Done Brakes Today, Unpleasant Surprise

[sliggett]

I was driving home yesterday and when getting off of the interstate i heard a grinding noise, which is weird because i've never heard them squeel before. they continued to grind on the way home so today i decided to take a look and sure enough, it was rough as hell on the passenger rotor. this is what i found...

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oh yeah, good stuff.

i pulled the center cap off of the driver side wheel and seen i had a broken stud...

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more good stuff.

those pads were also worn down so i'm going to replace them. wasn't sure if i wanted to mess with having the rotors turned or if i should just go the route of buying brand new ones. i was looking into the wagners ceramic pads and rotors, they offer a lifetime warranty at o'reillys so that's comforting. anyways, i just thought it was weird that there was no sign at all of the brakes needing to be changed. i noticed the wear indicators were pulled back, not sure if that was on purpose. one of the allen bolts was damn near stripped out but i got it out of there. i know from previous brake jobs that you need to lube a few things. is there anything special i need to know before i finish up? has anyone had any good/bad experiences with wagner? hell i might just end up seeing if these can be turned again, how long are oem rotors suppose to last? anyone over 220k still using their oems?

 

[bizzo15]

Personally if you have the money I would go with new rotors. I can't really comment on wagners as I've never used them but they seem to be one of the premium brands. I've also never seen anybody get that kind of mileage on rotors, especially on gm vehicles. **** my '06 impala only has 33k and the rotors are warped to **** on that car. I'd love to know how people are stretching that kind of mileage out on stock rotors.

 

[sliggett]

thanks. yeah, it's just the cheapness coming out in me. $160 for brand new cereamic pads and rotors is far less than the overall bill i'd see at a shop somewhere (or at least i think so, what do shops charge nowadays?)

 

[Greg]

Semi-Ceramic or Ceramic pads are awesome. I run a set from Autozone (with a lifetime warranty) as well as running a set of BAER drilled/slutted rotors. Great combo that lasts along time.

 

[Swims350]

I run cheap stuff, cheapest I can get, I know they are gonna wear out and I'll have to do them again so I don't spend big bucks.

wife's 2k monte carlo is the same way, she bought it, rotors were warped, replaced al four and pads, a year later they were shaking again. They bought the expensive duralast ones, the highest priced you can get, in a standard rotor, not drilled or slotted, and ceramic pads too I'd bet, yea they worked great and still do, but shakes bad when on the brakes. I did my 88 I had to do new calipers, the bleeders were broke off and one was rounded off, not broke, then I did cheap pads and had the rotors turned. The back was the same, wheel cylinders leaked, changed them out, had to put on new adjusted since it was bent out of shape for some reason, had the drums turned and bought cheap shoes and called it quits lol.

If the one side on yours is worse then the other, meaning ones into metal and the other isn't, time to look into calipers or hoses, a flex hose could be bad not letting the worse side release as fast or fully, same for the caliper.

 

[sliggett]

If the one side on yours is worse then the other, meaning ones into metal and the other isn't, time to look into calipers or hoses, a flex hose could be bad not letting the worse side release as fast or fully, same for the caliper.

^^^
Very good info, thanks. they were both almost gone, there wasn't a whole lot of difference. it looked like someone had bent the wear indicator back on the caliper that had the "almost" stripped out allen bolt. i'm guessing (and i haven't had this truck very long at all) the guy tried to change the pads, sttripped the bolt, decided to say piss on it, and bent the indicator back. i would hope not but you never know. i'll keep an eye on it though and if that's the case then i'll look into it.

I went by o'reillys and they didn't have the rotors in stock, so i decided to go to VatoZone and get my stuff there. we'll see how they work out.

 

[Swims350]

I've bought 2 sets of rotors, tons of pads and shoe sets, and several caliper pairs from advance and they work good, autozone is basically the same, so I think they should be fine. Also buy yourself some new bolts at least if you don't change calipers.

 

[silverado_06]

I run cheap stuff, cheapest I can get, I know they are gonna wear out and I'll have to do them again so I don't spend big bucks.

i'm with you on that. i buy white box brakes all the time. the amount of money spent on the expensive stuff isn't worth it, i can't even tell the difference. i like being able to do both rotors and pads for under $160.

 

[///RAGMC]

Most of the break jobs I do for people I end up using the cheaper stuff cause the dont want to pay for the good stuff. The cheaper rotors are not bad as long as you have them turned first just to make sure they are true. As far as pads I dont like using the cheaper stuff and usally usually go with a better quality pad. The wagner stuff is good too btw

 

[Swims350]

good point I too alot of times or used to when I had more cash bought good pads with lifetime warranty and not to mention usually ALOT cleaner, less dust, but more expensive then the lowest priced ones.

I never had a new rotor turned right out of the box, would be good, just to be sure, but around here it's almost $15 a piece to turn them and in some cases you can buy a new one for $20-30 so I buy the new ones instead of having them turned. I'd hate to have to turn a new one lol, it would be good but I'd just have mine turned instead of buying them, IF I had to have them turned anyways even if they are new.

Never thought of it before, good point and really makes ya think.