyways. I'm lucky that I drive the Lexus about 5K a year at most.

But then again, I have a 2004 Mazda MX-5 Turbo that has squeeky brakes when I first start moving. And has had this problem since mile one. 14K later "Squeek, Squeek". Must be me?