Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Doing front brakes on my old Astro van. Two grades of rotors available: $37.00 and $51.00. What's the difference in quality?
Thank you,
Glenn F.
- Thread starter Anonymous-0
- Start date
Doing front brakes on my old Astro van. Two grades of rotors available: $37.00 and $51.00. What's the difference in quality?
Thank you,
Glenn F.
Revredneck
Member
With 25+ years as a Certified Auto Technician, I've used both the "cheap" rotors and the "quality" rotors over the years, and honestly, have not noticed any real difference. I've never had a problem with the least expensive I could get.
Good Luck and God Bless
Good Luck and God Bless
teaching science
Member
Don't know if its true, but have beentold the cheaper ones are thinner and cant be resurfaced as many times as the more expensive. Honestly, though I haven't measured to see.
Lamar Fudd
Member
Listen to Reverend Redneck; he knows of what he speaks. This whole business of 'warped' rotors is something I've never encountered, UNLESS the rotor was cracked, then it does need replaced. I think the whole 'resurface' thing goes back to drum brakes when they would take on a bell shape after a lot of use. That pulsing you feel when applying your brakes is actually residue from the binder that inexpensive pads are saturated with. Coming to a complete stop and holding your foot on the pedal lets that binder melt a little and the buildup causes that pulsing.
luv2wrench
Member
I work in a GM shop for many years now. Cheap ones are fine. We NEVER put OEM rotors on because they are very pricey and seem to rust worse than the china ones. We put on AC Delco line (THATS NOT THE SAME AS GM OEM) and we have never had a problem, other than 1 or 2 pulstating from being out of round. The AC delco dura stops are cheap (that 25 to 75 mark) and do just fine.
Warped rotors can be a real problem, not a figment of someones imagination. I had an Olds Aurora a few years back. Had tires put on before a weekend trip. About half way through my journey I had to make a really hard stop, downhill at 75mph to zero ASAP.
When the brakes cooled, there was a really bad pulsing. Turns out the 'mechanic' that installed the wheels after mounting the tires w a y overtorqued them. That, coupled with the heat of a panic stop warped the heck out of them. Turned them to remove the warpage and they were fine until I sold the car 3 years later.
When the brakes cooled, there was a really bad pulsing. Turns out the 'mechanic' that installed the wheels after mounting the tires w a y overtorqued them. That, coupled with the heat of a panic stop warped the heck out of them. Turned them to remove the warpage and they were fine until I sold the car 3 years later.
evilboweivel
Member
I buy drilled rotor and pad sets off of ebay
Company is in Canada
way better than the trash out of China and not much more money
delivery in less than a week
Good luck
Ron
Company is in Canada
way better than the trash out of China and not much more money
delivery in less than a week
Good luck
Ron
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Not much difference that I have ever seen. Just make sure that you clean off all the rusty scale on the hub face and around the lugs where the new rotor mates with the hub.
guido
Well-known Member
Hello Lamar Fudd,
Warped rotors are very common.
Just last month by brother inlaw asked me if that was possibled. I said YES!.
Then he proceded to tell me that the mechanic said that BOTH front rotors were .028 out of round.That caused a shimmy about 55 M.P.H.
When the rotors were cut they measured.002 out of round, and no more shimmy. Vehicle mileage about 500 miles?
Guido.
Warped rotors are very common.
Just last month by brother inlaw asked me if that was possibled. I said YES!.
Then he proceded to tell me that the mechanic said that BOTH front rotors were .028 out of round.That caused a shimmy about 55 M.P.H.
When the rotors were cut they measured.002 out of round, and no more shimmy. Vehicle mileage about 500 miles?
Guido.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
Interesting. Is there a non-ebay option?
Glenn
Glenn
Gambles
Well-known Member
I agree that a lot of "warped" rotors are nothing more than brake residue on the rotors, but that's not 100% of the time.
I do all of the maintenance and mechanical work on my vehicles, but I had a sudden wheel bearing failure on my Aerostar away from home and had an independent shop put on a new front rotor and wheel bearings. I went on my merry way and thought nothing of it, until my steering wheel started to shake while braking about two weeks later. I tried to take the wheel off, but they were on so tight that it took a cheater pipe on a breaker bar. (And I'm not a weakling either) The knuckle-dragging "mechanic" had put the lug nuts on so tight, I'm surprised they didn't break. I took the rotor off and turned it true again. It was WAY off from being good. I had to take so much off that I will probably replace it again when replacing the pads.
So occasionally they do warp.
I do all of the maintenance and mechanical work on my vehicles, but I had a sudden wheel bearing failure on my Aerostar away from home and had an independent shop put on a new front rotor and wheel bearings. I went on my merry way and thought nothing of it, until my steering wheel started to shake while braking about two weeks later. I tried to take the wheel off, but they were on so tight that it took a cheater pipe on a breaker bar. (And I'm not a weakling either) The knuckle-dragging "mechanic" had put the lug nuts on so tight, I'm surprised they didn't break. I took the rotor off and turned it true again. It was WAY off from being good. I had to take so much off that I will probably replace it again when replacing the pads.
So occasionally they do warp.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
We've got a fleet of 8-10 astros, I've started top swap them all out with dimple/slot rotors from brakeperformace.com Used the ones from summit racing too, did well
evilboweivel
Member
guido
Well-known Member
Hello George Marsh,
If you do most city driving you will get the right side plowing more water.You would not believe how much crown the city streets have.
That is a good possibility.
The street in front of my house most have a least 6" I may measure it now and let you know.
You can stand back and clearly see it.
Guido.
If you do most city driving you will get the right side plowing more water.You would not believe how much crown the city streets have.
That is a good possibility.
The street in front of my house most have a least 6" I may measure it now and let you know.
You can stand back and clearly see it.
Guido.
was at a alignment shop getting a truck lined up,the truck next to ours was getting the brakes redone mechanic set 2 boxes with new fomco rotors in them chucked one of them up in the brake lathe i asked why he was turning a brand new rotor,he said i don't want to have to redo my work,1/4 of the middle of the outboard side surface didn't touch the cutter as it passed over,both rotors needed truing this was twenty years ago,daddy bought a new car in the early 80's at less than 6 months old he ask me to check out a brake noise,when i pulled the rear wheel i found a drum that had never surfaced it was as rough on the inside as the out side
The single most cause of warped rotors, is lug nuts that were not installed in a star pattern and over tightened. If you have ever seen someone pull the trigger on an impact gun and draw the wheel down on the first lug nut, you just saw a warped rotor being built. If you buy a new rotor and turn it(lathe) you have no warranty, buy cheap, wash them,(brake clean) and put them on.
Had some bad experiences turning rotors starting about 15 years ago, seems that turning them too often exposed casting defects in the rotor and I ended up buying new ones anyway. So now I just replace the rotors right along with the pads. I get the cheap ones and consider them throwaway, again, just like the pads...
johndeerefan
Member
My experience in changing rotors and brake pads is the "lifetime guarantee" pads will cause major warping of the rotors. The metallic material is so hard it generates excessive heat. Therefore easily warping the rotor. I use the cheapest softest pads I can find. They don't generate near as much heat transfer as they just wear off instead. I would much rather buy 2 sets of pads instead of having to buy pads and rotors once. Changing them takes less than 30 minutes (front or rear not both).
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